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#93 - AJ Curry
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The once and future king.

Arthur Joseph Curry is an aberration, a mistake perhaps originating from that ever-mysterious concept of the Wall Punch or even an unknowing refugee of the Bleed. What he certainly isn't is the real Arthur Curry, the son of a King of Atlantis and his queen-consort, raised by a humble lighthouse keeper, eventually going on to achieve great deeds of derring-do. No. Instead, he's a young man, fresh in a churning sea, tossed by the storms of time and tide, and unsure what role he holds in this Crisis. In fact, one might say that AJ just wants someone to show him his place in all this. But that's so much easier done than said. Scratch that. Reverse it.

Imagine the unenviable weight thrust on AJ by Aquaman's presence. Arthur Joseph Curry lingers in the looming shadow of one of the world's greatest heroes, a man supremely successful not just as a superhero and member (sometimes leader) of the Justice League, but also the ruler of the largest nation in the world, 3/4th of its surface, comprising millions upon millions upon millions of beings, from Atlanteans, to merfolk to the very fish of the sea. AJ's predecessor united seven city-states, repelled back enemies large and small, from Black Manta to Ocean Master to Triton himself. Aquaman endured unimaginable losses - his son, his hand, even a chunk of his own life to indentured servitude.

So the question is, will AJ break from this incessant comparison, or can he become someone else entirely? Already, AJ has started in a position far-removed from Aquaman; permanently attached at the hip to Nanaue, the King Shark, AJ's companionship with a being that should otherwise be chewing up and spitting out the people of Z'onn Z'orr like they're brief aperitifs on long, delicious menu. With a villain his closest friend and ally, AJ starts in a position of rebellion to the norm. This comes as a result of AJ simply not knowing the beings of Earth's sea or surface alike. At least most of them, by the looks of things. You can achieve fantastic goals when you don't realize there's a hurdle in front of you on the path to success. AJ, in some ways, exemplifies why young people often break records in sports or have grand wins - they just don't know any better to be scared or to lose. They haven't been taught to fail yet.

But AJ has reached a wall of sorts - Minerva. In many ways, Minerva is kind of a villain on AJ's path. She's taken his sword and his heart, and in their places, offered nothing in return. She's dismissed him and refuses to confide in him or even really offer him more advice than to visit Tom Curry. This stems from the conflict within Minerva herself - Aquaman was her idol, the glue that held the foundations of her own moral convictions together. AJ is someone else, someone who in every way appears to be the distant mentor she pined over for years, and yet possessing none of the inherent traits that made Aquaman Aquaman. At least...not yet. But AJ is a malleable clay - one that is slowly being molded into something further and further away from Aquaman with each spurned advance. It's a dangerous whirlpool sucking these two into a murky depth. To find out what lies at the bottom, well... they have to survive the journey first.

#92 was undrafted!