It's Adventure Sunday!
In this issue, The Boy of Steel faces the villainy of...The Busy Body!
The last issue installment of Aquaman in Adventure Comics featured a different kind of story, at least in form. This month, the change is in content, as the Sea King is forced out of his natural habitat onto the streets of America:
Aquaman's sea eagle pal dumps the crook into a nearby water tank. The Sea King then gets the drop on another one of the crooks, leaning him over a fire hydrant until the crook literally begs for mercy. Aquaman only relents when the crook reveals where his boss is hiding with the stolen loot.
Unfortunately, the boss is several towns away, which necessitates Aquaman taking a train to get there. The eagle-eyed ticket booth operator says he saw "A shady-looking character" get on board earlier, and overheard him tell some compatriots to be on the lookout for Aquaman! Not wanting to give himself away, Aquaman asks if there's a specific train car he could hide in:
Unfortunately, the boss is several towns away, which necessitates Aquaman taking a train to get there. The eagle-eyed ticket booth operator says he saw "A shady-looking character" get on board earlier, and overheard him tell some compatriots to be on the lookout for Aquaman! Not wanting to give himself away, Aquaman asks if there's a specific train car he could hide in:
...and with that, so ends another adventure with Aquaman!
Maybe it's because he was forced to improvise due to his unfamiliar surroundings, but Aquaman here is a lot more brutal than he had been for long time, at least since he was taking on Nazis. He sits on one crook, who is bent over a fire hydrant. Then he makes his way to the boss, and essentially waterboards him until he gives up the information Aquaman wants. And all this with a smile!
While Aquaman is the proverbial fish out of water in this story, I love the way Ramona Fradon's made the city look. With the deep shadows and plug-ugly crooks, it looks like Aquaman is about to run into Dick Tracy. What I would have done to see that!
Maybe it's because he was forced to improvise due to his unfamiliar surroundings, but Aquaman here is a lot more brutal than he had been for long time, at least since he was taking on Nazis. He sits on one crook, who is bent over a fire hydrant. Then he makes his way to the boss, and essentially waterboards him until he gives up the information Aquaman wants. And all this with a smile!
While Aquaman is the proverbial fish out of water in this story, I love the way Ramona Fradon's made the city look. With the deep shadows and plug-ugly crooks, it looks like Aquaman is about to run into Dick Tracy. What I would have done to see that!
4 comments:
I think Aquaman looks espeically nice in this story, the images of him on the second page are nicely done and very crisp. Looks great but no surprise considering th eartist.
Wonder what the "guy over the fire hydrant" scene looked like... :-p
Re: Superboy's plot: A city councilman convinces Smallville's government to abolish the police and fire departments to save money (relying on Superboy to do such jobs).
Are there really crooks who would know the difference between an eagle and a "sea eagle"???? And would Aquaman really be able to command the sea eagle just because the word "sea" is in his name. (Now, controlling the goldfish I can understand.) lol
Viva Adventure Sunday!
Sea-Eagle? What's next? Sea-Turtles? Sea-Lions? Sea-Wolverines?
Yeah, if Aquaman will keep dunking a guy for a bag of pearls, just imagine what he'd do when he's really mad. Maybe woulding him in the shoulder wasn't such a great move.
Fradon's art here reminds me of Dick Sprang in his moodier Batman stories. She really was a wonderful artist right from the start.
James Chatterton
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