It's Adventure Sunday!
Aquaman meets The Nuclear Age in "Operation Justice!":
Aquaman makes quick work of the crew and steers the ship back to the Nautilus. When Dune sees this, he panics, pushing the Captain over.
Aquaman grabs the salt-filled life preserver and hurls it at Dune's legs, causing him to trip--trip right onto Aquaman's fist!
Aquaman grabs the salt-filled life preserver and hurls it at Dune's legs, causing him to trip--trip right onto Aquaman's fist!
...and so ends another adventure with Aquaman!
Whew! I guess now we know Aquaman's views on Capital Punishment. I like how even the hard-driving Navy men are even a little shocked at Aquaman's reaction.
The ending of this story feels very EC Comics-ish to me, with its ghoulish twist. I'm not exactly sure whether the guard that Dune strangled is dead or merely unconscious--if the latter, I'd say being immolated in a nuclear blast just for stealing some jewels seems a tad harsh, scales of justice-wise. But as we've seen before, this Aquaman doesn't mess around.
Whew! I guess now we know Aquaman's views on Capital Punishment. I like how even the hard-driving Navy men are even a little shocked at Aquaman's reaction.
The ending of this story feels very EC Comics-ish to me, with its ghoulish twist. I'm not exactly sure whether the guard that Dune strangled is dead or merely unconscious--if the latter, I'd say being immolated in a nuclear blast just for stealing some jewels seems a tad harsh, scales of justice-wise. But as we've seen before, this Aquaman doesn't mess around.
5 comments:
Yikes... the ending (and Aquaman's views) felt grim. Making it grimmer, I guess, is that it's based on a then-recent news event, a series of atomic tests (one of which did take place on July 1, 1946): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads
The end-of-story promotional caption seems to be pitching the solo Robin stories that ran in "Star-Spangled Comics" from 1947 to 1952...
Re: Superboy: "When he has to jail a crooked magician who was to put on a show at an orphanage, Superboy substitutes for him and puts on a super-magic show." (Per another site's description of this story). Pretty big shift in tone from "A-bomb annihilation," there...
Viva Adventure Sundays! Especially when it's still Saturday on the west coast.
I can see the EC comparisons. This one also reminded me of some of those late 40's Spirit stories. We're definitely entering heavier waters than ol' Black Jack usually occupies.
James Chatterton
Well, A-man does state pretty clearly that Dune was a murderer. If he'd gone back to the States he probably would have faced the notoriously unreliable electric chair, so perhaps instant vaporization was more merciful. In any event, I enjoyed this grim, little, Phantom Stranger-ish twist to the tale ... you're spot on Rob; it was like an EC story. And I chuckled at the way the word "Bikini" was used, probably for the last time, to impart a feeling of horror.
I know the swimwear hadn't really caught on yet as of 1947, and Bikini Atoll was the more famous sense of the word (and the origin), but it still cracks me up to see "BIKINI!" superimposed over top of a mushroom cloud. Bikini!
My grandpa was AT Bikini during the tests. You know what they gave him as protective equipment? Goggles!
And I know it's almost sacrilege to say this on the AQUAMAN shrine, but I REALLY want to see a story where Superboy turns machine guns into candy!!
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