This is Wedding Bells Are Ringin', a month-long examination of notable comic book weddings, since this is June, after all, and that's a time for weddings. I let you all vote and you voted for this feature to spotlight real AND fake weddings. I've decided, then, to only go with weddings that actually ended with marriages, whether dreams or not (in other words, everything but called off weddings).

Today, we look at the bizarre lead-up to Aquaman and Mera's wedding.

Mera was introduced in the middle of 1963 in Aquaman #11. She was from another dimension and had the ability to control water itself. She became Aquaman's love interest, but they didn't really date, exactly, which made the events of Aquaman #18 so shocking.

The issue, written by Jack Miller and drawn by Nick Cardy, opened with Aquaman being named King of Atlantis, but he is shocked to learn that he has to specifically marry at Atlantean woman! I love the look on Aquaman's face. You can practically feel the spit going flying from his spit take!

Aquaman isn't happy, but eh, the law's the law, right? This is not going to go well for Mera.

Especially when we learn that Mera has actually decided to live specifically in this dimension to be with Aquaman after she lost the ability to return to her own dimension! She was followed on her seemingly one-way trip by the villainous Oceanus...

Mera does not take the news that Aquaman can't marry her well at all. "Oh, so I trapped myself in this dimension for you for no reason?"

Well, Oceanus takes over Atlantis and offers to make Mera his queen and she says yes...

They turn Atlantis into a prison camp, but Mera was actually plotting against Oceanus this whole time (it's a really convoluted plan by Mera that involved Atlantis being turned into a prison camp) and she succeeds in defeating Oceanus. Aquaman is thrilled and even happier when he is reminded that he could just make Mera an HONORARY Atlantean. So Aquaman's lack of an imagination almost left him heartbroken!

Then they get married, with Aquaman's Justice League teammates along for the ceremony...

Adorable.

If people have a notable wedding that they'd like to see featured, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com.