Adventure Comics #442
Title: H Is For Holocaust
Cover Title: Can Aquaman Stop a Nuclear Nightmare? H Is For Holocaust
Cover Date: November-December 1975
Anthology: 2 Stories
Other Stories: "Vigilante: Gnome Man's Land"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Art: Jim Aparo
Editor: Joe Orlando
Cover: Jim Aparo
Cover Price: $0.25
Page Count: 12 pages
OVERVIEW:
A ship carrying nuclear materials is hijacked near some Atlantean kelp farms. Aquaman is warned by General Horgan to evacuate the area because NATO is going to bomb the ship to prevent the materials from becoming a terrorist bomb. Aquaman springs into action to stop the bomb, which will undoubtedly kill many of his people, and result in starvation for more. In the meantime, the evacuation starts, and Mera prepares to put a hard-water shield over the area to protect the crops.
With the help of his finny friends, and some feathered ones, Aquaman stops the missile and boards the ship. General Horgan decides to give Aquaman an hour before launching another missile. Once on the ship, Aquaman causes trouble and secures the ship by defeating the terrorists, then turns it over to NATO. And he vows to go to General Horgan and give him a piece of his mind.
COMMENTS:
The cover is neat, with Aquaman leaping aboard the ship while bullets fly and the missile zips by. Very dynamic and interesting.
There is a sub-plot in this story of Aquaman being uncertain about his leadership of the city, and some of the city leaders becoming uncertain that Aquaman should lead. This plot will develop further in the next few issues.
General Horgan asks Aquaman if his people have farm lands due North West of Ascension Island, and gives Aquaman 28 minutes to evacuate the area. Later Mera tells him that the evacuation had hardly begun. Horgan has no clue how many folks live under the ocean. But this is also a clue to the location of the city.
Aquaman rides the missile sent to destroy the ship, and disarms it in the air. He's unable to use his finny troops to simply stop the ship, though, because the shock wave from the missile causes the ship to leak some of its cargo into the water around the ship. When Aquaman is alone on the ship, trying to stop it, he thinks: "Well, if Batman can do it -- so can I!"
One of the ads in this issue is a piece of history. The first time Marvel and DC ever teamed up to do a comic book was their 1975 adaptation of the Wizard of Oz. There's an ad for the book in this issue.
CONCLUSION:
A pretty good story.