New "Facts Page" for this issue

SUMMARY:

Young Jerry Higgins wants to go to sea and become a sailor, but when he runs away to become a cabin boy, he has the misfortune of ending up on Black Jack's ship.

OVERVIEW:

Young Jerry Higgins dreams of going to sea, and decides to run away and join a crew as a cabin boy. As fate would have it, he joins the crew of the notorious Captain Black Jack, modern pirate! Black Jack works Jerry until he's sick, and Jerry witnesses the pirate's crimes.

Aquaman later catches Black Jack's ship on a reef, and is about to call the Coast Guard, when Black Jack threatens Jerry's life unless Aquaman helps. Aquaman removes the ship from the reef, and patches the hole in the ship with a giant shell. Black Jack orders Aquaman to hide him from the Coast Guard, and Aquaman does so, then sneaks into the ship via the hole.

Once inside the ship, he frees Jerry, then tricks Black Jack and sinks his ship. He returns Jerry to his home town, and Jerry promises to wait a bit longer before going back to sea.

COMMENTS:

Poor Jerry got seasick right away. He also can't swim. He got the notion of going to sea from reading old sea adventures. He intended to work his way up to captain from cabin boy.

Black Jack is an old Aquaman villain who could be considered Aquaman's greatest nemesis during the Golden Age. He's just a scumbag pirate, but was smart enough to give Aquaman a bit of a challenge.

Aquaman's gloves are yellow in this story. In addition, his hair is drawn to look wet when he emerges from the water. A small detail, but one that sometimes is ignored.

CONCLUSION:

A regular reprint book of the old Adventures stories would be a really good idea. Great stuff that's just sitting around unread.