Exclusive: Dan Jurgens Talks Aquaman & The Others #3, Teases Tomorrow's #4

While we lagged a little behind last month (curse you, Comic-Con prep!), tomorrow's issue of Aquaman and the Others is the penultimate part of the opening storyline, "History of Gold," and promises to be action-packed.

Last month left off with Aquaman seemingly out of action, Ya'Wara trapped in the Ghost Lands and the rest of the team at the mercy of Legend. Not good stuff.

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

Reminder: These interviews are very spoiler-heavy. If you haven't yet read Aquaman and the Others #3, go buy it now and read along with us.

A big takeaway I got from this -- do Sayeh's visions have the potential to contradict one another? My reading of it was that this was Aquaman in the OMAC spider from Futures End, over "dead" Aquaman from the end of the issue, right?

Contradict? Not necessarily, and as you read on, you'll see that wouldn't seem to be the case.

One of the toughest things in writing any character that can see the future is trying to accurately convey what they see so it doesn't become gratuitous.

Is that a challenge in general right now? With Futures End going on and the idea that the next five years are in a state of wild flux, does having a precog on the team mean you have to be careful about what she sees and how you act on it?

Exactly. And remember that Sayeh's powers are basically just emerging and her ability to control and comprehend might be limited.

This story is interesting because while there's been a lot built into Atlantis's history, here we're seeing events that tie directly to, and are timed alongside, the sinking of Atlantis. Is the idea here to create in Legend a character whose history is so intertwined with Aquaman's that he almost can't help but be an archenemy even though he's new?

I think it's a job of every writer to try to create villains who are intertwined with the main character(s) in a way that would eventually lead to archenemy status. That's a much better goal than saying, "Gee! I think I'll create a villain for the fight of the week next month and call it a day!"

The book just...looks different this month. Maybe it's the colors? Anyway, was that a creative choice or just a matter of how it came together? Obviously in a young book there are bound to be some tweaks.

Hard for me to put my finger on that because I see it all in every stage of production be it pencils, inks or colors. I guess I didn't really notice much of anything different.

Getting Tomo out of the picture early in the book...are we going to see a replacement, or will Ya'Wara be without a familiar for a while?

No, I think it's safe to say that Ya'Wara has plenty to choose from.

It also seems worth noting, as the Fire & Water guys did, that Ya'Wara doesn't seem particularly willing to defend herself against Tomo, but she does have enough perspective that she doesn't blame The Operative when he defends her. Is that a fair assessment?

Right on the money. It's like having a dog who bites someone else. You don't really fear them after that, right? But if that dog were wounded, you wouldn't be against the idea of someone putting them down.

Obviously we see Kahina and Vostok in the limbo dimension -- and they both talk like they have a plan. Can they help Ya'Wara get out of there to actually put a plan into action?

More of that will unfold, of course, but it's safe to say their story with Ya'Wara is going somewhere. Next issue, as a matter of fact!

Was part of the idea here that forcing Ya'Wara into that realm alone would change her view of it?

As uncomfortable as Ya'Wara might be with the Ghost Lands, seeing a dear departed friend or two would soften that a bit, don't you think? So that's part of the story. But it goes somewhere beyond that.

We get a lot of simple, declarative statements in this issue ("You. Die," and pretty much anything Aquaman says once the fight starts). Is that just a function of the kind of characters that we're dealing with here?

Just the way I see Aquaman. He's a leader. Very direct. Terse, especially in tense times.

What's the pop culture touchstone for "Wonder Twins" for these guys? Is there a version of the Super Friends cartoon in the New 52? Does Superman wear trunks in it?!

My answer on that is that it can be whatever you want it to be.

Will we see The Operative's previous mission here play into the story in a bigger way, or was that just to establish the country as someplace with a history?

Given his age and past, the Operative has likely been involved in any number of really dramatic stories that might well carry lots of repercussions. I look forward to exploring those.

We didn't get a name on Prisoner-of-War's detective this month. Is he one of the previously-named members of the group?

Stay tuned on that as well. As I build the library of characters for POW, their various talents and skills will be broken down in greater detail.