Aquaman Episode 14: "Treacherous is the Torpedoman" by Bob Haney
Aquaman, Aqualad, and Tusky come upon the wrecked hull of a boat, not knowing that waiting inside is an old foe(?) of Aquaman's, The Torpedoman!
Aquaman, Aqualad, and Tusky come upon the wrecked hull of a boat, not knowing that waiting inside is an old foe(?) of Aquaman's, The Torpedoman!
Torpedoman makes a frontal assault (considering his name and powers, that's really the only kind he can make), and Aquaman and Aqualad counter by lassoing him with some seaweed. He escapes by by transmogrifying into an anchor and dropping himself onto our heroes, who escape in the nick of time.
The Torpedoman then activates an electronic grid installed in the "wrecked" ship, followed by an attack that he hopes will drive Aquaman and Aqulad into it. But luckily they duck out of the way, and the Torpedoman helplessly flies into it. As he screams in pain, Aquaman shows mercy and has some of his finny friends help pry him loose:
The Torpedoman then activates an electronic grid installed in the "wrecked" ship, followed by an attack that he hopes will drive Aquaman and Aqulad into it. But luckily they duck out of the way, and the Torpedoman helplessly flies into it. As he screams in pain, Aquaman shows mercy and has some of his finny friends help pry him loose:
As we all know, Bob Haney played fast and loose with continuity in the comics, and he does that here too--The Torpedoman refers to Aquaman as his "old enemy" even though we've never seen him before, either in the comics or on this show. As villains go, Torpedoman is particularly incompetent, getting caught in his own deathtrap twice in less than eight minutes. He probably eventually gave up the supervillain game and decided to rent himself out as a freelance anchor. Call 1-800-Tor-Pedo!
Post Script: As F.O.A.M.er Joseph Brian Scott mentions in the comments, The Torpedoman is most likely the animated version of the character that appeared in Aquaman #36, alongside fellow baddies Claw and Magneto. He's probably right, especially since that comic was published only a few months before this episode was produced. Given how limited time and money was for these shows, Filmation would have only had room to animate one villain, so Torpedoman got the nod. Good call JBS!
2 comments:
I was under the impression that this "Torpedoman" was an adaptation of the Torpedo robot character from the Awesome Threesome, who appeared in AQUAMAN #36 Nov. '67, along with his cohorts Claw and Magneto.
Yeah, I can see this easily being a Bob Haney comic. An "old foe" we've never seen before; odd powers (he turns into an anchor in a cartoonish fashion? Unless shape-shifting's a secondary(?) power...); and a wrecked ship falling off a cliff that...explodes? :-p
As for renting himself out w/a 1-800 number, now I'm imagining some Chicago-style local TV ad for him. ("That old ship is worth money... call Torpedoman Ship Wreckers today!" "5-8-8-2-300...An-chorrrrr!")
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