TEMPEST (Garth, aka Aqualad I)
Created By: Robert Bertnstein & Ramona Fradon
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #269 (Feb. 1960)
Role: Teen Sidekick, The Bristling Sidekick, The Normal Guy
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Titans, Atlantis
PL 10 (175)
STRENGTH 8
STAMINA 8
AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Magic) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Atlantis) 8 (+10)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 8 (+11)
Ranged Combat (Special Powers) 2 (+10)
Stealth 5 (+9)
Advantages:
Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Improved Aim, Improved Hold, Ranged Attack 4, Ritualist, Set-Up 2, Teamwork
Powers:
"Undersea Capabilities"
Swimming 8 (60 mph) [8]
Movement (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Immunity 3 (Pressure, Drowning, Cold) [3]
Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing & Scent) [3]
"Vague Magical Abilities"
"Water Control" Move Object 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Water) (21) -- [30]
- Dynamic AE: "Eye Beams" Energy Blast 8 (Feats: Accurate, Dynamic) (18)
- Dynamic AE: "Thermal Control" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Limited to Within Water) (4)
- Dynamic AE: "Cold Control" Environment 3 (Heat 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Limited to Within Water) (4)
- Dynamic AE: "Iced Water" Snare 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Source- Water) (19)
- AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Movement 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Eye Beams +12 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Iced Water +10 (+9 Ranged Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +4
Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +8
Complications:
Relationship (Dolphin & Cerdian)- Garth eventually hooked up with Aquaman's old squeeze, and had a son with her.
Relationship (Aquaman)- Garth sometimes rankles under the spectre of his mentor and father-figure, who is often brusque and controlling.
Weakness (Lack of Water)- Atlanteans require more water than do ordinary humans.
Prejudice (Purple Eyes)- Garth was born with purple eyes, marking him for death by his weird culture. Aquaman saved his life, but some still mistrust him.
Disabled (Partially Colour-Blind)- Garth is largely-unable to see the differences between black, green & blue. I've never seen this come up.
Total: Abilities: 80 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 14 (175)
Aqualad- Dumbest Name Ever:
-Aqualad may possess the record for the stupidest name in comic book history. You could do all the talking up comics you want to to people, then bust out the name "Aqualad" and they would pretty much crap their pants with laughter on the spot- when I was a kid looking at some of the DC Cards to compare to the cooler Marvel Cards, I came across THIS loser and pretty much decided then and there that Marvel had to've been the superior company. And he didn't really do much in the Titans either; he was the least-used of the Fab Five, frequently got replaced (writers at the time complained that both he & Aquaman were useless- they were always weak without water, necessitating their being inlets, rivers and fjords everywhere), and wasn't even a fixture of the Wolfman/Perez books, where even Speedy showed up occasionally. His biggest moment was having his girlfriend Tula (Aquagirl) die in the Crisis as one of the many "these characters suck, so we're using this opportunity to kill them" deaths in that series- poor Garth wasn't even a major fixture in AQUAMAN books by this point!
-Aqualad actually debuted YEARS after Aquaman's creation, which is surprising- Robin and Speedy are Golden Age characters, and Wally West debuted right on the heels of Barry Allen only a few years earlier. Like, he debuted almost twenty years after his mentor did. In any case, Aqualad was one of the founding Teen Titans, having been Aquaman's kid partner for a few years. Young Garth was left to die as an infant due to Atlantean prophecy (he had purple eyes), and rescued by Aquaman's father Atlan. He would grow into Aquaman's sidekick, often giving the goofiest lines possible, like "Great Guppies!" or "Suffering Snails!". Real cheeseball stuff. Aqualad began to be phased out when Aquaman married Mera and had the Aquababy. He even lost an arm!
-Aqualad was given a few things to do, at least. He discovered the truth behind his past (his parents were royalty, but his father was murdered and his mom was evil), and rejoined the Titans occasionally. He met and fell in love with Tula, who became Aquagirl, but she died at the hands of Chemo's poison during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Despite his importance to Titans lore, he essentially went untouched during the Wolfman/Perez years- you can absolutely tell that neither creator gave a crap about Garth, as he had one or two mini-arcs (
Who Killed Trident?), but was otherwise absent. He was badly injured during a
Titans Hunt story-arc, and disappeared for a while.
Garth Becomes Tempest:
-As Aqualad, Garth was thus one of DC's most maligned and un-used "classic" characters. This set the stage for Phil Jiminez to turn him into Tempest, copying a discarded Aquaman costume and changing the colors to make him quite cool, and adjusting his silly "White Guy Afro" into the "short curly hair" look adopted by a lot of characters who appeal to gay fans (I noticed this when both Tempest & Element Lad had the same haircut, which drew a surprising amount of male attention- it's a fetish I was unaware of, but the very gay Jiminez probably utilized). I remember one gay fan mentioning online that "Tempest would be AWESOME in real life". In the
Tempest mini-series, Garth was tossed into another dimension, where Atlan awaited to train him- the wizard gave Garth the power to fire Energy Beams from his eyes, and adjust the temperature of water rapidly. This led to the hilarious circumstances of Tempest being the first Sidekick to COMPLETELY surpass his mentor in terms of power and scope while said mentor was still alive.
-Tempest thus rejoined the
Aquaman book with elevated powers and a new focus. In a shocker that annoyed some fans, Aquaman's lover Dolphin soon left him for Tempest, and the two were quickly married- this did little to fix the problems Arthur & Garth were having- Arthur's condescending, casual attitude towards his former partner was a sticking point (there's a great bit in the
JLA/Titans crossover where Aquaman's all "hey Garth, just knock it off and let's go, okay?" and Garth just LIGHTS him up with his Purple Eye Beams, screaming "I am so sick of you MAN-HANDLING me!"). It was at this point that Devin Grayson took charge of a new
Titans book, which led to a re-push for Tempest as a bit of a "voice of reason"- he was one of the only members of the team not constantly brooding (Nightwing), leaving for the League (Flash), going through intense personal turmoil (Donna, Cyborg, Damage), etc. It didn't really make him that ENTERTAINING, but hell- someone's gotta be the normal one to let everyone else be a nutjob!
-Honestly, though, his best bit was when Starfire and her people were assaulting Gordanian civilians in the final moments of their war, and a horrified Garth, eager to create a ceasefire and set up aid to the refugees, diplomatically passed it off as "oh, you're a warrior culture- we WANT to help you, but we were afraid that if we'd simply asked, you'd have thought us weak!"- the Gordanian ambassador actually laughs and acknowledges his point! Tempest's wife and son (Cerdian) were recurring minor elements of
The Titans, in that the writers had to ACKNOWLEDGE them, but they rarely got a focus (much more was given to Arsenal's daughter Lian, who was nearly constantly threatened by bad guys). Finally, Dolphin gave him an ultimatum- her or the Titans. He relucantly quit the team (and the book, which was falling apart by that point anyways).
Tempest Gets Screwed Around:
-Tempest was erased for a while by The Spectre's rampage against magic, but returned an anmensiac during "One Year Later" (after
Infinite Crisis). He lost his extra powers and was a bit screwed-up physically... but poor editing meant that many writers forgot about this as it was going on, as the constant events in DC resulted in many fully-powered Tempest appearances. The sense that "nobody cares about Tempest" was only further enhanced when he was one of the most casual, unfocused-upon deaths during
Blackest Night, in which a Black Lantern Aquaman murders his old sidekick. Black Lantern Tempest thus assaults various Titans, but is fought off by Dawn "Dove" Granger and finally destroyed by The Atom and Atrocitus combinging the powers of their Power Rings into him. Garth thus dies, and actually NEVER RETURNS during this continuity- Aquaman gets his own re-push afterwards, without him.
-A new Aqualad was created during the "New 52", attempting to add some more minorities to the DCU, but a purple-eyed boy named Garth is seen in
Aquaman. He later allies with Queen Mera. When DC rebooted itself AGAIN, he appeared with the other adult Titans, having remembered bits and pieces of their past.
Garth as a Whole:
-Garth has a pretty tough time getting respect in the DCU- as the most forgotten of the "Big Five Sidekicks", he was never even important to the Titans, and was frequently dumped from Aquaman's own book as well. This pretty much dooms most characters to a life as "the guy crazy stuff happens to", so it's a bit of a wonder he was only rarely maimed, tortured, exiled from continuity or dead. His '90s run as Tempest is literally the only time he has ever mattered to anything, but unfortunately it only resulted in "Prominent Supporting Character in C-Tier Books" and that's it. His death during
Blackest Night was ridiculously casual and meant almost nothing- an indication of just how little DC thought of him.
Tempest's Powers:
-Tempest gains a huge power boost thanks to his many upgrades, attaching some Magic (ie. "Whatever power the writer currently wants him to have to get out of a story") to his already increasing abilities. And he has shown some TREMENDOUS abilities in the comics, as he whips out a massive teleportation beam into the past taking ALL OF ATLANTIS with him. I chose to showcase those sorts of things as modifications of his magical might with Hero Points put in, as well as his Ritualist Advantage. Primarily, though, he's just gonna be using his Eye Blasts and controlling water with Thermal and Cold Control attached to them as weapons. He came off like a very solid PL 10 in the
Titans book, frequently being used to wrap up the bad guys in the end (so long as there was, like, a water fountain nearby or something), or throw out some Background Energy Blasts.
AQUALAD I (Garth)
Created By: Robert Bertnstein & Ramona Fradon
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #269 (Feb. 1960)
Role: Teen Sidekick, Shy Guy, The Normal Guy
Group Affiliations: The Teen Titans, The Titans, Atlantis
PL 7 (98)
STRENGTH 8
STAMINA 8
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1
AWARENESS 2
PRESENCE 0
Skills:
Expertise (Atlantis) 4 (+5)
Insight 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Advantages:
Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Teamwork
Powers:
"Undersea Capabilities"
Swimming 8 (60 mph) [8]
Movement (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Immunity 3 (Pressure, Drowning, Cold) [3]
Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Extended Hearing & Scent) [3]
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will +5
Complications:
Relationship (Aquaman)- Garth sometimes rankles under the spectre of his mentor and father-figure, who is often brusque and controlling.
Prejudice (Purple Eyes)- Garth was born with purple eyes, marking him for death by his weird culture. Aquaman saved his life, but some still mistrust him.
Disabled (Partially Colour-Blind)- Garth is largely-unable to see the differences between black, green & blue. I've never seen this come up.
Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 6 (98)
-Sidekick-era Aqualad is pretty ineffectual compared to Tempest, and is notable (especially retroactively) for being underconfident. In the 1980s, he only made EVER so few cameos in the main book, but probably hit PL 8 by that point- I only really remember him running around with his goofy afro (George Perez LOVED drawing white men with afros back in the day, despite Cyborg having pretty plain hair for the time- I think he took it as an excuse to draw even MORE detail on people than their normally would have been
. and never really being important.