| Aqualad | |
|---|---|
Jackson Hyde and Deadman from Brightest Day #10, artist David Finch |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Brightest Day #4 (June 2010) |
| Created by | Geoff Johns (writer) Ivan Reis (artist) Greg Weisman (animation) (based upon the character Garth by Robert Bernstein & Ramona Fradon) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jackson Hyde |
| Species | Atlantean |
| Place of origin | Atlantis |
| Team affiliations | Teen Titans |
| Notable aliases | Kaldur’ahm |
| Abilities | Can breathe underwater, can swim at superspeed, superstrength, can withstand underwater pressures, hydrokinesis, bio-electric energy blasts |
Jackson Hyde is one of two fictional characters codenamed Aqualad. He is a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. Jackson Hyde, created by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis,[1] debuted in comic books in Brightest Day #4 (June 2010) and is based on the Aqualad character originally created for the Young Justice animated series by Greg Weisman, Brandon Vietti and Phil Bourassa.
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Jackson Hyde first appeared in Brightest Day #4 (June 2010),[1] which coincided with the appearance of Aqualad in the 2010 Young Justice animated series.[2][3] He is a teenager from New Mexico.[1] In a teaser poster for the Brightest Day event, he is shown using "hard water" abilities to create a sword.[4] This ability had previously been thought to belong exclusively to Aquaman's wife, Mera, and people from her world.
Jackson Hyde and his on-and-off again girlfriend Maria are first drawn into the events of Brightest Day after witnessing Deadman, Hawk and Dove activating the White Lantern Battery, which had landed in Silver City, New Mexico after the events of Blackest Night. As the Battery begins to speak to the heroes, the tattoos on Jackson's right arm begin to glow. Jackson Hyde is an average student who is pretty bored in Silver City, New Mexico. Since he was young, he’s been taught by his parents to fear water; they do not want him near it because his true parents would be able to locate him, not to mention certain changes happen to Jackson when he gets in the water. Jackson has kept this secret hidden for years, lying to his girlfriend about being afraid of drowning, being unable to swim and being in the dark about the mysterious tattoos he’s had since birth. He’s done his best to avoid it. Aquaman is later contacted by the Entity, which tells him to locate Jackson before a second unidentified group, which is speculated to be Siren and her Death Squad.[5][6]
Jackson is seen outside his house during a rainstorm, where he displays for the first time his abilities. As he started to control the water from the rain, his tattoos and eyes began glowing. At this moment he is revealed to possess gills and webbed hands. Its also revealed that Black Manta is actually his real father, and that Mera also has some sort of connection to the youth.[7]
After witnessing Jackson in the rain, his adoptive father takes him to a cottage by the sea. He tells him that Mera had given Jackson to him, asking that he keep him away from his parents, and he was given an Atlantean chest to be opened when the truth is discovered. Before the chest can be opened, Black Manta, along with Siren and her Death Squad, attacks. Jackson (using his ability to create hard water constructs) defends his adoptive father, but cannot stop Black Manta from shooting a trident-shaped dart at him. Jackson's adoptive father would have died if not for Aquaman's intervention, who blocks and crushes the dart.[8] Aquaman gets Jackson and his foster father to safety where everything is explained to them. The chest is opened, which activates a map.[9] Using the map, the two discover a sealed chest that only Jackson can open. Once the chest is opened, Jackson is shown a recording from Mera, who explains that his father and mother had been kidnapped and tortured by the people of Xebel (an extradimensional Atlantean penal colony) while exploring the Bermuda Triangle, where the gateway to the colony is located. Xebel's king had ordered that the child, the first "outsider" born there in centuries, be experimented upon in order to serve as a key that would finally free them from their exile. Fearing for the child's safety, Mera had stolen the infant and brought him to the surface world, where she subsequently gave him to the foster family that ended up raising him. She also reveals his true name; Kaldur’ahm. Once the recording is over, Jackson discovers several items which Mera had left for him, notably a soldier's uniform from Xebel and a pair of "Water Bearers", metallic constructs that help him control his water-manipulation abilities.[10]
Aquaman and Jackson ultimately end up in Miami, Florida, where Black Manta and Siren are leading an army of warriors from Xebel in a full-scale invasion. Jackson successfully uses his waterbearers to create blades, which he uses to fight off the attacking troops, and even briefly holds his own in a duel with Siren.[11] After Black Manta severs Aquaman's right hand, Jackson attacks his father and berates him for siding with the people who killed his own wife, only for Black Manta to throw Jackson to the ground and coldly states that both he and his mother mean nothing to him. Just as Black Manta is about to impale his son with one of his blades, Mera arrives with Aquagirl, who saves Jackson by kicking his father's square in the face. After using his bio-electrical abilities to cauterize Aquaman's wound, Jackson and Mera are able to work together to seal Black Manta, Siren and the rest of the invaders away in the Bermuda Triangle. As the heroes celebrate, Jackson is shown beginning to harbor a crush on Aquagirl.[12]
After Damian Wayne joins the Teen Titans, a vision of Jackson arriving at Titans Tower and confronting Superboy, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy and Kid Flash is shown as part of a collage of future events that will affect the team.[13]
After Aquaman is resurrected by Swamp Thing (who became the new Life Entity), Mera tells Aquaman that Jackson wants to continue his training. Aquaman informs her that he has already contacted the Titans.[14]
Aqualad was initially intended to appear in the first issue of the relaunched Teen Titans title in DC's 2011 New 52 relaunch, but will instead appear in another book.[15]
Jackson Hyde has been shown to possess the ability to breathe under water as well as enhanced strength. He can adapt his eyes to see in the darkest of ocean bottoms. He features gill slits on the sides of his neck presumably allowing him to extract oxygen from the water. He also appears to demonstrate hydrokinesis, the ability to increase the local specific density of water and then manipulate its shape, similar to Mera and other citizens of Xebel. He is later given a pair of "Water Bearers", weapons which allow him to focus that power, creating shapes and weapons with the water.[10] In addition, he is able to discharge powerful bolts of electricity from his fingertips in a manner similar to that of an Electric eel.
In the Young Justice animated series, Aqualad is voiced by Khary Payton.[16] He appears as the "elected" leader of the team within the series, and it has been revealed that he is the son of supervillain Black Manta.[17] Because the character was originally created for the animated series before being brought into Brightest Day, he has a different origin from his comic book counterpart, including being a citizen of Atlantis rather than living in New Mexico. However, he still shares his costume, eel tattoos and water manipulation with his comic book counterpart. Though he still maintains the birth name of Kaldur’ahm, he does not use the Jackson Hyde alias created for the comics.[18][19] In the pilot episode, "Independence Day", Aqualad is shown using his Water Bearers to manipulate water, and also displays the ability to generate bolts of electricity during a battle with the Guardian.
He is portrayed as the most mature member of the group, and is the one who ultimately convinces Superboy to abandon the sinister Project Cadmus and become a hero. In "Welcome To Happy Harbor", Aqualad is shown to be the only member of Young Justice who is kind to Miss Martian when she initially joins the team. In "Drop Zone", Aqualad is unanimously chosen to be the leader of the team after rallying them to victory during a mission in Santa Prisca. In "Denial", Aqualad states that he spent a year studying at an Atlantean sorcery school and that his tattoos are magical in nature. The following episode "Downtime" reveals parts of Aqualad's origin, stating that he and his friend Garth had first come to Aquaman's attention when they saved their king's life during a battle with Ocean Master. Aquaman offered to take on both teens as his proteges, but Garth chose to remain in Atlantis to continue his studies, while Kaldur chose to travel with Aquaman and become Aqualad. Here it is also revealed that he had an interest in a girl named Tula, who eventually ended up in a relationship with Garth after Kaldur left Atlantis.
In "Targets", Aqualad comes to the aid of Red Arrow when the League of Assassins plot to assassinate Lex Luthor. Aqualad is told by Red Arrow that he heard Sportsmaster mentioning something about a mole on the Young Justice team and Aqualad decides to investigate this possibility in secret, keeping his other teammates in the dark. In "Homefront", he, Superboy, Miss Martian and Kid Flash are attacked in the cave by two robots that look like Red Tornado. Though Robin and Artemis eventually free them, Red Tornado arrives and is taken over by whatever force was controlling the other robots, leading Aqualad to conclude that Red Tornado was probably the "double-agent" Sportsmaster was talking about. In the following episode (titled "Alpha Male"), when Aqualad privately discusses this probability with Batman, Superboy uses his super-hearing to eavesdrop on their conversation. He overhears that Aqualad willingly kept his suspicions of a traitor from the rest of the team, information that could have prepared them all for the attack on the cave. Especially angry that this had put Miss Martian (who he recently started dating) in danger, Superboy confronts Aqualad in front of their teammates, leading to a divide among Young Justice that threatens all of their future together. While on a mission to investigate recent sightings of Monsieur Mallah in India, the team defies Aqualad at every turn until Captain Marvel, who had volunteered to temporarily replace the missing Red Tornado on the team, convinces him to take a cue from Batman and "take command" for the good of the team. Emboldened, Aqualad gets everyone to work together and they eventually defeat Monsieur Mallah and the Brain because of his leadership. In the end, the team forgives him after he explains his reasoning: He knew that he couldn't trust Sportsmaster and so he kept the information about a mole from the team in case it was all just a ploy to drive a wedge between them. At the end of "Alpha Male", everyone agrees that Aqualad is still the best man to lead Young Justice and so he remains the leader of the team.
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