Exclusive: Dan Jurgens Talks Aquaman & The Others #4, And Why Aquaman’s Chainmail is Better Than Captain America’s

Last month, of course, left off with a fairly major cliffhanger: Aquaman, speared by his own trident, lay apparently-dead on the ground before the rest of the team while Legend began collecting up their gold. This issue, we got an answer for just why it was so important to him…and a lot of team-building, as the entire issue unfolded with the title lead down for the count.

As always, writer Dan Jurgens joined ComicBook.com to discuss the series and tease the future.

Okay, question #1: He’s not dead at the end?! I feel misled!

Who? What, me? Mislead?

Yeah, you’re right. Arthur has managed to hang in there.

So far.

Can I also point out that you’ve written another hero in chainmail before — Captain America — and because of the red-and-white-striped portion of his costume, he would have taken the full brunt of that hit. A good argument for Aquaman’s sensible (albeit orange) attire.

I’ve always thought that when characters wear chainmail, that we should actually see it work. Or NOT work, as the case might be.

But if it’s there– USE it.

You’ve been in this industry a long time, speaking of which. Outside of things like Combat Zone, is this the most multicultural group you’ve ever worked on?

I’d say that it probably has to be, especially if we exclude fictional aliens.

And I must say that I enjoy that aspect of the book. It’s certainly making me work harder in terms of digging into the characters as individuals and trying to figure out what the differences are among them. I’ll continue to dig into that as the series goes on.

I certainly think that’s one of the advantages for creators and readers alike.

I know there are readers who just haven’t warmed up to the New 52 and I respect that. There aspects of what came before that we all miss.

At the same time, more of a blank slate provides fresh opportunity.

As much as people look to characters like Spider-Man and say “He’s a perfect everyman because the mask hides everything,” you’ve had success with characters like Monarch and Doomsday, creating full-face masks that are really menacing and obviously evil. Is there a trick to nudging people’s impressions one way or the other or is it just the writing, and so that’s “the magic of comics?”

First of all, a big round of applause for Ivan Reis, who designed Legend’s look. I described what I wanted– a mixture of armor from different eras, somewhat steampunk– and he delivered in a big way.

But, yeah, face masks are still one of those things that look really good in comics and work really well. Especially for the bad guys.

That would depend, in part, on the nature of the Atlantean Relics. I’ll be laying more ground work on those as well.

For example, the nature of the Globe of Transportation is amazingly clear. It transports the bearer from one place to the next.

What about the Seal of Clarity? What, exactly, does that mean? Did it give Kahina her powers? Or did it help clarify an ability she already had? What else can it do?

And the Operative’s Key? Does it just open doors or can it do more? What else can it unlock? Once again, I think there’s more there than what we’ve initially seen.

I suppose that last past gives us a bit of a clean slate. That’s an interesting solution for the problem of Vostok’s replacement.

Glad you like it.

And, once again, it might be a little different and more complicated than it appears on the surface!