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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 062

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Adventure #129 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #129 (June 1948) - The Treasure Beneath The Lake!

When Aquaman and Ark go on vacation to a new lake created by Brentwood Dam, they quickly stumble across villainy.

I love the splash page on this one, with Aquaman (and Ark) inside a bottle with a model ship. I also like the implication that Aquaman goes on vacation to "new" bodies of water created by man. In this case, the lake created by a new dam. Aquaman tells Ark that there are still trees, roads, and houses in the lake.

Naturally, the vacation doesn't last long, as Aquaman spots a diver being attacked by three other divers. He rescues the victim, Frank, who tells Aquaman about a fortune in gold dust that his old partner hid before being murdered by Duke. Aquaman takes up the treasure hunt, and plays an underwater ghost to scare off Duke's thugs. But Duke himself isn't frightened, and Aquaman soon requires rescue.

Despite his problems, Aquaman spends a lot of this tale smiling. His grin after he scares off Duke's thugs is pretty amusing.

Finny Friends Report: Ark is the only sea-life assist in this story, and he helps Aquaman search as well as rescues him near the end of the tale.

Captured/Knocked Out report: After Aquaman scares off Duke's thugs and lets his guard down, Duke himself sneaks up and wallops him with a wrench underwater.

Quotefile: Aquaman, "Here goes my vacation - because crime never seems to take one."

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 9:41 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Monday, January 01, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 045

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Adventure #111 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #111 (December 1946) - The Man Who Robbed Davy Jones' Locker!

Aquaman and Ark visit Manila, and learn about a salvage operation that's being poached by unknown thieves.

Oooh, this is another one that doesn't date well. The Secret Seven Gang are a bunch of Japanese, complete with all the stereotypes and insults typical of the era. There are also at least eight of them, although Aquaman seems to think there are only seven. He takes out one outside their bunker, then sees seven more inside. This story also uses the vulgar English term "hara-kiri" for Seppuku, and the circumstances for it are... very odd. Again, it's the stereotypes as understood by Americans of the time. The story is notable for the return of Ark, but otherwise is worth a miss.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman is hanging out with Ark again! After visiting a U.S.O. show and learning that the performing seal is sick, Ark takes his place in the show... learning some new tricks in the process. To figure out who is stealing the money being salvaged, Aquaman asks the local fish where the divers who come at night go. He has an electric eel sting one of the gang so he can enter their base. When Aquaman is attacked by the gang leader, Swordfish Sam rams the bad guy and saves Aquaman. And lastly, when the sole survivor faces off with Aquaman, Ark uses the tricks he's learned to take out the last of the bad guys (and gets a medal for it).

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is held at bay twice by enemies with weapons, but never actually captured or knocked out.

Quotefile: Intro text box - "Aquaman, ruler of the seas, is weary... he's fought gangsters of the sea-ways who were harpooning all the whales in the sea... he's won a battle of brawn with the ocean's most fearsome scourge - the giant octopus... and he's done many other feats of derring-do! Yes, Aquaman needs a vacation!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 9:04 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 036

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #107 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #107 (January 1946) - Blackie, Come Home!

Ark's son, Blackie, is frightened of Aquaman and runs away on a very long journey across the United States.

The final Aquaman in More Fun Comics! All the superhero features in More Fun moved to Adventure Comics after this one, and More Fun became an all-humor magazine. For Aquaman's last More Fun, he goes and visits Ark the Seal, who helped on a few previous adventures and was Aquaman's first recurring ally. We learn that Ark has retired to a safe island in "Northern Waters" and is raising a family. His son, however, thinks humans are dangerous, and runs away from Aquaman.

Blackie must move really fast. First he is chased by a polar bear, which Aquaman stops. Then he swims up the St Lawrence River, and to Lake Ontario. Then Niagara Falls. Yes, Blackie goes over the falls in a barrel and gets to be on the front page. Then he goes through Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and bothers a fisherman in Lake Michigan. He escapes Aquaman and goes overland in a fish truck to the Mississippi, where he interrupts a singing act on a showboat. In a single text box he goes down the Mississippi, "into the Gulf of Mexico, up the Rio Grande and overland again to Great Salt Lake," where Aquaman finally catches up to him.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman runs into his old friend Ark, and chats with him. When Blackie runs away, Aquaman follows him. First he protects him from a polar bear. Then he runs into another seal who points the way Blackie has gone. He throws a very large fish into a fisherman's boat to protect Blackie from being killed for stealing the fisherman's other catches. Lastly, he throws Blackie himself at a poacher, before returning Blackie to Ark for some punishment.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman isn't captured or knocked out in this one.

Quotefile: Ark, "RK! RK!* (*Seal language meaning, 'Well, if it isn't Aquaman! Sure is a small world!')" ... Polar Bear, "RRRRRR...* (*Translation: 'Lunch-Time! Here's a blue-plate special')"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 7:37 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Monday, November 20, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 020

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #91 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #91 (May 1943) - Marauders of the Mississippi!

Aquaman and Ark take a swim up the Mississippi and catch some men in the act of breaking a levee.

Ark is referred to as a seal in this story... Ark has subtitles in his speech balloons... Aquaman comments on a levee while swimming upstream, "Lucky there's no danger of its breaking!"... The boss, Ebenezer Rugg, wants to flood the area so he can buy cheap land. However, he tells his thugs that the flood will allow them to loot. This leads to the thugs flooding the wrong bits of land, Rugg's own farm, once Aquaman stops them twice at the location Rugg would have preferred... Rugg is actually pretty smart for a bad guy. He lures Aquaman into a flooded house by pretending he's drowned, then burns the house, making sure all the exits are blocked.

Finny Friends Report: A catfish warns Aquaman and Ark about the first break in the levee. Ark plugs the hole in the levee with his body while Aquaman gets clay to repair it. During the flood, Ark leads cows to safety. Ark also participates in the battle against the thugs.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is clocked on the back of the head with a gun and left in a burning house.

Quotefile: Ark, upon seeing a catfish talking to Aquaman: "ARK! (Suffering Catfish!)"... Cheering bystander: "Aquaman not only saved my life--- he saved my chickens, too!"... Ark, while fighting: "A---ARK! (When I flap this flipper---crooks take a flop!)"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 6:01 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 018

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #89 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #89 (March 1943) - The Streamlined Buccaneers!

Black Jack has gone truly modern, with tommy guns instead of cutlasses and a new-fangled ship with all the latest piratical innovations.

At the beginning of the story, Black Jack and his pirates abandon the old Jolly Roger to go to their new ship, the Jolly Roger II. JRII has a gasoline engine, smoke bombs, and can fly... A new named sea friend is introduced, Slippery the Eel... Ark the Sea Lion, Slippery the Eel - you could make your own set of beanie babies or pokemon out of Aquaman's finny friends... Black Jack tries to drown Aquaman by using a chemical that removes oxygen from water, but Aquaman tricks him into turning on a current, which according to Aquaman produces oxygen from the water by electrolysis... At the end of the story, the Navy finds the original Jolly Roger and uses it to transport Black Jack and his crew to prison.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman plays tag with a bunch of fish early in the story. Ark the Sea Lion reports the sinking of the first victim. Ark gets a group of manatees to help get the survivors to an island. Ark gets a group of "fierce giant turtles" to assist Aquaman in keeping Black Jack's ship from flying. Aquaman and Slippery the Eel get a group of whales and more eels to attack Black Jack's hideout. The whales use their water spouts to get the eels and Aquaman up into the place, and the eels tie up Black Jack's crew of thugs.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is captured by a "mechanically thrown lasso" which snags him while he's diving into the water from the flying ship.

Best Quotes: Black Jack: "Aqua-GLUB!"... unnamed pirate on drowning Aquaman: "This is gonna be fun!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 3:52 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 014

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #85 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #85 (November 1942) - The Unhappy Hunting Grounds

A group of poachers attack Seal Island, but are soon in trouble when Aquaman is warned and comes to stop them.

To kill Aquaman, the leader of the poachers, Morrell, leaves him on a tropical island. Yes, they had to go south to get to one. Aquaman drinks all the coconut milk and attempts to find shade under a palm tree. He's briefly saved by a tropical rainstorm. But then, after all that, the caption says that he tries to escape for "hours". Clearly there's no one hour limit, and equally clearly it's the sun and heat that are causing him problems, not the lack of water. But I wonder if this story isn't one of the inspirations for the infamous one hour limit?

The poachers are using "electric guns" that deliver a fatal shock to the seals in order to preserve the furs... Ark the Sea Lion makes a very brief one panel appearance in this story... The electric guns don't work on the polar bear... The poachers are terrified of the walruses, but still apparently have time to get dressed before jumping into the icy water to escape... Aquaman leaves a gloating note for the poachers threatening to introduce them to his whale friends... Aquaman digs his way to freedom after finding an oyster inland and figuring out that there's a water passage under the island... Aquaman radios for help for the poachers after he sinks their ship. On the strength of Aquaman's radio testimony, the poachers are thrown in jail.

Finny Friends Report: A seal seeks out Aquaman to warn of the poachers. A polar bear attacks Aquaman, and he throws it at the poachers to scare them off the island. Aquaman gets a group of walruses to board the poachers boat while they sleep and scare the poachers into the water. He's attacked by a swordfish, but tames it and has it ram a hole in the poachers ship.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman rescues a poacher who apparently fell overboard, and is captured in a net. He's then placed on a tropical island to die from exposure.

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 6:12 PM - permalink - 0 comments

Monday, November 13, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 013

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Want to read these stories yourself? Write to DC: Dan Didio, Executive Editor, DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York NY 10019 and ask for a reprint of Aquaman's Golden Age tales.

More Fun #84 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #84 (October 1942) - Raid on Atlantis

Three greedy men capture Aquaman to use in an exhibition, and use gas to control him.

Ah! This story features the first appearance of Ark the Sea Lion, a friend of Aquaman who shows up in multiple stories. Ark is the first sea creature that is actually named by Aquaman, but definitely not the last.

Back in World's Finest #6, Peers and Rogan had this same plan, but never carried it out... The readers are informed in the opening text box that they must root for Aquaman in the story... I'm not good with telling Golden Age writers apart, but this story seems very different than previous ones, and my guess is that it has a new writer... Coburn somehow knows where Aquaman's Sea Fortress is... After Jerrod and Skol kill Coburn, they lose the secret of the drug that pacifies Aquaman, which eventually allows him to escape... Two children attending the exhibition note that Aquaman doesn't look happy to be in the tank as part of the show... When Aquaman breaks free from the gas, the same two children notice that Aquaman looks happy again... Aquaman is shown outswimming a human, a dolphin, a shark, and a sea lion (presumably Ark), all in the same tank. How'd they get the shark to race and not eat?

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman chats with Ark the Sea Lion and Ark responds with repeated "Ark!" calls. It's unclear if Aquaman understands him at this point. Aquaman battles a hammerhead shark, batwing ray, octopus, and barracuda. A giant sea turtle saves a thug, apparently at Aquaman's request. And finally, Ark bowls over the bad guys, knocking away their gun.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is captured when he swims close to the bathysphere, and held by a net. He isn't knocked out. Doctor Coburn uses a gas to make Aquaman willing to sign contracts and be willing to perform in the exhibit.

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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posted by Tegan at 7:51 PM - permalink - 0 comments