The Aquaman Shrine

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Adventure Comics #162 - March 1951

Comics Weekend "Under the Sea for Life!" by George Kashdan and John Daly.

It's Adventure Sunday!

As Superboy teaches humans it's okay to cheat, The Sea King meets a young man who dreams of living under the sea, just like him!

Steve tries to help Aquaman, but his inexperience gets the best of him: a vacuum created by the trapped sub almost sucks him under, but Aquaman saves him.

Steve tells Aquaman about his dream to live under water, but the Sea King warns him that he's just not equipped to do the kind of work Aquaman does. He drops Steve off on the shore, hoping he has heeded Aquaman's advice. As if!

A few days later, Steve is working on a fishing boat, and as luck(?) would have it, the boat's electric fish trap accidentally zaps Aquaman, leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Steve to the rescue!:

...and with that, so ends another adventure with Aquaman!

Aquaman has to spend a lot of time teaching wayward surface dwellers not to mess with the seven seas, but they almost never learn. Let's hope Steve was a little smarter and listened to Aquaman, never again trying to be an underwater superhero.

John Daly, as usual, delivers a tremendous art job--I particularly like Steve's underwater outfit; it's very 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but with some superhero-ish coloring. Very snazzy.

For whatever reason, this month's Aquaman feature is seven pages, not the usual six. I think we can all be grateful for that!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Justice League #5 - March 2012

Comics Weekend "Part Five" by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams.

It was a big week for Aquaman--due to a quirk of the schedule, both Aquaman #5 and Justice League #5 came out the same day. After Aquaman's huge, er, splash last issue, let's see what happens this month.

The book opens with The Flash trying to outrun Darkseid's eyebeams, which isn't easy--he even has to push Superman out of the way! Barry pulls off a clever move, vibrating through a Para-Demon, allowing it to take the blast.

Superman then gets hit, and his unconscious body is dragged into the sky by another Para-Demon, leaving The Flash to curse and fume, and desperate to rouse his erstwhile teammates:

Green Lantern goes mano-a-mano with Darkseid, which doesn't work out too well for him. Despite this, Hal will not give up, even to the point of risking his life. Batman steps in and stops him, and tries to talk sense. He goes so far as to remove his cowl(!), and reveal his real identity to Lantern, who responds with "Who the hell is Bruce Wayne?"

Batman tells Lantern to meet up with the others, and takes off. He raises his arms, begging a Para-Demon to grab him--which is exactly what happens. Lantern does what Batman suggested, and hatch a loose plan to go after Darkseid. Sadly, his rallying cry needs a little work:

On Apokolips, we see Batman free himself from his Para-Demon, landing in front of another dimensional portal. He enters, and finds himself in front of what looks like Hell itself: "This wasn't part of the plan." To be continued!

After Aquaman's huge presence in issue four, this one can't help but feel like a bit of a let-down: he basically just stands around, and only has a line or two. But since we're obviously headed for a Big Finish, I'm sure Arthur will get more to do next month!

I felt the art was off a little this month--there are four inkers credited, including regular Scott Williams--so the book felt a little inconsistent to me, visually. And I really wish the nice, poster-ish cover hadn't been a victim of the "If two tones are good, fifteen thousand tones are better" school of comic book coloring. But oh well.

This issue also comes with a bonus feature, some character sketches of Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and, yes, Aquaman:

Random Panel of the Day #372

Aquaman (Vol.8) #5 - March 2012

Comics Weekend "Lost" by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Rod Reis.

This month's issue of Aquaman starts off with a bang...or, more precisely, a THOOMM:

"Uh-oh", indeed!

We then flash back to half a day earlier, with Aquaman unable to sleep. Mera wakes up, and asks him what's wrong. Before the conversation can go further, his phone goes off--turns out it's the U.S. Navy!

The Navy has been examining an artifact found embedded in the wall Aquaman brought with up with him in his battle with the Trench. Now it's emitting an ear-piercing screech, so the Navy calls Aquaman for help.

Back to the desert: Aquaman pulls a huge hunk of jagged shrapnel out of his leg, finds his trident, and keeps walking, finally collapsing in exhaustion. We then flash back again:

Armored soldiers show up and attack, and Aquaman charges after them. They hop into their jet, but that doesn't stop the Sea King: he jumps straight into the air and grabs on.

Back in the desert, the delirious Aquaman starts having visions, disturbing visions:

Arthur's Father starts berating his son, casting doubts about Mera and his son's decision to live on land. This starts to clue Aquaman in that this isn't real, and he finds the strength to get up and try and walk some more.

We then see Aquaman rip his way into the armored jet, and he gets a shock when he punches one of the soldiers: it appears these attackers' suits are filled with water! Aquaman immediately surmises they are Atlantean, but before anything else can be discovered, Aquaman is hit by some sort of force beam and knocked out of the jet, which ended up dumping him in the desert.

Now that we've come full circle, we see Aquaman discover the Atlantean glyph in the desert, as well as one of the solider's helmets. Placing the glyph into the water, an amazing vision appears before him:

This mysterious being talks of a great enemy, seemingly relating a history of Atlantis. Aquaman watches the messenger get attacked by some force, and then silence.

Just then, a fleet of Navy helicopters hover over Aquaman, and soon news of the rescue is all over the news:

...to be continued!

After some issues that seemed to go by very quickly, Aquaman #5 was a lot more dense, with a couple different story threads being dangled. I kinda wish Aquaman had figured a way out of the desert by himself, but even that feels purposeful; and in any case it's been done. So I guess it's just as well.

For some reason, the ending page feels ominous to me; maybe it's the worried look on Aquaman's face in response to a seemingly innocuous note. Maybe I'm reading into it. (By the way, I love the little "A" charm Salty The Aqua-Dog (as he will now be known as) is wearing on his collar. I really hope DC Direct makes those for real, I'd get one for our dog Johnny)

I continually get a thrill the way Aquaman's powers are displayed here; his ability of near-flight, his super-strength; and his enhanced hearing. This Aquaman is more of a take-charge bruiser when he's playing superhero, and the Shrine likes him that way!

Finally, I love the painterly look used on the Atlantean messenger; it's a nice effect that's pleasing to look at and helps make him/it stand out from the rest of the goings-on in the book. Month in, month out, the art team of Reis/Prado/Reis delivers the goods.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Random Panel of the Day #371

Aquaman iPhone Wallpaper

This beautiful custom iPhone wallpaper was made by artist Jojo Mendoza, and its part of a whole set of Justice League-inspired ones...even Martian Manhunter!

Check out his DeviantArt page to download the set for iPhone, iPad, or your desktop! The Shrine did!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Jake Johnston)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Random Panel of the Day #370

DC Super Friends My Busy Book

Shrine Correspondent Russell Burbage sent in these scans of a DC Super Friends: My Busy Book, which is an over-sized book-and-toy set that comes with mini-plastic figures (see above) and a book that doubles as a series of interactive playsets.

I love the detailing of these figures--even though they're tiny, you can see Aquaman here has got scales, the yellow "A" belt, the whole thing!

This is really cool little set, the kind of thing I would have gone nuts for as a kid, and then paid a ton of money for years later on eBay.

Thanks Russell!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Random Panel of the Day #369

Aquaman in Lobo Convention Special #1

Tying the time he appeared in The Adventures of Bob Hope for Strangest Aquaman Cameo, here's the Sea King literally swimming through 1993's Lobo Convention Special, by Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, and Kevin O'Neill.

I had no idea Aquaman was in this book, until it was pointed out to me by eagle-eyed Shonna Zimmermann, who is our newest F.O.A.M. member! Thanks Shonna, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Random Panel of the Day #368

Aquaman Volume 4 House Ad - 1991

This is another house ad for the 1991 Aquaman series, this time using one of Kevin Maguire's superb covers, that ran in Previews. If I were a villain, I'd be scared if I saw that coming at me!

This was sent in by my Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag. Thanks Shag!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Random Panel of the Day #367

DC Comics: We Can Be Heroes

DC Entertainment has announced an unprecedented humanitarian effort launched today to combat hunger and starvation in Africa: We Can Be Heroes!
From DC's Source Blog Official Press Release:

The Justice League characters were chosen by DC Entertainment both for their global recognition as well as their demonstration of strength in unity and numbers. The campaign’s graphic identifier features the iconic Justice League characters—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg—outlined in silhouette against the African continent. Each of these characters is a super hero in his or her own right, but when they band together as the Justice League, they become an unstoppable force for good and right in the universe—a key message of the We Can Be Heroes campaign. While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change.

Key elements of this campaign will include a generous donor-matching program by DCE and the creation of an online community to generate awareness of the African population's struggle to survive. The Aquaman Shrine encourages you to visit the joinwecanbeheroes.org website to consider your participation level and be sure to click on the Justice League link for more info on how the Sea King fits into the campaign! We are sure the Aquaman would find this a cause worthy of our attention.

The Fire and Water Podcast: Episode 11

The Name That Aquadog Contest, FINAL!

The results are in, and the winner of the Name That Aquadog Contest is...Salty!

It was a tough race, with many good suggestions all earning varying levels of support. With over 350 votes cast, it was one of our most popular polls!

In the end, "Salty" won out ("Buoy" running a very close second). "Salty" was first suggested by F.O.A.M.er Simone Mularkey, and her reasoning "...as in a salty sea-dog" proved too good to resist.

Simone's prize for coming up with the winning entry is a copy of, appropriately enough, Capstone Books' DC Super-Pets: Heroes on the High Seas!

The Shrine has already tweeted the winning name to DC Comics and Geoff Johns, so if Aquadog doesn't end up being named "Salty", don't blame us!

Thanks to all who entered, and congrats to Simone for submitting the winning name!

Challenge of the Super Friends, Episode 2

Episode 2: "Invasion of the Fearians"

The Legion of Doom, having escaped capture by the Super Friends after sending them into space, is back with another nefarious plan!

In the Legion of Doom's headquarters, Captain Cold announces a plan--he has been talking to a race of Venusian invaders called The Fearians, who want to conquer Earth but are willing to strike a deal:

The Venusians need Earth to be more environmentally hospitable, so they ask the LOD to do the deed. In return, after the Fearians take over, they will hand over complete control of the planet's human population to Legion of Doom!

Step One of this plan involves Captain Cold. After freezing large parts of the planet, he of course draws the attention of The Flash. After failing to capture Cold, The Flash takes to unfreezing the world's cities:

But The Flash does not factor in all the steam he's creating by doing so, which raises the temperature of the entire planet! And this guy's a scientist?

Step Two involves Black Manta, and follows the same formula: he draws Aquaman into combat, and seemingly easily loses the fight, only to escape:

Manta has set massive fires all over Earth's coast cities, so Aquaman has his finny friends create huge tidal waves to put them out. But they do the job too well: the waves flood all the cities, covering populated areas in water!

Aquaman communicates what has happened to the rest of the Super Friends:

Batman announces a plan, but he is interrupted by yet another disaster, this one the work of Sinestro.

I think you can guess what happens: Green Lantern shows up, and ends up making the Earth's environmental problem worse in his attempt to stop Sinestro. By this point, the Earth is now more humid, more tropical, and more of its surface is covered in water! Time for the Fearians!

The Fearians invade, and their leader stops by the Hall of Justice. They (he? it?) encases the heroes in an unbreakable bubble, allowing the Fearians time to change the planet even more.

Green Lantern uses his power ring to trick The Fearians into thinking they've escaped, which draws them back. They accidentally free the Super Friends, who then turn around and and defeat The Fearians. Problem solved!

Oh, wait--there's still the ecological disaster, and the Legion of Doom, who have taken up in Capitol Hill (insert political joke here). Soon, they find themselves face-to-face with the Super Friends!

Once again, they are defeated:

...we don't see how Manta ended up face down like that, gosh darn it.

Anyway, also once again Lex Luthor is one step ahead, and manages to escape with all his villainous pals back to their hideout, leaving the Super Friends to issue yet another firm but-not-quite-as-convincing warning that they will be watching:

...not The End!

The Fearians' plan is not well thought-out, despite each Fearian having (presumably) three brains each. Also, the Legion of Doom didn't think this through much either: do they really think a horde of invading aliens is just going to hand the planet over? C'mon, guys.

This episode opens with a touch of character detail that would become a hallmark of the show: the members of the Legion of Doom are always within a hair's breadth of fighting with one another. After all, what do people like Bizarro and The Scarecrow have to talk about, really?

Aquaman's presence this time around is much more significant than the last episode (it would have to be), and even though he falls into the same dumb trap, I never tire of seeing him tussle with Black Manta.

This episode's Aqua-Content: Medium

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Adventure Comics #160 - Jan. 1951

Comics Weekend "Aquaman's Sea Cops!" by George Kashdan and John Daly.

It's Adventure Sunday!

The Sea King forms The Aquaman Corps, way before those sissypants Oans!

One of Aquaman's young recruits spots Tim Weed heading for a nearby pier. The Sea King sends a message (via electric eel--patent pending) to all of his team, including his finny friends.

Weed's boat is surrounded by a fence made up of swordfish, but he declares he is running an honest business retrieving sunken treasure. Aquaman lets him go, but secretly follows him back out into the water, where he sees Weed heading inside a buoy--a-ha!:

...and with that, so ends another adventure with Aquaman!

I don't feel this story was one of the Golden Age Aquaman's best; it's too wordy (I actually started to get bored working through all the balloons) and Tim Weed seems fairly colorless. It makes me wonder why, when someone like Batman already had a huge Rogues Gallery, Aquaman was so rarely given a colorful foe to battle?

I mean, of course Aquaman only had six pages per month, as opposed to Batman who was the star of two full-length books (three, if you want to count World's Finest), but still it seems like such a wasted opportunity to have Aquaman just battle yet another fedora'd crook when he was capable of so much more. Especially when you think how science-fiction was getting more and more popular by the 1950s; it would have been perfectly reasonable to have the Sea King take on aliens, robots, etc.

That said, John Daly's art job is, as always, terrific; I especially love panel four on page five, and the clever splash page.