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Garth Of Shayeris - Blog Posts
I beseech you for your Garth insight, wht personality of his do you like? Bc every version of him I've read is a little alienating to me (part of the reason why I prefer Jackson is bc Idk which Garth I'll get or wht even his backstory is now) so if I started to try and get invested in him wht stories or version would you recc?
Okay for absolute full disclosure here I’m currently getting into Aquaman comics chronologically. Primarily through the lens of Garth. And there are some things I had already read at some point, but in my current venture I’m just a little bit post-Crisis, so my knowledge of the Aquaman side of things in general is still relatively limited.
But I can definitely talk about Garth.
First things first, absolutely anything featuring a man calling himself Garth from any point later than the year 2011 is a completely different person. I can say that with full confidence even having read, like, no more than 2 comics including the Rebirth iteration of his character. It’s just not the same guy on seemingly any level, which can definitely account for the alienation aspect, and it’s very disappointing.
But on the topic of OG Garth. Let’s discuss his personality.
Something that stands out to me immediately about Garth is that he is very emotional. (Apparently a common theme among the characters I like.) But more than that, he’s emotional in like a shockingly healthy way? He does not bottle things up, if something hurts or upsets him he makes it known, if he feels betrayed or disrespected by someone he takes it up with them, and he’s not at all afraid of direct confrontation if it’s warranted.
But despite that, he remains consistently reserved, sensitive, and gentle, which is kind of a miracle among male comic book characters. He can have a temper too, but it only really comes up if something is stopping him from helping someone in trouble, or if he feels mistreated past a certain limit, and it never really feels like he’s lashing out unnecessarily. His continual willingness to stand up for himself in spite of his “softer” personality sticks with me.
And tying into all of the above he’s textually acknowledged for his talents in communication and later diplomacy, which, again, not usually traits emphasized in Superhero Men. This example is very cute:
Not that he doesn’t enjoy fighting. He definitely does. In fact, a few of his notable outbursts have been explicitly about his beef with pacifist philosophies LOL. Although he notably doesn’t go out looking for fights or starting them without good reason by any means. (I think this is a point of diversion between him and his imposter-self. Maybe. From what I’ve heard.)
Now backpedaling a bit, part of why all of his fairly healthy emotional and communicative traits are so charming to me is that he definitely is NOT without his issues. Idk how much you know about his backstory but for starters, he was abandoned and left to die as a baby, initially thought to be due to an Atlantean superstition regarding his purple eyes, surviving (mostly) on his own for a while and eventually being found by Arthur. Due to this, as well as the ambiguous and changeable state of his relationship with Arthur (whether they see each other as friends, brothers, or a father-son duo is. Complicated to say the least. It’s almost like a Jedi-Padawan type thing if you’re into star wars LMAO), Garth is kind of a walking hotbed of abandonment issues, theoretically at least. Like I said, he’s pretty healthy when it comes to expressing his needs and feelings. He's definitely more well-adjusted than Arthur ends up being.
Loneliness and a lack of belonging/identity are also huge themes with him as well. This is why the Titans are so important to Garth, even if his responsibilities and limitations prevent him from being a consistent member of the team. During maybe the first period where he genuinely doesn’t know where he stands with Arthur anymore, he goes off on his own to seek out his (purple-eyed) people and try to find his parents to give himself some sense of personal identity and find out who he is--as it turns out, he has immense trouble relating to them or even being civil with them at points, and ends up feeling like as much of an outcast with them as he does in Atlantis, ultimately realizing that his identity and who he fundamentally is are things that only he can decide for himself! Go Garth!
Some other issues he deals with are general insecurity and anxiety--these are mostly shown within the context of the Titans, where he’s often the odd one out as an Atlantean and severely limited in his abilities and effectiveness outside of the water (i.e. nearly suffocating to death all the time.) At the end of the original Teen Titans, Garth quits the team because he felt so deeply inferior and useless to them that it was making him actually severely physically ill to the point of passing out multiple times and people genuinely worrying he was going to die. That is a lot of anxiety. Though he doesn’t have nearly as much insecurity when he’s in the water, he's still shown to be A Worrier, and Tula makes fun of him for being too vigilant or in his own head, unable to loosen up and so on. Also, in his very first appearance, he is deathly afraid of fish!!!!!
Now for recs. First of all, if you’re insane or plan on being so in the future, this is a link to a complete reading order, which is what I’ve been loosely following. More specifically, Garth’s first appearance is in Adventure Comics #269. I would also recommend Adventure Comics #270 and #278. It’s some of the cutest shit ever, but it has little bearing on his later appearances.
From then I would go to Aquaman v1 (1962). Specifically #17-18, #23, #25, #33 (Tula intro!), and #40-47 (this arc is really drawn out and silly and Garth’s segments are mostly separate from the rest of the plot so after the first one you can honestly just skip through most of it until you see Garth or Tula LOL). He’s also in Teen Titans v1 during this time, I would read the first issue and then skip to #19, #28-29, #30, #40 (kilt moment), #45-53. Also, The Brave and the Bold (2008) #10 is a very cute story that focuses on Garth and takes place during this era.
Sort of concurrent to the Titans appearances is maybe the first major Aquaman storyline which you can find as a trade paperback (on readcomiconline lol) called Aquaman: The Death of a Prince. Basically Arthur is put through a meat-grinder of facing a bunch of his villains back to back, being deposed as the King of Atlantis, losing Arthur Jr., and as a result, becoming estranged from Garth and Mera. This is where you also find the first real expansion of Garth’s backstory.
Then he pops up in New Teen Titans (1980) #23 and #33. Tales of the Teen Titans #45-47 + #50. New Teen Titans (1984) #6. And then Crisis on Infinite Earths happens wherein Tula is killed. It’s very minor and not worth reading the whole thing just to see that if you’ve never read it before. He sticks with the New Teen Titans (1984) team for a spell when almost everyone in the usual team is gone and/or going through a mental breakdown from #19-26 I believe, and the grief makes him very quiet and distant, but he breaks through it by the end. Basically right after that are the events of Teen Titans Spotlight #10 with a very odd psychedelic story where he has like a telepathic battle with Mento lol, and later in #18 of the same book.
Congratulations, you are now caught up with me. This has also gotten disturbingly long, so I’m going to cut it off here. If you actually make it through all this and would like more recommendations for Garth past this point feel free to ask again. Or if you get sick of reading these older comics and don’t care about skipping ahead/potentially not understanding shit, he shows up pretty consistently in Aquaman v5 (and the excellent Tempest (1996) miniseries where he makes the moniker-switch takes place after I think #25 of that), and Titans (1999).
this is actually so funny. imagining garth quipping and contributing to the conversation in his head cause he forgot the rest of the teen titans can't pick up on his telepathy
The absolute best thing about the fab 5 is literally any ship pairing is acceptable except for exactly one (1) and we all know which one it is
Like
Dick/Roy 100% in love with feed it to me, inject me with this (lowkey my favorite ship please put recs in the comments im dying for some good angst/comfort)
Dick/Wally adorkable my babies I love them (no need for fic recs I have plenty)
Dick/ Garth omglookitsocuteandperfect (recs recs recs recs)
Roy/Donna GAG ME WITH THIS SHIP OH MY GOD YES (RECS RECS RECS RECS RECs)
Roy/Wally oooohhhh there are so many interesting things you can do with this dynamic (please we argue and then go fuck in the closet vibes - not hate sex but we are competing for the same person and getting nowhere might as well)
Roy/Garth UGHHH ESPECIALLY AFTER ALL THE SHIT STIRRING IN THE EARLY 2000s??? AND THE WAY THAT ROY WAS A LIL SHIT TO BABY GARTH OMG IT COULD SO WORK
Wally/Donna omg adorable, cute, sweet, Donna would beat the sexism out of teen Wally sokka/suki style tell me I’m wrong.
Wally/Garth cutesy, demure, they could geek out together, my lil ones together, they’d do gardening for fun trust me.
Garth/Donna omg iconic, cute, they fit so well together, the responsibilities? The fish out of water bonding. PEAK FICTION
Donna/Dick: ….ew no
Dick and the fab 5s most recent texts 2 each other and their names for each other (this is canon in my heart)
Dick & Don
Light of my life: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Soul Sister: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Light of my life: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Soul Sister: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Light of my life: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Soul Sister: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Dick & Roy
Reckless idiot ❤️: what are you doing rn
Reckless idiot 💙: dw about it
Reckless idiot ❤️: don’t make me come over there
Reckless idiot 💙: nah fr don’t worry about
Reckless idiot ❤️: I am worrying
Reckless idiot 💙: not your job
Reckless idiot❤️: 100% my job what. are. you. doing
Reckless idiot 💙 is offline
Reckless idiot ❤️: okay can’t tell if this is a work or personal crisis so I’ll bring both duffels or you can hop back on here and tell me wtf is up.
Reckless idiot ❤️: both it is
Dick and Wally:
Hubby: kids birthday is tomorrow
Been there done that: yeah I remember dw I ordered catering to your place
Hubby: marry me
Been there done that: ask your wife
Hubby: she said yes see you in Vegas next Friday
Been there done that: can’t, busy next Friday, Monday?
Hubby: got a little leagues game to watch
Been there done that: hmm next time our schedules r free
Hubby: so never :(
Been there done that: 💔💔💔💔
Dick & Garth
Boy Wonderful: hey are we seeing you tonight?
My common sense: wouldn’t miss it dw
Boy Wonderful: if I have kids and you only show up to birthdays I’d hunt you down
My common sense: if you had kids we’d reform the titans and keep them locked up with you and us forever so we didn’t have to deal with ur dad to see our baby
Boy wonderful: our baby ?
My common sense: the Titans would commandeer the baby, ours now
Boy wonderful: I have a baby = communist uprising got it
Listen it came to me in a dream don’t yell at me
New years approx 2 hours after midnight
The titans are at Donna’s apartment and all offensively drunk
Dick (most sober) : I’m not doing it
Roy (most drunk): DONT be a coward Grayson
Donna (2nd most drunk): YEAH put on the maid dress Grayson
Dick: THE MAID DRESS ISNT the problem its the fucking thong that goes with it
Wally(speedster metabolism is no match for Dick Grayson and high tech lab equipment more drunk than he’s ever been): oh come on didn’t you give me shit when we were teens for not being “open minded” I didn’t sit through a 5 hour HR presentation on toxic masculinity at 15 for you to back out now
Garth (got high instead, currently flying higher than the moon, out of earths orbit with about 4 pounds of food INFRONT of him): do it do it do it do it
Dick: 1) you know I have no shame around any of you, that is not the issue. I am telling you I. Will. Not. Fit
Donna: damn tbh I thought they put all the dick in your name
Donna: or your personality
Wally: *wheezing*
Dick: listen i will wear the maid dress im not a pussy, I’ll never back out of a dare. IF you let me wear my regular underwear
Roy: deal
Dick goes to Donna’s room to change
Donna: I could’ve sworn I bought the men’s one
Roy: you probably did
Donna: so was he being at bitch cuz if so he has to do the forfeit
Wally: we once dared dick to call slade Wilson daddy in front of Bruce and he did it the next day, you think that THIS is where he draws the line
Garth (has reached zen no thoughts head empty): might still be 2 small, both things can be true *holding index finger up on each and and joining them together in front of his face why crossing his eyes*
Donna in a whisper: is he really that big?
Roy immediately: yes
Donna: you answered that way too quickly
Wally: well we did share a locker room for like 2 decades
Donna: I’m sorry? Did you like compare?? Or something
Garth: noooooooo (honest)
Wally: …occasionally
Roy: idk what yall are on about I just fucked the guy
Donna: YOU DID WHAT???
Garth: ????????????????
Wally: HUH? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN????
Roy realizing this was when they were on the outsiders,very toxic with one another and on opposite paths of self destruction: Okay listen it was a weird time for us, Donna was dead and-
Donna: SO YOU FUCKED THE NEXT BLACK HAIRED BLUE EYED PERSON ON THE TEAM
Garth (still high): wait I was on that team? Why didn’t you fuck me? I have black hair and blue eyes
Wally patting his shoulder in a supportive manner: not enough daddy issues.
Garth: *nods understandingly* ahhhhh
Roy: AS I was saying, it was a weird time I had my whole thing with Cheshire, you were dead which means dick wanted to die more than usual. Anyway it happened I love him but let’s not do that again
Garth: but would you? Like without the toxic would you
Roy: Raw. Next question
Donna *did not need to know this about dick but also mildly impressed* curiosity is man’s greatest sin and as a feminist it’s her job to even that playing field even if it’s cursed knowledge:… so how big is he…
Roy doing the hand size thing you know the one: big
Donna: damnnnn
Garth (still very high has ascended to a 5th dimension can smell colors): the real reason oracle is in a wheelchair
Wally: *falls out of his chair*
Donna: GARTH
Roy: *burst out laughing*
hello, i would like to hear about the titans fantasy au O.O
Oh man, you really shouldn't enable me like this... but if you insist!!
Alright, here's the setting: We're in some weird Lord of Rings/DnD fantasy setting with various magical creatures and inconsistent technological developments. Were tunics worn at the same time as ball gowns? Were carriages used at the same time as broad swords? I don't know! And I'm not doing any historical research! It's just haphazardly medieval!
Donna, for the most part, is relatively unchanged. She fits into this setting rather well. She is the demigod daughter of Zues, warrior in training, third in line to be Queen of the Amazons. At 13 years old she is a new arrival from her island nation and she is hoping to learn monster hunting (she's hoping to learn by doing). The one condition of her joining Diana was that she was supposed to stay with Diana at all times. Both of them nodded and smiled in agreement when their mother, the Queen, said this. Both immediately parted ways once their boat hit the shores of this new and exciting world.
Speaking of new and exciting, the King of Atlantis' ward is tagging along for the first time to see the surface world. Garth is fascinated (and a little terrified) and he's hoping to learn new types of magic! The Crown Prince (his older brother) Koryak says that he will make a fearsome mage one day and he really doesn't want to let him down. Garth imagines that one day his brother will rule as King and Garth will be there at his side as the Head Mage. He really has to work on his skills to get to that point though! Hence studying abroad. He's also... maybe... looking to meet some friends. Or any friends, really. He doesn't have any and he's heard good things.
Lord Richard of Gotham is so tired of politics. His... 'father' is the Crown Prince, next in line for the throne of Gotham. Not that anyone, including Bruce, is happy about it. The Kane family has had the crown for centuries and now, because the King only had daughters and Bruce's mom had the audacity to marry a Wayne (their rival house), they stand to lose it all. Thankfully, Bruce's status as Crown Prince is only temporary. As soon as Princess Kate Kane is married off, her husband will automatically be next in line. (Although they've sure been taking their time with that. What's the hold up?) So Bruce doesn't have to ever worry about being King and Dick (as Bruce's totally legitimate love child that Bruce didn't make up to make sure Dick could inherit everything if he ever died, don't do the math on their ages) doesn't ever have to worry about the throne at all. Sure, he's technically second in line but it's as far away from reality as a nightmare and just as scary. For right now all Dick has to worry about is being a squire, going on adventures and learning how to be a great knight! What could go wrong!?
Crown Prince Elroy is fucked. Seriously fucked. The old Crown Prince Oliver saw Roy at an archery competition and decided 'Yeah, that one.' Ollie offered him a room, food and all the arrows he could ever want. When Roy found out that Ollie was taking a page out of Robin Hood's book, Roy was overjoyed. The two of them had a blast stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. It was great! And then Ollie's father, the King, found out. He disowned Ollie, not that Ollie cared, and life went on as normal with one major giant exception. The King didn't have any other children (legitimate children anyway) and Ollie was now disowned. So the King legitimized Roy as Oliver's bastard child and heir. Or, sorry, Elroy because apparently 'Roy' wasn't fancy enough. Now Elroy is the Crown Prince. Elroy is under lock and key so that Ollie can't influence him. Elroy is being forced to study. (The King promised him that this was just to make Ollie see reason but Roy isn't so sure... the King is putting a lot of effort into his training...) The only saving grace is that Roy is being sent away this summer to learn sword fighting. Archery is 'a cowards sport' apparently and Roy 'needs to expand his horizons'. Well.. they certainly agree on that last one. Roy is making a break for it and he's not coming back.
Wally is a young apprentice working for his Uncle Barry. He's learning how to make medicine and treat wounds and find useful herbs. At least, he's learning that sometimes. A lot of his time is spent being a delivery boy. Uncle Barry says that's an important part of any medical treatment, actually delivering the medicine. Wally thinks that he just wants him to burn off energy. Regardless, Wally spends most of his time delivering medicine and he does it well. It helps that he can cross the continent before most people can blink their eyes. He can't tell anyone that though. Barry has made that part extremely clear. As far as their patients are concerned, Barry is a local doctor who just lives outside of whichever town they're in. There's a lot of things Wally can't tell people. Like how his eyes glow and magic lights up on his fingertips when he's excited. Or how he doesn't really like hats, he just has to wear them to hide his slightly too pointy ears. He gets it. He does. He's heard the whispered stories of fae, the hushed talk of changelings, he's read the old cracked tomes on the Elven Folk. He knows what people will think he is. But he isn't. He really isn't. He's just... Wally. And sure, he might be a little bit odd but he's just as human as the next guy, he swears!
Donna finds herself left on the doorstep of the greatest monster hunters in this new world. Garth is accepted to shadow some of the best defense mages ever. Dick finds himself stopping in with some fellow Knights (he is soon to be one after all) on his way home after a particularly hard mission. Roy finds himself shipped off to learn sword fighting from some 'trusted experts'. Wally is on a routine delivery run to drop off some supplies for his Uncle's good friends. Whether it's fate or something far more sinister, they all find themselves at the temple of the Knights of the Emerald Flame. Sir Hal Jordan, who was not ready for the sudden onslaught of children, panics and gives them a mission to get them out of his hair.
The rest, as they say, is history.
don't mess with aqualad fans there's like 5 of us
I beseech you for your Garth insight, wht personality of his do you like? Bc every version of him I've read is a little alienating to me (part of the reason why I prefer Jackson is bc Idk which Garth I'll get or wht even his backstory is now) so if I started to try and get invested in him wht stories or version would you recc?
Okay for absolute full disclosure here I’m currently getting into Aquaman comics chronologically. Primarily through the lens of Garth. And there are some things I had already read at some point, but in my current venture I’m just a little bit post-Crisis, so my knowledge of the Aquaman side of things in general is still relatively limited.
But I can definitely talk about Garth.
First things first, absolutely anything featuring a man calling himself Garth from any point later than the year 2011 is a completely different person. I can say that with full confidence even having read, like, no more than 2 comics including the Rebirth iteration of his character. It’s just not the same guy on seemingly any level, which can definitely account for the alienation aspect, and it’s very disappointing.
But on the topic of OG Garth. Let’s discuss his personality.
Something that stands out to me immediately about Garth is that he is very emotional. (Apparently a common theme among the characters I like.) But more than that, he’s emotional in like a shockingly healthy way? He does not bottle things up, if something hurts or upsets him he makes it known, if he feels betrayed or disrespected by someone he takes it up with them, and he’s not at all afraid of direct confrontation if it’s warranted.
But despite that, he remains consistently reserved, sensitive, and gentle, which is kind of a miracle among male comic book characters. He can have a temper too, but it only really comes up if something is stopping him from helping someone in trouble, or if he feels mistreated past a certain limit, and it never really feels like he’s lashing out unnecessarily. His continual willingness to stand up for himself in spite of his “softer” personality sticks with me.
And tying into all of the above he’s textually acknowledged for his talents in communication and later diplomacy, which, again, not usually traits emphasized in Superhero Men. This example is very cute:
Not that he doesn’t enjoy fighting. He definitely does. In fact, a few of his notable outbursts have been explicitly about his beef with pacifist philosophies LOL. Although he notably doesn’t go out looking for fights or starting them without good reason by any means. (I think this is a point of diversion between him and his imposter-self. Maybe. From what I’ve heard.)
Now backpedaling a bit, part of why all of his fairly healthy emotional and communicative traits are so charming to me is that he definitely is NOT without his issues. Idk how much you know about his backstory but for starters, he was abandoned and left to die as a baby, initially thought to be due to an Atlantean superstition regarding his purple eyes, surviving (mostly) on his own for a while and eventually being found by Arthur. Due to this, as well as the ambiguous and changeable state of his relationship with Arthur (whether they see each other as friends, brothers, or a father-son duo is. Complicated to say the least. It’s almost like a Jedi-Padawan type thing if you’re into star wars LMAO), Garth is kind of a walking hotbed of abandonment issues, theoretically at least. Like I said, he’s pretty healthy when it comes to expressing his needs and feelings. He's definitely more well-adjusted than Arthur ends up being.
Loneliness and a lack of belonging/identity are also huge themes with him as well. This is why the Titans are so important to Garth, even if his responsibilities and limitations prevent him from being a consistent member of the team. During maybe the first period where he genuinely doesn’t know where he stands with Arthur anymore, he goes off on his own to seek out his (purple-eyed) people and try to find his parents to give himself some sense of personal identity and find out who he is--as it turns out, he has immense trouble relating to them or even being civil with them at points, and ends up feeling like as much of an outcast with them as he does in Atlantis, ultimately realizing that his identity and who he fundamentally is are things that only he can decide for himself! Go Garth!
Some other issues he deals with are general insecurity and anxiety--these are mostly shown within the context of the Titans, where he’s often the odd one out as an Atlantean and severely limited in his abilities and effectiveness outside of the water (i.e. nearly suffocating to death all the time.) At the end of the original Teen Titans, Garth quits the team because he felt so deeply inferior and useless to them that it was making him actually severely physically ill to the point of passing out multiple times and people genuinely worrying he was going to die. That is a lot of anxiety. Though he doesn’t have nearly as much insecurity when he’s in the water, he's still shown to be A Worrier, and Tula makes fun of him for being too vigilant or in his own head, unable to loosen up and so on. Also, in his very first appearance, he is deathly afraid of fish!!!!!
Now for recs. First of all, if you’re insane or plan on being so in the future, this is a link to a complete reading order, which is what I’ve been loosely following. More specifically, Garth’s first appearance is in Adventure Comics #269. I would also recommend Adventure Comics #270 and #278. It’s some of the cutest shit ever, but it has little bearing on his later appearances.
From then I would go to Aquaman v1 (1962). Specifically #17-18, #23, #25, #33 (Tula intro!), and #40-47 (this arc is really drawn out and silly and Garth’s segments are mostly separate from the rest of the plot so after the first one you can honestly just skip through most of it until you see Garth or Tula LOL). He’s also in Teen Titans v1 during this time, I would read the first issue and then skip to #19, #28-29, #30, #40 (kilt moment), #45-53. Also, The Brave and the Bold (2008) #10 is a very cute story that focuses on Garth and takes place during this era.
Sort of concurrent to the Titans appearances is maybe the first major Aquaman storyline which you can find as a trade paperback (on readcomiconline lol) called Aquaman: The Death of a Prince. Basically Arthur is put through a meat-grinder of facing a bunch of his villains back to back, being deposed as the King of Atlantis, losing Arthur Jr., and as a result, becoming estranged from Garth and Mera. This is where you also find the first real expansion of Garth’s backstory.
Then he pops up in New Teen Titans (1980) #23 and #33. Tales of the Teen Titans #45-47 + #50. New Teen Titans (1984) #6. And then Crisis on Infinite Earths happens wherein Tula is killed. It’s very minor and not worth reading the whole thing just to see that if you’ve never read it before. He sticks with the New Teen Titans (1984) team for a spell when almost everyone in the usual team is gone and/or going through a mental breakdown from #19-26 I believe, and the grief makes him very quiet and distant, but he breaks through it by the end. Basically right after that are the events of Teen Titans Spotlight #10 with a very odd psychedelic story where he has like a telepathic battle with Mento lol, and later in #18 of the same book.
Congratulations, you are now caught up with me. This has also gotten disturbingly long, so I’m going to cut it off here. If you actually make it through all this and would like more recommendations for Garth past this point feel free to ask again. Or if you get sick of reading these older comics and don’t care about skipping ahead/potentially not understanding shit, he shows up pretty consistently in Aquaman v5 (and the excellent Tempest (1996) miniseries where he makes the moniker-switch takes place after I think #25 of that), and Titans (1999).
love garth also being outraged. political marriage/shotgun wedding solidarity
The Brave and the Bold (1955) #54
HELP WALLY AND GARTH'S BEEF IN EARLIER COMICS???
There was a little interview with George Perez where he said he liked how Garth was sexy and Mediterranean looking, and showed off his muscular legs. This was an interview from the 80s I found, but lost 😩 like he PURPOSELY drew Garth sexy.... whew.
TitansTower used to have it, looks like the site is no longer up! It's an interview of George Perez by Andy Mangels in 1987
Lucky for YOU, I saved that part! He doesn't just say he's Mediterranean, he also says he based Garth's looks off of an ex-girlfriend.
Garth is the prettiest of the OGs confirmed.
I do like that he leaned into the curly hair (he's had that since the Silver Age tbh) because it really did make his character stand out when they aren't in costumes. I know pretty much every comic character lost their curly hair by the 90s, but I really miss Garth's
Friendly reminder that Roy Harper is literally the worst.
Have you ever written about Roy and Garth's friendship?
I actually haven’t. Their friendship is ridiculous andhilarious though.
The Titans v1 #45
Keep reading
Can you tell us about Garth’s personality? Like what do you wish writers would remember and do or stop doing for him?
Absolutely! I'll try to keep it short... Generally speaking, Garth is very sensitive and open about his emotions. All of his character development revolves around love and loss, and the merging of the two.
As Aqualad, he's more timid and more self conscious, but he has a strong sense of justice and a very strong sense of loyalty as well. His role as Tempest is distinctly marked with him having a major confidence boost, so he speaks his mind more as he gets older and takes on more leadership roles, which he is really suited for because he's (mostly!) level-headed. When he's not being level-headed, it's because he's super passionate about something (usually love related, again)
He doesn't really have a dominant personality, which is why he's a really good supporting cast member. He's not a very serious character, so he can either bring light to a stoic character or bring more chaotic characters back down to Earth. the range!
What I really like about him is Garth is truly, genuinely, nice. He's someone who isn't afraid to join a fight, but also understands that words can be more powerful and violence is not always the right answer. He also specifically doesn't want to kill anyone. He gains his magic powers specifically because his heart is pure and free from spite or malice, and is able to overcome villains because of that love and kindness inside him.
Not to be negative, but I hate everything about his current characterization. Just throw the whole man out tbh. I find him really flat and uninteresting, and I can't even blame it totally on the writers not having any of the previous backstory and development to build off of. I think they just don't care.
Current Garth seems very aggressive and enthusiastic to fight, but also...idk, just very generic otherwise. which is not only boring (oh wow, the strong guy wants to punch things. original!) but really out of character based on previous canon. It just feels uninspired. Also I'm a little offended that not a single person involved in those comics bothered to look up what he was supposed to look like ghdskjghdfj
Also Garth/Atlanteans in general being pretentious is annoying. I think that comes from the Teen Titans show (where he is specifically written to be Beast Boy's foil, so he comes off as very cool and level-headed because Beast Boy is....not that) and then nobody bothered to do anything else for some reason.
The writers have to remember that Garth's strength (literally and figuratively) come from his heart, not his muscles, and that if you want to write a character who is defined by his love, you have to actually develop those stories about love.