New "Facts Page" for this issue

SUMMARY:

Captain Stillar blackmails Aquaman into helping search for treasures, but gets a lot more than he's bargained for.

OVERVIEW:

A sea pirate, Captain Stillar, has an idea that will make him rich. He harpoons a swordfish, and holds it hostage until Aquaman arrives. He then traps Aquaman and explains that he has torpedoes aimed at the fish that followed him to the ship, and he'll shoot them if Aquaman doesn't do as he says.

Aquaman agrees to perform three errands for Stillar. The first is to bring him a chest full of precious jewels. Aquaman returns with a chest of jewel fish. Stillar is angry, but sends him to fill a sack full of pearls. Aquaman returns with a sack of tiny pearls that have no value.

Furious, Stillar orders Aquaman to bring him every last drop of gold from a Spanish Gold Fleet that sank nearby. Aquaman agrees, and starts loading gold onto Stillar's ship. Stillar is delighted... until the weight of the gold starts to sink his ship.

Stillar fires his torpedo, which Aquaman chases down and disarms. Then he rescues Stillar and turns him over to the authorities.

COMMENTS:

There's a lot of story here for six pages.

This issue marks Ramona Fradon's debut as Aquaman artist. She went on to draw well over 100 Aquaman stories.

The art is incredible. Aquaman is never drawn particularly big, but he's very detailed. Note the yellow gloves, instead of his later green ones. One panel of Aquaman riding the torpedo brings to mind a scene from Dr. Strangelove.

The other stories in this issue include one where Lana Lang believes she has super powers thanks to a mysterious Egyptian helmet, a Johnny Quick story where he outwits some very clever crooks, and a Green Arrow story where a movie star outshines Green Arrow's talents.

CONCLUSION:

These Golden Age stories were incredibly good taken in a nice dose of four stories like this. I really wish DC would reprint more of these stories.