Originally published May 15, 1998, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1278
Assorted stuff…
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When I was eight years old I encountered a DC hero whose name featured a prefix I had never seen before. I pronounced it “A-KEW-uh Man.” In short order, though, I decided that A-KEW-uh Man made no sense. So I brought the comic to my dad and asked him how to pronounce it. He said, “AH-kwa-man.” I said, “What’s ‘Aqua’?” He said, “You have a dictionary. Look it up.” I did so, and discovered that it referred to water.
In the interest of clarity, DC may want to consider changing the character’s name to “Water Man” to accommodate those kids who have no parents and/or no dictionary. Until then, he’ll probably never be as popular as Marvel’s guy, the Sub-Muh-REE-ner.
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