Aquaman & Mera: The Wedding Issues: 1964 | 2020

The Aqua-Couple's original wedding occured in AQUAMAN #18 by Jack Miller & artist Nick Cardy. The marriage of Aquaman, King of Atlantis (the hero was never referred to by his given name in comics at the time) and Mera, runaway Queen of Dimension Aqua (as Xebel was first known)...

...remains a huge turning point in comic book history for 2 reasons: First, their marriage was the first legit super-hero wedding. No fake-out, gimmick, or imaginary story -- Aquaman and Mera were the real deal and their popular union paved the way for the many that followed...

...and secondly, the AquaMera wedding (and moreso the whole Miller/Cardy run on AQUAMAN) showed that readers wanted characters to develop and grow -- for events to matter, remain and have long-term implications. Case-in-point: given the fictional wedding date of June 27th...

...Aquaman and Mera made history again, an appropriate 9 months later, with the birth of their "Aquababy" Arthur Jr. on March 31st (as dated by DC's powers-that-be of the day). It was the best of times for the King & Queen of Atlantis, blissfully unaware of the dark days ahead...

It goes without saying the '70s, '80s, '90s & 2K were not kind to Arthur and Mera's relationship. After suffering the unbearable loss of Arthur Jr., the couple would find their way back to one another for short periods of time only to end up ripped apart again and again...

This finally changed circa 2010 with the couple finding their champion in writer Geoff Johns, the first in decades to see Mera as an assest rather than a liability to the titular hero's world. "Aquaman & Mera are stronger together." and The New 52 series record sales proved it...

The King and Queen of the Seas were now younger, de-traumatized and reestablished as one of comicdom's premiere superhero couples but DC's hesitancy to commit to their relationship status didn't sit well with fans who clammored for them to once again be husband & wife...

Arthur officially proposed to Mera in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 and fans were overjoyed. The royal wedding was teased in promo material for the relaunch but sadly the event never materialized onto the pages of AQUAMAN...

42 issues later, Arthur & Mera were no closer to their second once-in-a-lifetime than they were at #1. Blame it on the Atlantean prophecy of the Fatal Queen or what it actually was: ever-shifting editorial/publisher priorities -- either way, readers had become bored & restless...

Enter @KellySue & Robson Rocha. The new creative team debuted with #43 and introduced fandom to an Aquaman that was at once all-new fresh yet old-friend familiar. Some noted Mera's limited panel time early on, but like Queen of Atlantis herself, Kelly Sue was working on a plan...