As has already been noted elsewhere on this board, today's "Aquaman" DC Finest edition completely comprises the contents of 2003's Aquaman Archives Vol. 1 (and only). I have read that volume twice in the the last 20 years and have no desire to read those particular issues again anytime soon. Frankly, I'm much more interested in the "Supergirl" edition (shipping next week), but this may work to my favor anyway. The "King of Atlantis" edition also collects stories on both sides of the archive issues, and I plan to read the pre-"Silver Age" (Adventure Comics #260) stories to kill the time. I put this topic up just in case I (or anyone else) have something to say about any of the stories in this edition. As a sort of prelude, last night I read the two Golden Age Aquaman stories I have in my collection: More Fun Comics #73 & #101 (both reprinted in "Millennium Editions" nearly a quarter of a century ago). #73 is Aquaman's first appearance and is a pretty standard origin story; #101 was actually reprinted for Superboy's first appearance, and the Aquaman story is nothing special.
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I have ordered this from instocktrades, and will probably have a comment when it arrives. Your "nothing special" comment on the Sea King's More Fun #101 story is why I suspect his first 15 years have never been reprinted. That is to say, ithose stories are probably more of the same. Although I am curious who Aquaman talked to before they introduced Topo in Adventure #262. Fish? Himself? Imaginary friends? The existential void?
In #101 he befriended "Old Pete," an aquarium keeper who took it upon himself to continue to care for the larger fish in the ocean near his seaside shack when the aquarium was shut down. He is introduced as an "old friend," but whether or not he actually appeared before I cannot say. (I suspect not.) Unscrupulous real estate developers are trying to sell beachfront property near Pete's shack, knowing that the beach is unstable and in danger of being washed away. Potential buyers are being scared off when they see the octopus and large fish Pete is caring for.
Are there any scrupulous real estate developers in comics?
Unscrupulous real estate developers are trying to sell beachfront property near Pete's shack, knowing that the beach is unstable and in danger of being washed away.
Our illustrious Number 47 thinks that the oceans rising will result in more beachfront property.
Wasn't that Lex Luthor's scheme in Superman: The Movie?
Well, sort of, but cranked to 11.
Actually, his plan was to have different beach-front property.. His plan was to disintegrate California and some more miles inland, turning parts of Nevada and New Mexico desert into beach-front property. Since he had already acquired that desert land at literally dirt-cheap prices, he would make a bundle developing it when that property was suddenly on the Pacific Ocean. I'm not sure if it was more beach-front property or less, but it was different, and it was his, which was the point.
When I was young, I got Secret Origins #7 (N'74) which reprinted Aquaman's first appearance. At the time I had no idea that it was the only Golden Age Aquaman story DC would reprint. I would read several early Silver Age reprints.
It wasn't much of an origin but he did sink a U-Boat with one punch so that's something! And it was very different from any Aquaman origin story I ever read!
PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS: The early stories in this volume (I am six stories in) are extremely formulaic and silly. I don't hold that against them, though, because they are obviously aimed at (very young) children at this point. Ramona Fradon's art is remarkable. The stories are each only six pages long and would be easy enough to burn through, but I find I cannot read more than two or three at a time. One complaint I do have is that is that the writer/writers at this point tend to refer to all marine life (including whales, octopi and eels) as "fish". These stories would have been an excellent opportunity to educate DC's young readers.
There are two ways to pronounce "Aquaman". I have always said AH-kwa-man myself, but it suddenly hit me that the writers (one of them, anyway) and editor pronounce it ACK- wa-man. (The '60s era cartoon used that pronounciation, and former Legionaire Emmerkieth Davyjack used to refer to him as "Acky.") Why else would DC think an appropriate antagonist for Aquaman is "Wacky Man"? (I am not kidding... unfortunately.) Wacky Man doesn't exactly stand shoulder-to-shoulder among such later foes as Ocean Master and Black Manta.
I completed my objective of reading Adventure Comics #229-259 before the DC Finest edition of Supergirl shipped, but now that I've read that volume (or as much of it as I plan to read at this time), I've come back to Aquaman. The majority of the stories in this volume are by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon. Captain Comics recently said (about the stories in the Supergirl volume): "The bottom line is that these stories were written with a LOT of heart ... but for children. So looking back at them as an adult and tut-tutting seems, to me, to miss the point of the exercise. I try to enjoy the story for what the writer intended." I have tried to approach these stories from that angle, but the early ones are of a kind that test my newfound resolve.
"How Aquaman Got His Powers!" (Adventure Comics #260) turns a corner. The stories become slightly more... I hesitate to use the word "sophisticated"... at that point, although they are still mostly written by Bernstein and drawn by Fradon. The volume includes certain guest apearances by Aquaman in other titles during this timeframe, such as Lois Lane #12 and Action Comics #272. (It was particularly difficult for me to refrain from "tut-tutting" the Lois Lane story.) It is obvious that DC was making a push to make Aquaman appeal to a wider audience at this point. At first it seemed they were going to follow the "Superman" model (with "Aquagirl" in #266 and Aquaman's boyhood adventures as "Aquaboy" in #268), until they settled on the "Batman" model in #269 by giving him a kid sidekick, "Aqualad," in #269.
The real change (as I see it) came in Aquaman's four "try-out" issues in Showcase, #30-33. Jack Miller began writing with #30, and Nick Cardy joined him with #31. The change is difficult ti pinpoint because these issues of Showcase were interspersed with Bernstein/Fradon stories, which contineued to appear in Adventure. Shortly after that, Aquaman's solo stories moved from Adventure to Detective. Those stories were by Miller & Cardy, and when Aquaman was launched in a solo title, they were the creative team as well. I am now very much looking forward to a second volume of DC Finest featuring Aquaman. In the meantime, finding myself still in an "Aquaman" mood, I have moved on to the "Death of a Prince" collection (Adventure Comics #435-455, Aquaman #57-63), and I have just ordered The Adventures of Aquaman: The Complete Collection on DVD.