Happy Birthday Arthur Jr!

Today is little Arthur Jr.'s birthday, according to the Super 1976 DC Comics Calendar. Happy Birthday Arthur Jr.!

Of course, there is exactly zero pieces of merchandise featuring him, let alone starring him. The closest we come is the Ideal Mera Super Queens doll, which features him on the package, held in this mother's arms.

But I wanted to commemorate it somehow, so I'm posting this odd piece of stock art, part of a beautiful batch of it sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Russell Burbage. Even Russell didn't know what this piece was for, so it's intended use remains a mystery (DC did do a rare, all-new issue of their digest comic Best of DC Digest starring the "Super Jrs." which were kiddie versions of some of the stars of the DCU, drawn in a similar style, but Aquaman was not part of that group).

In any case, it's a cute piece. Happy Birthday, Arthur Jr., wherever you are!

DC Comics Presents #48 - 1982

Since we featured an interview with Dan Mishkin earlier this week, I thought this week's Comic Friday would be the perfect time to talk about one of the two Aquaman stories co-written by Dan!

The first was this, DC Comics Presents #48, which was of course the Superman team-up title. The story is called "Eight Arms of Conquest", written by Mishkin and his writing partner Gary Cohn, and drawn by Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin.

Aquaman runs afoul of some very hostile octopi, and is taken control of by them! He later smashes into the lab of a Dr. Marche, who works at (of course) S.T.A.R. Labs (didn't every scientist in the DCU work at S.T.A.R.?), but luckily Superman is there and manages to put Arthur in his place.

Supes and Aquaman decide to investigate these weird octopi, where after a pitched battle they discover that these are no ordinary hostile octopi--they are space aliens that crashed into the ocean that, over time, devolved into octopi (they'll do that sometimes), still bent on world conquest! Superman of course has a problem with this, and just as the whole thing starts to heat up that troublesome Dr. Marche shows up (yes, underwater, piloting some weird deep-sea craft--you know, S.T.A.R. shouldn't leave those things lying around with the keys inside).

The battle is a bit of a stand-still after Superman gets knocked out. As I mentioned in the interview with Dan, it's at this moment that writers Mishkin and Cohn really broke some new ground for Aquaman, albeit unheralded. Aquaman realizes that he can "tap into" the ancestral part of a human's brain that comes from sea-dwellers! With that, he can take control of another person:










...Grant Morrison came up with this in an early issue of JLA, and I remember reading it and thinking what an imaginative, well-thought-out execution of Aquaman's powers. What a shock it was to see that Mishkin and Cohn did it first almost fifteen years earlier! It's a shame that more writers have not thought to explore this angle--it would certainly make Aquaman even more of a powerful, interesting figure in the DCU. The next time someone says "All he can do is talk to fish!", Aquaman can give the guy a seizure or make him go see Norbit.

But I digress.

Anyway, Aquaman pulls this trick, and it works, "using" Superman to do the heavy-lifting that Arthur can't. They defeat the octopi, and Superman finishes the the job by transporting the aliens to a "habitable water world where they can thrive in peace." Dr. Marche vows to "stay in my lab from now on", and Aquaman cheerfully seconds that, resisting the urge to take over Dr. Marche's brain and make him drown himself. Don't piss off Aquaman.

There was also a back-up feature, the ongoing "Whatever Happened To..." that was always one of my favorites. This issue features the Black Pirate, in a tale written by Roy Thomas and superbly drawn by Alfredo Alcala. This feature, exploring some of the forgotten characters of the DCU, was always one of my favorites; I'd love to see them collected in some trade paperback.

All in all, a very fun issue, with Aquaman well handled by Mishkin and Cohn. It's too bad they didn't get a chance to write the character a lot more!

Ohio Jaycees Pin - 1980s

I came across this little oddity a few years ago on ebay and had to have it (don't I say that about everything on here?). All I remember is that it was from the 1980s and is obviously not an officially-licensed piece. It measures about and inch and half high, and is pretty well made.

I love that Aquaman is--or was, at least--still so much in the general public's mind that the Ohio Jaycees would think to use him as their unofficial mascot.

A lot of that has to do with his Super Friends TV fame, of course, but I think it also has something to do with Aquaman's inherently friendly appearance--you don't see anybody using the Sub "Destroy the Surface World" Mariner as their mascot, now do you?*


*no, you don't.

Wonder Bread Card - 1974

One of a series of DC character cards that came with loaves of yummy Wonder Bread in 1974. Nice color portrait on the front, odd example of his powers on the back. I don't recognize the art style (front or back)--anyone have a clue?

I miss the days when manufacturers had fun little giveaways like this. I do most of the food shopping, and I don't see many products anymore offering trading cards or mini-comics or whatever in my local supermarket. I know marketers are all about creating Brand Loyalty, especially to kids (which is kinda evil, really...ironic that superheroes were used for such a nefarious purpose), and I can say from experience that any cereal or fruit drink that gave away superhero stuff was something I would bug my Mom for, week in, week out.

Heck, I still buy Slurpees hoping one day they'll bring back the superhero cups!

Super Friends Paint By Numbers - 1974

Let's all paint the Super Friends! Including Batman and Robin, whom you don't see on this package!

Younger comic fans probably can't imagine an environment where, given the choice of characters to put on your product, someone would choose Aquaman or Wonder Woman over Batman. And yet, in 1974, Batman was about on par with his other Super Friends in terms of merchandisability.

Oddly enough, while the Superman and Wonder Woman drawings look original, the Aquaman is clearly lifted from the cover of Aquaman #56 by Nick Cardy. Why you wouldn't just use the beautiful Alex Toth Super Friends piece--the very one awaiting you inside the box--is beyond me.

When I first came across this set on ebay, it went for over $100.00 MIB and I simply wasn't willing to pay that much. When I found it again in another auction two weeks later, I prepared myself for a bidding war. Surprisingly, I was the first, last, and only bidder, and took it home for only $25.00. Ah, the mysteries of ebay!

Aquaman Shrine Interview with Dan Mishkin - 2007

In the newest Back Issue! (#21), there's an interview with writing team Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn on their creation Blue Devil. As I read (and enjoyed) the interview, I recalled that Mishkin & Cohn were responsible for at least one Aquaman tale--the Aquaman Special from 1988, the first follow-up to the excellent mini-series by Neal Pozner and Craig Hamilton.

I then did a little more research (i.e., digging through my Aquaman comics) and found that they also wrote DC Comics Presents #48, starring Superman and Aquaman! I figured that was enough to justify contacting Dan (whose myspace page was listed in BI) and begging him for an interview. Luckily, Dan generously agreed:

The Aquaman Shrine: What comics have been the most fun to write? Were books like Amethyst or Blue Devil for instance better/more fun because you were in from the ground floor?

Dan Mishkin: Working on the characters that I've created has always tended to be the most enjoyable for me, both because the connection with the characters is so strong and because the possibilities of where there lives can go are a lot less limited than with an established character. But I have to say that my early opportunities to write Superman (with Julie Schwartz as my editor) and Batman (with Dick Giordano) were very exciting because, hey, they were Superman and Batman and for some reason DC was letting ME tell their adventures.

AS: How did you write with your partner Gary Cohn? Did one of you do dialogue, one do plot, or did you mix it up?

DM: We pretty much mixed it up. Generally, we'd talk over plots together--we're able to bounce ideas off each other extremely well--and then one of us would write a first draft of a full script or a plot and the other would revise it. Gary tends to be a better at the big idea stuff than I am, and I'm probably a better detail person, so we had some complimentary skills, but looking back at any particular comic I'd be hard pressed to say which one of us did what.

AS: You wrote DC Comics Presents #48 with Superman and Aquaman. How did that come about? Did DC come to you and say "we want a Superman/Aquaman story" or did you have any input as to the guest star?

DM: This is getting to be a pretty long time ago, and my oldest child was born in the middle of scripting the issue, so it's hard to dredge up a lot of the details (though I do remember calling Julie from the hospital to explain nervously why the script was going to be late).

I think it was probably Julie who chose the guest star in this case. As for how Gary and I got the opportunity in the first place, it was kind of a natural progression from having written a lot of one-shot stories for the House of Mystery-type books and then moving up to a superhero book that also had self-contained stories and no regular writer. I think I wrote or co-wrote about half the issues of DC Comics Presents during that next year.

AS: Was it more/less fun writing a self-contained story without any connection to ongoing storylines?

DM: Each one has its advantages and disadvantages, but I probably like doing self-contained stories better because they force you to get things right rather than letting you tell yourself that you'll figure it out eventually--although sometimes the same tendencies that can lead to sloppy plotting and pacing in continued stories can push you to a brilliant stroke when you realize you've written yourself into a corner.

The ideal for me--and I think we did this well in the early issues of Blue Devil--is the Silver Age Marvel books that had self-contained stories with a new villain in each issue and a beginning, middle and end, but that also advanced a larger arc in the life of the hero.

AS: Back in the late 90s, Grant Morrison had Aquaman use his mental powers to basically "shut the brain down" of an opponent. I thought that was incredibly inventive and expansive view of Aquaman's abilities, so it was with shock that I see that you did it first in DCCP #48, with Aquaman pulling the same trick with Superman! Did this "thinking outside the box" idea occur to you as you were writing it?










DM: I don't remember any of the details of writing this story, and rereading it didn't help, unfortunately. But I do remember that Julie was very involved in working out plots with writers, and this would be especially true with writers he was working with for the first time.

The important details of the story would probably have been worked out in Julie's office after Gary and I pitched some one-sentence idea (it might not even have been a sentence, but a phrase like "super-octopuses from outer space"), and which parts came from me and which from Gary and which from Julie I don't think we'll ever know. But Julie was also a big believer in thinking outside the box--in coming up with the twist we've never seen before--so he should probably get credit as instigator even if that particular bit wasn't his.

AS: How did you end up writing the Aquaman Special in 1988?

DM: I think it came our way because I was already doing work with the editor, Barbara Randall. I'm not sure how Barbara ended up with the character.

AS: Had you read the Pozner/Hamilton mini-series to that point? Were you instructed in any way to follow in the direction that story had been going?

DM:I'd read the miniseries--in fact, I read everything DC was putting out in the 80s, and would have done so even if I hadn't been on their comp list. And I think the instruction was just to find a way to move forward with the character, not necessarily to stick with Neal's sensibilities (in fact, I'm pretty sure that the decision to put the character back in his orange and green costume -- which definitely went against the miniseries -- did come from higher up).

This is of course a running story with Aquaman, Green Arrow, and some other longtime DC characters: they hold some interest for readers and are even much loved by some of those readers, but they can't seem to make it as lead characters; and since no one really knows why that is exactly, editors and writers are always trying to find a way to portray the characters that exploits whatever it is we love about them while sharply defining them in a new and hopefully appealing way.

I suspect there's a lesson to be learned from the fact that it keeps happening and keeps not working. For myself, I'd be happy if somebody would bring back the Aquaman of the Steve Skeates/Jim Aparo days (preferably Skeates himself).

AS: Was there any indication you would do more Aquaman if the special was successful, sales-wise? Would you have wanted to?

DM: Nobody said that to me, but I think there's always an assumption that if you can light a fire with a character in a special, there would be interest in doing more. And I certainly would have given it a try. Once I invest my time thinking through a character so that I can write a story about him or her--and Gary and I certainly looked at Aquaman's past and what made him tick in preparation for this particular story--I feel like I have an ongoing investment in that character and an interest in writing more.

AS: Who were some of your favorite artists who you've gotten to work with?

DM: I've loved working with Kubert School grads like Tom Mandrake, Jan Duursema and Ron Randall, and the experience of working with Ernie Colon on Amethyst and Paris Cullins on Blue Devil was great. I also had the thrill of having the great Steve Ditko draw my very first published story, and working with other long-established pros like Curt Swan, Jim Aparo and Don Heck, who impressed me with how much energy and heart they put into their work even late in their careers.

AS: What are you working on now?

DM: I'm writing the sequel to The Forest King, my children's prose novel that was published by Actionopolis last fall, and I'm doing research for another young adult novel that's not an action-adventure genre story. I have a some comics pitches and proposals in the works or being looked at by various publishers, but I expect to spend more time with prose in the near term.

Thanks so much to Dan for his time and to him and Gary for their great stories!

JLA PVC Figure Boxed Set Ad - 2003

I found this really nice-looking ad for the JLA PVC figure boxed set from DC Direct in a 2003 issue of Aquaman the other day.

I've already posted about the Aquaman figure itself, but I thought this ad was just so slick it deserves to be added to the Shrine. The whole "Just Imagine!" intro is right out of the DC house ads of the early 60s, which is a nice touch (it seems everything DC Direct is involved with is beautiful to look at).

I like how Martian Manhunter looks like he's doing Rockette-style high-kick.

Vs. Card - The Shark

This is probably stretching the limits of the Aquaman theme here, since The Shark started out as a Green Lantern villain, I believe. But over the years he's taken on Aquaman more than anyone else (makes sense!) that I say this Vs. game card qualifies.

Has anyone ever really thought about how absolutely terrifying it would be to live in the DCU (or the Marvel one, for that matter)? Your sense of security is completely shattered; with aliens, demons, monsters attacking cities on a near-weekly basis. Your spouse could all of a sudden try to kill you because--surprise!--they were taken over by some evil entity freed from its home dimension, bent on world domination. Hell, there are even giant, super-intelligent gorillas who are looking to take over your mind!

And nothing I think would terrify me more than meeting The Shark in person--here's a giant, evil man, with the head of a shark. He can swim after you, then chase you onto land, and bite your head off all the while probably rifling through your wallet. *shudder*

Who says Aquaman doesn't have some great villains?

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #50 - 2007

Publish PostSince it's Comic Friday again, and this week's issue heralded the start of a new creative team on Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, I thought I'd take the rare opportunity to be current!

Taking over from Kurt Busiek and Butch Guice are novelist Tad Williams, penciler Shawn McManus, and inker Walde Wong, with a beautiful cover by Mario Alberti.

My first impressions of this issue was that the story was at least a little easier to follow--there was more of a through-line which I think will help me remember what happened after each previous issue. McManus's work was excellent, though I'm not totally sure his more humorish style is right for all the murder and mayhem that goes on (I'd love to see DC put him on a lighter character from their stable--Captain Marvel is taken, howabout Angel and The Ape?). We get to see Mera (slightly top-heavy) and Tempest again, which is nice, plus a whole host of new characters. And despite the aforementioned murder and mayhem, there is a light touch to the dialogue which helps a lot, since Aquaman as a character tended to be pretty dreary and way too serious.

Overall, I appreciate that DC is trying to build "Aquaman" as a character, a concept, a brand if you will, instead of just cancelling the book (again). They're putting some very talented creators on Aquaman, and this new team can hopefully build upon what Busiek and Guice started.

(That said, I do wanna see the "real" Aquaman come back some time...)

Pencil Case - 1974

This is where all the trouble started.

Today is another anniversary--it was eight years ago today that, while bored at work (hi, Koen Book Distributors!), I decided to sign up for this thing I had heard about, ebay.

A few months earlier I had gotten nostalgic for one of the most beloved items from my childhood--my Aquaman pencil case. I had it, loved it, and now I wondered if this "ebay" thing might help me find one.

Well, a few minutes later, I had found about a dozen of them. The wonder of ebay was now upon me, and its grip on me would only grow, as this site--and my bank statements--reveal. Anyway, I found one, won the auction, and few days later it arrived.

The seller was a nice guy named Rob Tullo who not only provided me with my beloved pencil case, but threw in--gratis--an Aquaman tray puzzle! I was thrilled and touched by this stranger's generosity. Little did he know he was starting me down a path that threatens to empty my bank account at every turn.

Of course, no one's making me buy this stuff but myself, so it seems weirdly appropriate my first ebay seller was a guy named Rob.

"Aquaman" - 2007

Ok, you're going to have to indulge me for today. This is an illustration I did a month or so ago, just to see if I could create a convincing "real life" Aquaman in my style, which I like to call "stylized photo-realism." (whoop-de-doo)

I've been updating my illustration site, namtab.com, four times a year for the past few years, and usually on the change of seasons. As excited as I usually am to share what I've been working on with everyone, today's update is even more so, since I'm unveiling an all-new version of the site. I had been using the same basic design for a year or two and I felt it needed a fresh look, so I got started on it right after the last update back in December.

I was more inspired than usual, creating a whole boat-load of new pieces, so many that I had to wade through them all and only post the best (some of you may disagree with that assessment). I've been looking for a while to have a little more crossover between namtab and my other ventures, treasurycomics.com and this. So...here's Aquaman.

If you like it, let me know! If not...there'll be genuine Aquaman merch tomorrow, I promise.

Power Record 45" - 1975

One of my favorite, most beloved items--a 45" record featuring Aquaman and Flash stories from the good folks at Power Records!

I absolutely loved those Power Records, and spent many an afternoon sitting by my parent's record player (that was the size of a small car), reading comics listening to these dynamic audio adventures. They were exciting, fun, and look at that cover art--Neal Adams! Over the years, I've managed to find them all again and even ones I didn't have (they did a Shazam! one? really?), and I play them every so often when I'm a particularly retro mood.

The Aquaman story in question, "The Defeat of the Dehydrator" concerns a race of aliens stealing Earth's water, because all theirs has dried up (or something like that). Aquaman, with the help of Mera, stops them of course. But it ends really grimly, where one of the head aliens yells "Aquaman! You have defeated us! I have failed my people! And now they are truly doooomed!"

Aquaman and Mera, clearly not caring about the billions of people soon to die a slow, lingering death due to thirst, congratulate each other on a job well done! The last thing you hear is the sound of lapping water, clearly a last kick in the pants to the soon-to-be-dead alien water thieves.

Superhero Cookies - 1982

Since I posted the DC Superhero Cookbook last monday (and my bitter feelings toward it), I thought I'd highlight another food related item today.

I had forgotten all about these cookies until I saw the Aquaman box on ebay last month, and then the memories all came flooding back. I remember begging--begging!--my Mom to get them for me, and rifling through all the various boxes looking for different characters.

It's amusing to me that DC has some villains that are so merchandisable that they can get their own cookie boxes. Could Marvel have ever done that? Dr.Doom's Chewable Vitamins? Red Skullables?

Nice art by Dick Gioradano (of course), too bad Aquaman couldn't quite make it onto the front-of-the-box-group-shot. This box via ebay came empty, so I cannot confirm whether or not the cookies remained yummy over time.

Vs. Card - JLA Detroit

Another Vs. card, commemorating one of the oddest eras in Aquaman and the JLA's career--the time when the original Justice League of America was busted up, in favor of a hybrid of established heroes (Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Elongated Man) and newer characters (Vixen, Steel, Vibe, and Gypsy).

I guess Neil Gaiman's maxim that "the silver age of comics is when you're eleven years old" really holds true, since recently I've seen a lot of nostalgia for this era of the JLA, when, at the time, I don't know anyone who didn't hate hate hate the whole idea of making the JLA an ersatz X-Men. I guess readers who were too young to remember those issues when they were new are intrigued at the whole idea and want to read about it now.

Of all the comics I read as a kid, Justice League of America was my favorite, and this seemed like such a weird idea, to ditch most of the classic DC line-up. While I was thrilled that Aquaman was being given center stage, I could never understand why the backbone of the team--old-time members like Green Arrow, Black Canary, the Hawks--didn't stay on. I completely understood why long-time JLA writer Gerry Conway wanted to have characters he could change and chart a course for (which of course he couldn't do for Superman, Batman, Flash, etc.), but since the other members really weren't appearing anywhere, it confused me as to why they were jettisoned in favor of characters like...Vibe, the break-dancing superhero. Yeesh. To quote the man himself, "Chu ain't bad...chu sad." Indeed.

And, as usual with Aquaman, it was one step up, two steps back. Aquaman did get to take command, become the lead character of the book; but this whole new direction was such a dismal failure (commercially, at least; I do remember some moments during this run that made me think it had real potential creatively) that it eventually led to the book's cancellation and a whole new JLA was started up after the Legends mini-series. So Aquaman has had to live down that idea that the minute he took over a long-running DC title, he drove it into cancellation less than two years later, even though Conway got rid of Aquaman long before that.

...I didn't really talk about the card, did I?

Color Transfer - 1996

I found a giant book of DC Comics character transfers on ebay, and the seller mentioned Aquaman being contained in the book. Having been burned by such descriptions before, I was a little hesitant to buy this, but the price was very low so I figured I'd take the risk.

Indeed, this book did feature Aquaman on some of the transfers, even if he is in his BLL. The book is over two hundred pages long and more than half of that is devoted to Batman: The Animated Series art, but near the end of the book some of the other DC heroes are featured, like Hawkman, Atom, and the Kyle Rainer Green Lantern.

This is the only color transfer of the bunch; the art is not credited to anyone but it's obviously an approximation of the B:TAS style that was so hot at the time. The other black and white ones will surface sometime down the line...

Aquaman (Vol.1) #54 - 1970

It's Comic Friday again, and it seems only appropriate to talk about an issue written by our pal Steve Skeates--Aquaman #54, "Crime Wave" (not "Am I My Own Executioner?" as stated on the spiffy cover by Nick Cardy) with interior art by Jim Aparo.

Aquaman gets knocked out by a gang of toughs and wakes up in a weird dream world, where he encounters a creepy, hulking, evil-looking version of himself, called Thanatos. Aquaman keeps awakening from his dream state (or does he?), only to get drawn back into unconsciousness to take on Thanatos, who is hell-bent on killing our hero!

Skeates and Aparo maintain a genuine creepy vibe throughout this story--its set entirely at night and there's a definite claustrophoic, film noir-ish feel to the whole thing. Aparo isn't remembered too much for his horror work, but he had a real flair for it with his use of off-putting angles and heavy blacks (he also drew of one of my favorite House of Mystery stories, called "The Demon Within" that to this day I still find unsettling). There's even a nice editorial piece by Steve Skeates, to boot!

I bought this comic as a young kid when I first started discovering ads in them for back issues. I was just a wee lad and the notion of a comic-book store was unknown to me, so getting comics in the mail--via those super-cool Superhero Catalog catalogs, with their pages and pages of fantastic, four-color treasures--was just so exciting. I didn't know anything about the issue of Aquaman I was buying; this just happened to be this one I ordered (it probably was the cheapest). As I mentioned above, I found Thanatos very disturbing, especially as a kid:

Pleasant dreams, everybody!

Aquaman Shrine Interview with Steve Skeates - 2007

I've already gone on and on about how much I love Steve Skeates' Aquaman stories, so I'll just shut up and let Steve do the talking:

Aquaman Shrine: Did you seek out to write Aquaman or were you asked?

Steve Skeates: A touch of both actually, but just a touch. That is to say, back in the late sixties, when editor Dick Giordano made the leap from Charlton Comics to DC, bringing along with him such Charlton "luminaries" as Steve Ditko, Pat Boyette, Denny O'Neil (who had been working there under the name Sergius O'Shaugnessy), Jim Aparo, and even me, Dick asked the two writers of the troupe (O'Neil and myself) to drop by his new spiffy DC office at our respective conveniences in order to pick up our new writing assignments, and somehow, hardly running true to form (being generally lazy, somewhat timid, and more than a little disorganized) I showed up in Dick's office approximately 24 hours prior to O'Neil making the scene. Therefore, I was given my druthers, allowed to choose between the two regularly published but faltering adventure comics Dick had inherited--Aquaman and Bomba, the Jungle Boy.

Which one would you have chosen? As I recall, it was only after I had made my choice that Dick informed me that I would be teamed here with Jim Aparo, a plan that pleased me no end, seeing as Jim and I had worked together quite often at Charlton (on The Thane of Bagarth series that appeared in the back of the Hercules book, on various "mystery" stories for The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves and Strange Suspense Stories, and even a nifty western "The Coward" which Dick liked so much he made it the cover story when he used it in Gunfighters #52) and Jim had always done such a great job (often making a rather mediocre scripting job on my part come alive and therefore seem far better written than it really was) that I honestly could think of no other artist I would have preferred being teamed with.

AMS:Did you ever hear anything from the higher-ups at DC about what you were doing or just from then-editor Dick Giordano?

SS: After a while Dick and I began to notice that Aquaman was rather unique amongst all the DC publications in that nobody up at DC seemed to be reading it, neither the other editors or the higher-ups! Dick and I used to joke about this phenomenon--sure, we were rather bothered by the fact that no one up there was into what we were up to, no one was congratulating us or whatever, that we weren't getting feedback from our peers (a welcome--if not downright necessary--commodity as far as any creative endeavor is concerned), yet, at the same time, this was allowing us a lot of freedom; I do sincerely doubt that we would have gotten away with such experimental issues as "Is California Sinking?" (Aquaman #53) "Crime Wave,"(#54) and "The Creature that Devoured Detroit,"(#56) had the higher-ups been checking into what the heck we were up to!

AMS: Your Aquaman stories are universally known as being unique--they don't feel or read like a typical superhero comic of the time. Since there isn't a "typical" Aquaman story--unlike say for Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc., did you feel free to use the character in the kind of stories you wanted to tell? Did you tailor them much to fit Aquaman and his settings?

SS: My stories--unique! Did I feel free cuz no "typical" Aquaman (as opposed to Supes, Bats, etc.)? I can very safely say that the initial uniqueness of our Aquaman tales was far more Dick's doing than my own. Prior to handing out any assignments, Dick had thoroughly thought it out as to the particular directions he wanted his various inherited series to progress in! In the case of Aquaman, it was Dick's idea to start off with a rather huge story arc (not particularly "huge" by today's standards, nor did we call 'em "arcs" back in those days), lasting a year and a half, in which Mera is kidnapped and Aquaman searches practically every community on the ocean floor in hopes of locating his missing wife.

Dick visualized the series as resembling The Fugitive, Route 66, Run for Your Life, etc., etc.--you know, one of those highly popular TV series with a wandering/searching hero who enters a new town each episode--it was up to me to figure out what these undersea towns would be like and how visiting them would ultimately lead to a reunion betwixt Aquaman and Mera.

AMS: Was there much back and forth with Jim Aparo, or once you sent the stories off was that it until they were published?

SS: Interestingly enough, there was absolutely no back-and-forth between Jim and me, mainly due to the fact that neither of us was living in NYC at that time--Jim living up in Connecticut somewhere, and me residing some three hundred miles in the opposite direction, in the Southern Tier of New York State. It wasn't, in fact, until well after we had finished that initial story arc (and considering all the work we did together at Charlton, this meant we had been working together for something like three years) that Jim and I finally met each other face-to-face. The thing is, as far as I'm concerned, Jim and I didn't need any back and forth, mainly because we seemed to be (to employ the vernacular of that time) totally on the same wave-length.

I was working full script, and after but a few issues I realized that I really didn't have to be overly elaborate in my picture descriptions, seeing as Jim seemed to visualize things (and I do mean everything) pretty much exactly the same as I did; thus I would pare down my descriptions 'til toward the end of our Aquaman run more often than not my description of the art for a panel would consist of but one word! And, even under those circumstances, Jim would never give me less than what I wanted and would often give me far more than I expected! Truth be told, far as I was concerned, we made a perfect team!

AMS: Did you ever get word of sales? Aquaman the title ended so abruptly!

SS: From what I understand, Aquaman was one of the few books to be cancelled for some reason other than sales! Not of course that sales were all that spectacular when the sea king's book did get done in. Reaching a bit further back, I'm more than happy to point out that sales had steadily grown during that initial year-and-a-half story arc, and perhaps that arc should have been extended, seeing as said sales veritably plummeted once that big story had reached its conclusion. And, despite even that surprise three-issue Deadman back-up in issues 50 through 52 (written and illustrated by Neal Adams) sales never got back up to where they had been. Still, those somewhat lower sales were at least respectable if not exactly spectacular, and, in fact, the sales figures that came in a week before it was decided that the book would be cancelled were the best to hit the Editorial Director's desk in quite some time.

However, there were problems between Dick Giordano and that just-now-mentioned Editorial Director, Carmine Infantino by name--they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye; "creative differences" is, I believe, the polite way of putting it. Furthermore, said differences do stand as the underlying reason for Dick's departure from his editorial position, one of the major hidden reasons for him wanting to get back into his artwork (mainly, his inking) full time. There was just one thing Dick didn't want to give up editorially, and that was editing Aquaman. Therefore, he offered to edit that book on a freelance basis. But Carmine (who had had enough "trouble" with Dick when Dick was essentially under his thumb) saw (from what I hear) the probability of dealing with Dick as a freelance editor as leading to even worse "troubles!" Therefore, despite its okay sales, Carmine cancelled the Aquaman book.

AMS: What have been your favorite characters to write in your comics career? Was writing a character like Aquaman more, less enjoyable? The same?

SS: One day, up at DC, while blathering away to one editor or another, it suddenly hit me that there were essentially two groups of writers who worked for that company--those who wanted to write for Superman (Bates, Maggin, and a couple of others) and those who wanted to write for Batman (just about everyone else up there). I, however, didn't seem to fit into either of those categories--Superman was too well known, too overblown, had too much of a history and a rather self-righteous personality I really couldn't relate to; admittedly, I had enjoyed writing those three World's Finest stories of mine in which Supes appeared, yet that experience was hardly like a dream come true, and my emphasis (in two of them anyway) was more upon the other characters (Aquaman and the Teen Titans) than upon the so-called Action Ace.

As for Batman, he was way too obsessive, took himself way too seriously, and simply was not a fun guy! Don't get me wrong now--I love film noir, that neon-splashed topsy-turvy urbanity of certain cheap forties films, a background very similar to where Batman lives; recently (in fact) someone asked me to list my ten favorite movies and they all turned out to be post-World War Two black and white brooding private eye crime dramas. But that's film, whereas, to me, that sort of stuff simply doesn't work in comics--in short, for me, Batman is just too brooding, too dark, too dour! I mean, c'mon, lighten up, guys! But, to get back to my favorite characters--it may have something to do with the struggle I had had to go through in the early years of my career, but in any event there never really was some character I was desperate to write for; I was just happy to have a character I was regularly writing whomever that character might be, and after but a few issues (thanks to tampering with that character almost upon a subconscious level) whomever that superbeing was would become my favorite. Lightning, Kid Montana, Underdog, Supergirl, Bucky Bizarre, Plastic Man, the Teen Titans, and quite definitely Aquaman!

AMS: The hero you introduce in Aquaman #56--the Crusader--has a career consisting of five pages, and then is killed off. When you wrote that, did you wonder, can I possibly get away with this? Could you kill off a character without asking DC for permission?

SS: Actually it never even crossed my mind that I might have some problem offing this dude. I've already mentioned the fact that nobody was reading the Aquaman comic, but, beyond that stands the actuality that, as a superhero, the Crusader was hardly a viable character anyway--he was basically incompetent (it had taken him forever to track down a bunch of car-stealing punks); he was overly violent--a trait which may have allowed him to fit in with the superheroes of today, but back in those days superheroes were much better behaved! And, he was so self-centered that he was willing to hasten the total destruction of the entire planet if setting up for that ultimate catastrophe would but make it easier for him to play superhero!

In all of that the Crusader was designed to symbolize virtually everything that could go wrong with a superhero--or, to put it another way, he was absolutely the wrong man for the job, the crux of his blind incompetence being a rather fascistic total abuse of power, and, as such, he simply had to die!

AMS: Were you a fan of the character at all before the assignment?

SS: I must admit, prior to being offered the job, I had never read a single Aquaman story. However, once I had gotten the assignment and started reading over various earlier Aquaman tales in order to familiarize myself with the characters, all the while keeping in mind where Dick wanted to take this series, I rather knew from the git-go that this was gonna be a fun ride! And, I certainly wasn't wrong there!!

AMS: Who were some of your favorite artistic collaborators?

SS: I've been extremely lucky throughout my career as to whom I've wound up working with (extending in fact even unto this very day, seeing as I just recently wrote a story that has been illustrated by the great Dick Ayers, a story that'll be getting published later on this year)! Starting way back I got to work with artists who were favorites of mine way before I even thought about getting into comics--people like Steve Ditko, Ogden Whitney (I loved his work on Herbie!) and Wally Wood.

There were as well artists I'd never heard of, including various up-and-coming new guys, all of whose work on my stories veritably knocked me out--a category which includes people like Pat Boyette, Jim Aparo, Tom Sutton, and Pete Morisi. Hey, how could I leave out of any list of those I've had the pleasure to work with such greats as Jaime Brocal, Gil Kane, and Dick Giordano himself (loved the extra-added tough-guy edge he gave to my Sarge Steel stories)? On and on it goes, with folks like Jack Keller, Jerry Grandenetti, Murphy Anderson, Gene Colan, George Evans, Nick Cardy, Ramona Fradon, Mike Sekowsky, Ric Estrada. And then, in the humor department, there was Sergio Aragones, Steve Smallwood, Henry Scarpelli, Lee Marrs, Dave Manak, and so many others. And finally there were even those artists who generally get no respect who did fine by me! For example, Tony Tallarico (considered by some to be one of the worst artists ever to work in comics) did a truly beautiful job on a Charlton ghost story of mine entitled "The Stranger."

AMS: Did you set out to write comics as a career? Have you done other types of writing professionally?

SS: Yes, I indeed did. I was about to graduate from college even as the sixties comic revival was getting underway. Therefore, I wrote to what I considered to be the four main comic book companies in the country, applying for work, and got a phone call from Stan Lee himself who hired me as his assistant editor. I didn't last too long in that job (mainly because a large part of the job was proofreading and I've always been quite lousy at that), was almost immediately replaced by Roy Thomas, but having worked as Stan's assistant was enough to get me in the door at other companies, and thus began my career as a freelance writer.

AMS: What are you doing now?

SS: Still writing, of course. As I mentioned above, there's that story of mine illustrated by Dick Ayers that ought to be getting published any day now. Mainly, though, I haven't in recent years been so much writing for comics as writing about them--for such publications as Charlton Spotlight, Comic Book Artist, and Alter-Ego.

As those of you in the know can't help but be fully aware, those particular publications don't pay enough to keep even the most frugal individual alive, thus I've also been holding down a perfectly mindless dayjob, undoubtedly the less said about the better, except that I did want to mention the peculiarity of this particular raconteur finding it somehow honestly downright relaxing to be (for the first time in my life) getting paid for employing my back rather than for straining my brain.

Meanwhile, I'm rather rapidly approaching retirement age, and I do wonder what that will mean? Once I'm receiving social security, will I be able to quit my dayjob and become a full-time writer once again? And, would I even want to do that? Hmmm…I suppose, only time will tell.

What a thrill it was to talk to the writer behind the first Aquaman stories I ever read, Steve Skeates. I thank Steve so much for his time, and also to Laura of The Unofficial Aquaman Website for helping me get in touch with him. Thanks guys!

JLU 10" Figurine - 2005

Normally I wouldn't think to interrupt the Steve Skeates-O-Rama that started yesterday and will kick into overdrive tomorrow with a brand-new interview with Mr.S, but today is a special day I had to take the time to celebrate it.

Today is my and my Darlin' Tracy's fourth anniversary, and it's partly because of her--someone who barely even heard of Aquaman before she met me--that this Shrine exists at all.

You see, I've been collecting Aquaman stuff since 1998, and in the various homes I've had over the years, I've always made space for my collection, even as it grew to ridiculous proportions, probably scaring the bejeezus out of any woman who was foolish enough to be in a relationship with me.

But in April 2004, after our first anniversary and I moved into Trace's house, my art studio took over what used to be her dining room (she still cries about it at night), which left me little room for anything other than Essential Freelance Illustrator Stuff. So all my Aquaman merch went into storage, along with my giant penny and king-size statues of Jor-El and Lara.

Since I now had no place to display any of it, my desire to get anything new really dropped off--it seemed sorta pointless to get something only to stuff it in a box, to be pulled out who knows when. So during all of 2004, the collection remained dormant.

Then one day we were in Target, and I checked out the toy aisle as I always do (old habits die hard), and there it was--the brand-new 10" Justice League Unlimited Aquaman doll, something I had heard they were making but had never seen in a store. I got excited and told Trace about it (who I'm sure was riveted because she's riveted by all my stories). I told her you didn't see it in stores much, blah blah blah. As I stared at Aquaman, peering at me through the clear plastic, Trace wandered off to the Doilies Department or whatever girly thing she's always looking at.

A minute or so later, I caught up with her, Aquaman doll not in hand. She looked at me dissapointingly and asked "aren't you getting it?" I said no, and explained why (see above). I guess she saw the look of utter despondency on my face and said "Well, why don't you clear off one shelf on your bookcase and have a mini Aquaman Shrine?"

"A travel version, perhaps?" I asked, excitedly.

"Exactly", she said.

I ran back towards the toy aisle, knocking several children and someone on crutches over in the process. I grabbed my JLU 10" Aquaman and re-joined her in the Notions Department and was absolutely thrilled over the idea of setting up a mini version, and how lucky I was to have this wonderful, understanding woman in my life.

It was that moment that rekindled the Aquaman collecting bug; and while most of it is still in storage, I of course found a great way to indulge my Aquaman collecting habit and, even better, share it with everyone else.

So thanks, Trace; you're the coolest--and Happy Anniversary!

7-11 Slurpee Cup - 1973

...and immortalized in 2000!

That's because, as cool as a Aquaman Slurpee Cup normally is*, this one is extra cool because it was signed by legendary Aquaman scribe Steve Skeates! A friend of mine attended a comicon that Mr.Skeates happened to be at, and he brilliantly thought Rob's birthday present.

My love of Steve's Aquaman run (issues 40-56 of the original series) knows no bounds--to me, they still stand, thirty-five years later, as the Greatest Aquaman Stories Ever Told, and it's criminal that DC has never reprinted them as a complete run. They were funny, unusual, full of adventure, and even had a healthy dose of Relevance, superbly illustrated by the incomparable Jim Aparo under the supervision of editor ne plus ultra Dick Giordano (later known as the unbeatable team "SAG"!).

What could be cooler than this, you ask? Well, on Thurday 3/15 we will present a brand-new interview with Mr. Skeates, done especially for the Shrine! Steve really went to town and I'm happy to report he is just as quick and funny as his comic stories were. As they used to say in comics before everyone stopped worrying about accurate ship dates, be there--it's a date!

*which is very, very cool

DC Superheroes Super Healthy Cookbook - 1981

Sometimes you eat the fish, sometimes the fish eats you.

I remembered this book had existed, and just a few days ago I thought to search for it on ebay. I found one for a good price, and the description mentions all the characters featured in it: "Beside Superman, there is Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batman, Robin, Superboy, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Woozy Winks, The Atom, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Aquaman, Zatanna, Joker, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Morgan Edge, Commissioner Gordon, Vegetable Robots" said the seller. Aquaman? Vegetable robots? Buy it Now, indeed!

So I get it, and when it arrives I eagerly open it up looking for the tasty Aquaman-hosted recipes I'll be scanning in for the Shrine. We start with Batman and Robin, then Superboy, then Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Ok, cool.

Then we've got Green Lantern fighting giant pieces of villainous toast, Batman again, the Flash, then the Joker. The Joker? I'm going to take cullinary advice from a mass murderer? Um, ok...

Then there's Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Lois Lane (um, ok--she did have her own comic for years), Superman and Supergirl, Green Lantern again, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White(!), Batman, WW, and Green Arrow again as well. Then we've got Plastic Man spaghetti and meatballs--sure, appropriate.

By the time I got to "Commissioner Gordon's Undercover Vegetables", I started to despair. Then we get Flash, the Atom, and Supergirl. Still no Aquaman. More Green Lantern, Atom, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, and Superman, and then we get this:










This represents the sum total of Aquaman's apperance in this book--a little walk-by during a JLA birthday party. Is this any way to treat a long-time staple of the DCU, I ask you!

I know that maybe having Aquaman present seafood recipes might come off a little creepy, but if Hawkman and Hawkgirl can have a scrambled-egg recipe (getting hungry yet, Sean?) then I think Aquaman could maybe give us some mahi-mahi or something.

And I know I'm reading way too much into this, but even in the group shot, he's not doing anything. Most everyone else is helping set up food, even the always-grumpy Batman (probably mentally noting what every one of the JLA likes to eat in case they go rogue). Aquaman's just sort of angrily striding by.

I'm not upset I bought this book, since it didn't cost much and it is a very cute item. But if Woozy Winks can appear with a recipe, then I don't think expecting the King of the Seven Seas to do more than a cameo is too much to ask.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis Ad

This ad struck me when I first saw it for two reasons:

1)It's just a beautiful illustration

B)DC is actually spending ad money on promoting Aquaman! From what I've seen, it's usually the same handful of titles that get all the promotion, so it's great to see that maybe, just maybe, DC is really behind this book, and not just publishing it because they feel like they should be publishing Aquaman somewhere.

As much as I've enjoyed Busiek and Guice's run on A:SOA, I'm very excited about the team of Tad Williams and Shawn McManus, and can't wait to see where they take the character (both the current Aquaman, and the original in his squiddy-faced persona).

...And maybe for once we'll even see an Aquaman title get past a measly seventy-seven issues!

Entertainment Weekly TV Listing - 2003

As I've said before, I'm pretty sure there's some closet Aquaman fan on staff at EW, since he's been mentioned way more times than anyone could possibly reasonably expect. Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, sure--they've got ongoing major movie franchises, so being mentioned in Entertainment Weekly raises no eyebrows. But Aquaman? That takes effort.

I came across these two listings in just one 2003 issue, and all I can say is I heartily agree with its sentiments, even amid the sarcasm.

Pocket Heroes Aqualad/Kid Flash - DC Direct

We conclude our senses-shattering "Aqualad Week" with DC Direct's adorable line of mini-figures called Pocket Heroes.

They would pair up two characters that fit together (I haven't even gotten around to posting the cool Aquaman/Black Manta set yet), and while I'm sure Garth would've preferred to be sealed in plastic with Wonder Girl, she must have been busy.* Wally "Kid Flash" West was a fine second choice.

As usual, the package design and execution are flawless. Another sharp, fun product from DC Direct. We thank them for helping end "Aqualad Week" in style!

*being packaged with that junkie Speedy.

Aqualad Week, Part 6!

Another piece of beautiful stock art courtesy Russell Burbage, and another shot of the rarely-happy-looking Aqua-Family by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

You've all seen the Aquaman-on-his-steed shot before, but it's really a testament to Lopez's skill as a draftsman and designer that the Aquaman drawing looks great on its own, but also works perfectly well as part of a larger whole.

I swear, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez makes any character he renders look so cool and so solid that you'd swear they could each have their own merchandising empire. Cate Blanchett in Mera:The Movie, anyone?

Tomorrow: Aqualad Week Concludes!

Aqualad Week - Continued!

Thanks to the generous contributions of F.O.A.M. member Russell Burbage, we can continue Aqualad Week with some gorgeous Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez stock art featuring Aqualad and the rest of the Aqua-Family! Not sure what this piece was/would've been used for, but it sure is nice lookin'!
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A few weeks ago I posted this Aquaman soda can that hailed from Saudi Arabia. Not being able to read it, I had no idea what the back of the can said (perhaps "Behold--the greatest superhero of all time!").

I was requested to post better pics of both sides of the can, since perhaps some intrepid Aquaman fan might be able to translate and solve this Aqua-Mystery! So here they are!

Mego Aqualad Doll - 1977

Happy Birthday Aqualad!

According to the 1976 DC Comics Calendar, today is Garth's birthday, so I thought today would be the perfect day to post this, one of coolest and most-expensive items I've got in the collection.

This was part of Mego's 1977 (coincidence?) Teen Titans line, which consisted of Garth here, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. Why Mego thought to make a Kid Flash when they never made a Flash is a riddle for the ages.

I found this little beauty in the late, lamented (*sniff*) toy shop Toyrareum, that was located in Ocean City, NJ. During the spring and summer I would take nice, relaxing drives with the top down on the car there to see what new stuff they had and drop a couple of bucks. They always had more cool stuff than I could ever afford, so my trips there were always an exercise in priority rearrangement--let's see, I really want the carded Shazam!, but I can't get that today. But the loose Star Trek Gorn is cheaper, which means I could take it home now...

To me, Aqualad has mostly suffered from the same fate as his mentor--he always seemed to be written to be under the strain of terrible emotional turmoil, which made him just thrilling to read about, let me tell you. I don't think a lot of kids want to read about feelings of inadequacy--they wanna see their superheroes kick butt, so poor ol' Garth always seemed like a big wet blanket.

Over time, they've developed him into a hero called Tempest, and he seems more like Aquaman's equal now, like Nightwing is to Batman.

But all of that doesn't matter--this Mego doll is the coolest, and I'm glad I found it at Toyrareum when I did. When I saw it, standing there in the glass case, I knew I had to have it. I have yet to find a carded Aqualad (I've never even seen a picture of one), and as you can see from the original tag which, for some reason, I still have:

...a loose one was expensive enough.

Happy Birthday, Aqualad!

Aqualad Slurpee Cup - 1973

We continue to celebrate tomorrow's Aqualad-birthday with one of my most favorite items, the 7-11 Slurpee cup. My love of 7-11s in general and Slurpees in particular knows no bounds, so I have actually taken to collecting them, regardless of what superhero is shown (I have the fairly HTF Marvel Doc Savage cup, and even the Marvel cup checklist!).

There's something charming to me about very obscure characters making it onto Slurpee cups (DC slapped such unlikely merchandisees as Sgt.Rock, Captain Marvel Jr., and even Martha Kent onto them). This piece is clipped from the cover to Showcase #30 with art by Howard Purcell; indeed, all the DC cups would use art reprinted from the comics, while Marvel's were original, pin-up-like pieces, complete with character logo. Which ones do you think were more popular?

I used to love collecting the Slurpee cups as a kid, right from the store. When they did the Superman Returns ones last summer, I bought those, too, but of course they were a little more corporately-approved (read:dull) than these, using the same photos you saw on every SR product. Who knows, though? Maybe if they ever do make an Aquaman movie, we'll have another shot at an Aqualad cup...

DC Universe: Inheritance - 2006

Yesterday, my pal and F.O.A.M. member Russell Burbage reminded me that Tuesday, March 6 is officially Aqualad's birthday! He wondered if I was going to do a "theme week" for the occasion.

Upon checking my archives, I saw that I didn't have a whole week's worth of stuff to post, but I did want to celebrate (I mean, who else would?), so retroactively starting yesterday, I'll be posting all Aqualad-centric stuff until his birthday on Tuesday.

So for today we've got Inheritance, a DC Universe prose novel written by comics scribe Devin Grayson. There's been a series of these lately, and when I happened across a book starring three of my four favorite DC characters (Plastic Man being the only one missing), I knew I had to pick it up.

The book features Aquaman (of course), Green Arrow, Batman, plus their former sidekicks Aqualad, Speedy, and Nightwing. And even though they're not pictured on the cover, the book is mainly about them, and the relationships to their often-difficult mentors. Indeed, the plot (involving weapons smuggling by a foreign nation into the US) is pushed to the background in favor of characterization. I thought that was a nice approach, since comic-book-style action scenes I think wouldn't translate that well to prose.

Ironically, it's Aquaman who (IMO) gets the best moment in the book, where he flashes back to right after his son Arthur jr. died. It describes Arthur's solemn duty to "bury" his son, which involves releasing the body from his arms, letting it drift back into the ocean, to return from where it came. It's a fairly touching moment, and one that I doubt would've ever worked had it been tried as a comic book--in this instance, its the lack of a visual that helps it work.

Overall, not bad--I'm not sure I'm dying to read the other books in the series that don't feature Aquaman (and Aqualad!), but I'm glad I read this one.

Vs. Card - Aqualad

Another beautiful card for the Vs. game, this time featuring Aqualad, rendered by master illustrator Kevin Nowlan!

As I've mentioned before, all these cards were given to me by my pal John McLaren at my favorite comics store, All Things Fun. I owe John a lot, since I would normally have no way of discovering these, and I'd be missing out on all these nice Aqua-illustrations!

Aquaman (Vol.2) #2 - 1986

It's Comic Friday again, and this time we have part 2 of the excellent Aquaman mini-series by Neal Pozner and Craig Hamilton!

First off--the cover: great cover. Neat use of color, and a real promise of adventure--Aquaman fights a giant monster! What more do you want for seventy-five cents?

Anyway, the story picks up with Aquaman held captive in by the beings who reside in Thierna Na Oge (great magical spooky place name), and it features a typical Aquaman trait--he's told he can't break the chains that hold him, because they're magical, but he tries anyway, almost ripping his own arms off in the attempt. It was this bull-headedness, a less-than-endearing personality trait of Aquaman, that writer Pozner took on with this story, in an attempt to explain it and make it more palatable (it was always sort of charming and/or cool with Batman; with Aquaman it more frequently just came off like he was a big jerk).

While Aquaman is being interrogated, we cut back to Ocean Master, who, flush with new powers, is systematically destroying Aquaman's life around him. Hamilton actually managed to make Orm look sorta creepy, which is hard considering he has one of the goofiest costumes in comics.

For reasons too long to get into here (read the thing! they're very affordable to find on ebay), Aquman does indeed fight the giant scary sea-monster pictured on the cover, and it's a pretty good fight--Aquaman sheds some actual blood, something you rarely see in superhero battles. He escapes with the help of Nuada, a statuesque denizen of Thierna Na Oge, only to get apprehended by the now more-powerful Ocean Master!

Finally, there's a two-page bio of all the creators, written by Pozner (who also served as editor on the series), which is charming in its humbleness--it has a tone of we hope you like this series--and it reminds me of how much I miss the letters page of current DC books.

Argentine Soccer Paper Figurine - 1970s

This is a very unusual item, and the kind of thing I love finding on ebay. A company named Gran Match (and others) made a series of superhero paper figurines, in this case the character wearing the jersey of the "All Boys" soccer team.

This seller also had Batman, Captain Marvel, Human Torch, Thing, and Mr.Fantastic ones. So--as silly as Aquaman looks here, its still not as bad as the Dark Knight trying to keep his dignity while donning a striped shirt with a big "8" emblazoned on the back over his costume.

I can't tell whether these were officially licensed or not. The artwork for each of them looks tailor made (since all of them are in a soccer-player-esque position), and I don't recognize the art style (Kupperberg, are you reading this?). In any case, its a fun piece, and only goes to underscore how far around the world Aquaman's fame travels!