Because I wasn't really much of a Namor fan or reader, I have to take DC's version/s, both the Lori Lemaris Atlantis and the Aquaman Atlantis, particularly during the Skeates-Aparo run. Forget any real scientific justifications for the Atlanteans' ability to survive, let alone flourish, beneath the immensely deep and dark oceans, because, well, because, otherwise, no stories.

The Lemaris Atlantis was fanciful and innocent, and used just infrequently enough that any questions its existence raised were quickly forgotten. It seemed a bit of an underwater Eden, an asexual, egalitarian utopia.

Aquaman's Atlantis of the late 60s, meanwhile, reflected the turmoil of the surface world, with generational clashes, an anti-war group, political corruption and intrigue, and nicely developed characters, like Aquaman's friend and counselor, the scientist Vulko, and Aquaman's ally-turned-nemesis, the power-hungry Narkran. (Whose name, intentional or not, reminded this young liberal of "Nixon," especially when coupled with his hair, which gradually became more wavy, as Nixon's was always depicted in editorial cartoons.)



It was perfect that Skeates never spent much time at all explaining any of the technology or science that allowed Atlantis to exist, unlike, say a Roy Thomas-written Aquaman book might have. Atlantis just was. Skeates' scripts made for a compelling saga. Aparo's layouts, costumes and architectural designs did more than add to the futuristic look of Atlantis; they simply turned Atlantis into a credible alternate reality. Their run was underappreciated, if not unappreciated by many at the time, I think, perhaps because Aquaman was considered a second-tier title. (What sales reports I've seen show the title steadily losing ground. NHow reliable any of these truly were, I don't know, but however you cut it, Aquaman wasn't selling.)

But... if you were reading DC then, you knew that Aquaman was something special, clealry one of DC's consistently superb books for nigh on three years.