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Sunday, January 31, 2010

More Fun Comics #94 - Nov. 1943

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Comics Weekend "Battle of Italy!" by Mort Weisinger(?) and Louis Cazeneuve.

More fun with More Fun!

Aquaman gets further drawn into World War II, although at first he thinks, for once, he's in for a relaxing day:
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Aquaman heads closer to the fight, and spies a torpedo headed straight for the Allied ship. He grabs it and is able to wrestle it enough so it misses its target.

Once he surfaces, he sees the Allied ship take a direct hit, and its crew escape into life rafts:
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(Check out that top middle panel, where the letterer couldn't quite squeeze in all the text)

Aquaman and the Allies take over a Nazi boat, and make quick work of its crew, booting them over the side.

But the Nazis don't give up, and start firing their guns at the boat, and into the air. This draws fire from the fishermen on land (on the other side of the river), meaning Aquaman and the boat crew are sailing through a hail of bullets!

Listening to an Axis radio broadcast, they learn they have accidentally sailed their way into Italy! Aquaman decides to go undercover and head to land to learn just how many Nazis are stationed nearby, and whether they can risk going forward.

Dressed in an orange shirt and green pants, Aquaman spies a bunch of Italian children gathering:
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This is one of my all-time favorite More Fun pages: Aquaman busting Fascist/Nazi skulls (and jaws)! Indiana Jones would be proud.

Aquaman is momentarily knocked down by the bullet that grazed him, and he wakes up to a group of Fascists surrounding him. He actually manages to talk them into letting him get close to a nearby pond, and he races toward it, the baddies losing sight of him amid the trees.

The Fascists surround the pond, knowing its shallow and Aquaman, having nowhere to go, will surface eventually. Except--Aquaman's not in the pond! In the confusion, Aquaman hurled a rock into pond, then hid behind a tree. He's not in the pond at all!

While the Fascists wait, Aquaman crawls away quietly (not one of his proudest moments), and makes it back to the ship:
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...for a moment, I wasn't even sure this was the ending of the story, since it ends so abruptly. But this is it--Aquaman having helped the Allies, and off to another adventure.


With the war going full swing, Aquaman's writer (Mort Weisinger, Joe Samachson, whoever it was) decided to table the Sea King's arch-foe Blackjack and have him participate in the war effort, with some occasional exceptions, as we'll see in future installments...

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