First Appearance Of
More Fun Comics #73 (1941). Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. Aquaman's debut and DC Atlantis's first reference. The undersea kingdom is established as Aquaman's home but is sketched only briefly in 1941; the deep worldbuilding comes in subsequent decades.

1st Reference

First Appearance of Atlantis (DC)

More Fun Comics #73

November 1941 · DC · Golden Age

Aquaman's undersea kingdom. Distinct from Marvel's Atlantis (Sub-Mariner's kingdom). DC's Atlantis was sketched in More Fun Comics #73 (1941) and developed extensively across the Silver Age and Bronze Age, becoming one of the most-developed undersea civilizations in superhero comics.

Key Issue

Created by Mort Weisinger · Paul Norris

By Atomm Updated

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DC Comics Place Aquaman's undersea kingdom.

Atlantis (DC) first appears as a brief reference in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, alongside Aquaman's debut. The deep worldbuilding emerged in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959) under Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon's Silver Age Aquaman origin issue. DC's Atlantis is structurally distinct from Marvel's Atlantis (Sub-Mariner's kingdom). The 2018 James Wan Aquaman film extensively depicted Atlantis in live-action with substantial production design; the film grossed over $1 billion globally and made Atlantis one of the most-recognized DC live-action settings.

Firsts Timeline

  1. More Fun Comics #73 cover
    First Reference November 1941

    More Fun Comics #73

    By Mort Weisinger, Paul Norris

    Mort Weisinger writes; Paul Norris pencils. Aquaman's debut. Atlantis is referenced as Aquaman's home but is sketched only briefly. The deep worldbuilding of DC's Atlantis comes in subsequent decades, particularly in the Adventure Comics era of the late 1950s and the broader Silver Age.

  2. First Sustained Atlantis Worldbuilding May 1959

    Adventure Comics #260

    By Robert Bernstein, Ramona Fradon

    Robert Bernstein writes; Ramona Fradon pencils. The Silver Age Aquaman origin issue establishes Atlantis as a fully-developed undersea civilization with Atlantean culture, government, and history. The Bernstein-Fradon framing replaces the brief 1941 reference with a coherent kingdom that subsequent writers built on.

  3. Peter David Atlantis Reset December 1993

    Aquaman: Time and Tide #1

    By Peter David, Kirk Jarvinen

    Peter David writes; Kirk Jarvinen pencils. The 1993 Aquaman miniseries reframed Atlantis with darker political stakes and the start of the Aquaman political-leader-of-Atlantis framing that has dominated subsequent runs. David's later ongoing Aquaman series (1994-1998) continued the political framework.

  4. Aquaman Films December 2018

    Aquaman (2018 film)

    By James Wan

    James Wan directs. The 2018 film extensively depicted Atlantis in live-action. The film's Atlantis worldbuilding (multiple kingdoms, the Trench, Xebel, the broader undersea geopolitics) drew on Geoff Johns's New 52 Aquaman run. The film grossed over $1 billion globally, making Atlantis one of the most-recognized DC live-action settings.

What Atlantis is

Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris referenced Atlantis briefly in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941) alongside Aquaman’s debut. The 1941 framing was minimal; Atlantis was Aquaman’s home but received only sketch-level treatment. The deep worldbuilding came eighteen years later in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959), where Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon established Atlantis as a fully-developed undersea civilization with culture, government, and history.

Peter David’s 1993 Aquaman: Time and Tide miniseries and his subsequent ongoing run reframed Atlantis with darker political stakes and the start of the Aquaman-as-political-leader-of-Atlantis framing. Geoff Johns’s New 52 Aquaman run further developed the broader undersea geopolitics, introducing or expanding subordinate kingdoms (Xebel, the Trench) and cementing the political-thriller framework that the 2018 James Wan film adapted.

The 2018 Aquaman film extensively depicted Atlantis in live-action with substantial production design. The film’s Atlantis grossed over $1 billion globally, making it one of the most-recognized DC live-action settings.

Collector context

More Fun Comics #73 is the canonical Aquaman and Atlantis first-appearance key. CGC 9.0 and above is in the high five to low six figures. Atlantis’s first-appearance value is folded into the Aquaman first-appearance value.

Adventure Comics #260 (the first sustained Atlantis worldbuilding) is recognized as a Silver Age Aquaman origin key and trades in the four-to-low-five-figure range at CGC 9.0 and above.

Frequently asked questions

The questions readers and collectors ask most.

What is Atlantis's first appearance in DC?

More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, as a brief reference alongside Aquaman's debut. Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959) is the first sustained Atlantis worldbuilding. Different framings privilege different issues.

How is DC's Atlantis different from Marvel's?

Different publishers built independent Atlantis mythologies. DC's Atlantis (Aquaman's kingdom) is structurally separate from Marvel's Atlantis (Sub-Mariner's kingdom). Both draw on Greek-mythological Atlantis as source material; both are independent superhero adaptations of that source.

Is the Aquaman film Atlantis the same as the comic?

Largely yes, with adaptation-specific additions. The 2018 James Wan film drew heavily on Geoff Johns's New 52 Aquaman run for the broader undersea geopolitics (multiple kingdoms, the Trench). The film's Atlantis is structurally consistent with the comic version while adding cinematic-scale visual elements.

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