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Sunday, January 13, 2013

Adventure Comics #217 - Oct. 1955

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Comics Weekend "The Day Aquaman Couldn't See" by Jack Miller(?) and Ramona Fradon.

It's Adventure Sunday!

Why is that one fat guy so happy about Superboy leaving? And what's with Jor-El's upsetting shorts?

Meanwhile, a few pages further into the book, Aquaman is in the market for a seeing-eye walrus:
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The crook's "closer look" results in a yellow-gloved fist right to his jaw, but that doesn't stop his crony, who drops a net into the water, hoping to scoop Aquaman up in it.

The Sea King's walrus pal tries to avoid it, but nevertheless Aquaman finds himself tangled, much to the crook's delight:
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...and with that, so ends another adventure for Aquaman!

This story could have been titled "Brevity is the Soul of Wit." This has to be the least wordy Aquaman adventure in months, maybe years, and for once it doesn't require a word balloon-soaked final page, explaining all that had come in the previous five. No, this story is uber-simple: Aquaman gets hit in the head, goes blind, regains his sight, the end.

Of course, it didn't hurt that these were two of the most clownish bad guys the Sea King has run into. Somedays a superhero just gets lucky.

  

5 comments:

Richard said...

It's impressive that Aquaman knew in advance right from the moment he woke up that his blindness was only temporary.

Of course we at the Institute for Television Science have long known that any unwanted effects caused by a blow to the head are completely eliminated by the next blow to the head and everything is restored to normal. Also, there is no such thing as a concussion or cranial trauma.

Anthony said...

Sea eagles *and* someone calls Aquaman "fish man"...two late Golden Age/transitional period trademarks in true form!

Re: Superboy: A convicted murderer about to be executed on death row has solved the mystery of Superboy's secret identity. Meanwhile, Superboy meets what seems to be his birth parents, and plans to leave Earth with them. In what I assume is a first (or an extreme rarity for comics of this era), this one's a two-part story, continued in the next issue...

Joseph Brian Scott said...

Mebee Jor-El's "upsetting shorts" are the reason the fat man is so happy.

Fun little story, that would have made nice "filler" if it was sandwiched between "novel-length" tales in an Aquaman 80-pg. Giant that unfortunately never existed.

r duncan said...

That wouldn't be Tusky, would it? ;)

Anonymous said...

Viva Adventure Sunday!

Hey Joseph, Aquaman may never have had the privilege of helming an 80-pg. giant, but he did have a few decent reprint collections back in the bronze age. I know, I had them both.

Bring on those sea eagles!

James Chatterton