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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Adventure Comics #249 - June 1958

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Comics Weekend "Wanted--Aqua-Crook" by Otto Binder and Ramona Fradon.

It's Adventure Sunday!

Oh no, can it be? After years of mistreatment at the hands of the Surface World, has the Aquatic Ace turned to crime?!?
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Aquaman brusquely pushes his pal Topo aside, not recognizing him. Topo realizes something is very wrong, going so far as hiding behind some rocks and overhearing that the Sea King is working for The Barnacle Gang!

Aquaman's final mission involves recovering a car that was dumped on the bottom of the ocean. Using eels as spark plugs, Aquaman gets behind the wheel and simply drives ashore:
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...and so ends another adventure with Aquaman!

The Golden Age Aquaman got hit on the head a lot, and it was simply too good a story hook for writers not to use and, finally, abuse. Speaking of heads, this story presents us with the innermost thoughts of Topo, something heretofore unseen in the strip. Call me sentimental, but I love how devoted he is to Aquaman, an angle to the character that has been mostly brushed away over the last couple decades.

On an unrelated note, could any gang of toughs come up with a less imposing name than "The Barnacle Gang"? I mean, that just screams Failure.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

A great golden age aqua adventure!

Love Topo leading the military assault on the bad guys.

Do all crooked gang leaders carry around Secret Service badges just in case they stumble across amnesiac superheroes?

Anthony said...

Wonder why they didn't go with thought balloons for Topo (like his fellow super-pet sidekick Krypto used)?

That said, the issue of "DC Super Friends" where the super-pets of the heroes team up to fight Kanjar Ro does show Topo (and Krypto) using speech balloons, via Green Lantern's power ring letting them speak...

Re: Superboy: Clark runs away from home to Metropolis, abandoning his costume in the process, where it's found by a crook.

Earth 2 Chris said...

The Barnacle Gang sounds like some crooks Bat-Boy and Rubin would fight over in MAD Magazine shortly before this!

Chris