Showcase #100 - May 1978

Comics Weekend "There Shall Come A Gathering" by Paul Kupperberg, Paul Levitz, and Joe Staton.

This anniversary issue of one of DC's most influential titles, Showcase, hits the ground running with a gaggle of heroes aboard the JLA Satellite when some rather distressing news comes in:

...I love how, even amidst this literally world-shattering crisis, Kid Flash has time to flirt with Wonder Girl. And in kind of a creepy way, too.

Anyway, in classic superhero comic style, the various heroes break up into teams to combat the problem. Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, and Adam Strange try and stop who or what is moving the Earth through space, and they are met by an army of robot warriors who are bent on stopping them.

Down on Earth, the Metal Men try and save lives, and in the time stream Rip Hunter checks out the problem there. Lois Lane goes on TV and issues an on-air plea for Superman's help (its not going to work, Lois; Superman was never in Showcase!). She is met by The Challengers of the Unknown and The Creeper, who want to use GBS-TV's powerful transmitters to broadcast an SOS.

Back in space, Flash, GL and the other are given assistance by Space Ranger, who helps them fight off their robot attackers. They find their way to what seems like the alien overlord, and destroy it, yet--the Earth keeps hurtling through space!

Meanwhile, at the offices of O'Day and Simeon, Detectives, the messed-up time stream brings a bunch of disparate people together:

As a comic nerd (redundant), I love this page--you've got The Inferior Five, Tommy Tomorrow, Anthro, Bat Lash, Firehair, and even Binky and His Buddies, all in same page. Crisis on Infinite Earths got a lot of fanboy praise for squeezing in all the various corners of the DCU together, but Kupperberg, Levitz, and Staton got there first.

Bat Lash, Tommy Tomorrow, and Angel decide to try and help out any way they can, so they take off to see what they can do, leaving Sam (the Ape in Angel & The Ape) to keep everyone else entertained.

Finally, we get to see what Aquaman's been doing:

...little did Aquaman know how much the mysterious Dolphin would enter into his life. But that's another story. (By the way, do those little kids look familiar to you? More on that in a moment)

In Metropolis, the Teen Titans help the Metal Men keep the peace, and that involves stopping various rampaging hordes of baddies who are spilling out of the time stream. That includes Vikings and Nazis(!) which Aqualad dispatches with a quip:

Out in space, our heroes are given further assist by some really big guns: The Phantom Stranger and The Spectre! The Spectre, summoned by the Stranger via a seance, quite literally tries to push the Earth in the other direction, but eventually fails.

Back on the planet, the various teams of heroes find their way to the same place, some sort of living hunk of rock. Angel and Lois Lane head in, via a small tunnel carved out by Tommy Tomorrow. They make their way to the hub, which houses a vast computer run by some sort of alien life form who wants to destroy the Earth, as well as other worlds.

Angel is trying to determine which wires to rip loose, when a white gloved hand guides her to a specific one, before disappearing. The power system crumbles, sending the life support bubble the alien was living in hurtling into space:

...the ever-lovin' end!


Aside from the fact Aquaman plays such a small role (understandable, considering the small army of characters writers Kupperberg and Levitz were working into this story), this is one of my all-time favorite superhero stories: its enormously fun, has a million different locations, a lot of humor, and moves at a breakneck pace.

Joe Staton, always one of my favorite artists, does a great job here. He was the perfect guy to bring off this story, since he excels at both lighthearted adventure and big, epic space opera.

This book also features a two-page text feature by Paul Levitz, giving short histories of every Showcase character and just where they were fit into the story. Some characters, like King Farraday, Manhunter 2070, and Fireman Farrell literally have one-panel walk-ons, and are easy to miss; so this little key at the end comes in handy for the obsessive fan, like myself.


Speaking of obsessive, some of you will no doubt recognize the kids Dolphin is saving on page 20:

Yep, that's Sugar and Spike! When I first noticed it, I doubted it was supposed to be S&S because they had never appeared in Showcase, which was the prerequisite for being included in this story.

I decided to ask my pal and Patron Saint of the Shrine (and co-writer of this story!) Paul Kupperberg about it, in an email titled "The Most Obscure Thing I Will Ever Ask You About." Paul wrote back in the affirmative that, yes, that was Sugar & Spike:

"Yes, Virginia, that was an (uncredited) appearance by Sugar & Spike, thrown in by Joe for his own amusement! Originally, when Paul and I plotted it, the idea was to restrict appearances to characters who had been in Showcase and gone on to their own features or titles. We actually thought we were doing Joe a favor by keeping the number of characters down, but It was Joe who threw in everybody else who ever appeared in Showcase! Who knew he was a masochist!"

Paul even sent me Joe Staton's original cover sketch:

Ginchy!


As if all this wasn't enough, here's one more thing before we go--check out this odd little object:

This is a 3D diorama made by a fan and given to Paul Kupperberg. It consists of cutting up several copies of Showcase #100 and turning them into this sculpture. I admire the sheer tenacity it must have took to create this, even if looking at it makes my head hurt.

Adventure Comics #437 - Feb. 1975

Comics Weekend "A Quiet Day in Atlantis"

Mike Grell is back for this, his third and final Aquaman story, but Steve Skeates has been replaced by Paul Levitz:

Aquaman was zapped by Black Manta, of course, who watches from the safety of his Manta Ship.

He orders his crew to follow Aquaman's unconscious body into the pit, but it gets caught in a web of seaweed.

Aquaman wakes up, in time for the Manta Ship to blast some rocks above him, causing them to crash down on him, trapping Aquaman in a small cave carved into the rock wall. He goes looking for an escape:

...I love that octopus just sitting there, in the darkness. A nice touch by Mike Grell.

Aquaman talks to some finny friends and learns that the cavern leads out to an open sea farm, and after some more searching, he finds his way out.

Unfortunately, its not that easy:

Aquaman isn't strong enough to free himself, so, still wrapped in one of the creature's tentacles, he swims toward it at full speed, making a hard turn at the last second. The resultant *snap* breaks the tentacle off (ouch!), and Aquaman manages to escape.

But the day's not over. On the way back to Atlantis, he's in the right place at the right time to rescue a young girl who carelessly runs in front of a giant mechanized harvester.

He saves the girl, returning her back to her mother. He then collapses from exhaustion, waking up back in his royal chambers:

...with its humorous ending, this story reminds me a bit of the kind of story you might have seen in one of the Aquaman Filmation cartoons.

I like how Black Manta is regarded as sort of a permanent thorn in Aquaman's side, and you can work him into a story like this and have it just be a sub-plot.

That purple creature reminds me of the sort of icky beings Basil Wolverton was creating for Plop! covers around this same time. I imagine he (it?) was pretty mad at Aquaman, for snapping one of his arms off like that.


And that was it for Aquaman's second run in Adventure Comics. Of course, he would return in just a few issues, this time as the lead, drawn once again by The Man, Jim Aparo.

Adventure editor Joe Orlando was rotating different back-up features behind The Spectre main feature, so I think we can assume Aquaman was the best received, since it was he--not The Seven Soldiers of Victory, not Captain Fear--who got the promotion once the ground-breaking Spectre series ended.

Mike Grell had clearly proved his mettle to DC's editors, since he started receiving more and more assignments from this point on.

Tomorrow, as promised, we'll talk with Mike, about how he landed this assignment, what he thought about it, and where his career went after Aquaman. Be here!

DC Comics Presents #5 - Jan. 1979

Comics Weekend Superman and Aquaman vs. Ocean Master!

After years of Batman headlining a team-up title in Brave and the Bold, DC finally decided to give Superman the same honor by making him the star of its newest team-up book, DC Comics Presents.

In the first few issues of DC Comics Presents, Superman met with either fellow "A" list heroes (Flash, Green Lantern) or solid "B" level ones (Adam Strange, The Metal Men), and it made total sense for Aquaman to be one of the first heroes given the nod to co-headline with the Man of Steel.

Behind this solid cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano, is the story "The War of the Undersea Cities!" by Len Wein, Paul Levitz, and art (pencils and inks, fairly unusual) by Murphy Anderson:

We start out on a beach in Metropolis, as a fisherman catches something pretty strange...an unconscious Lori Lemaris!

There's a really funny sequence here, when the fisherman thinks he's found a mermaid (which he has), and starts dreaming up ways to make money from it, like in a carnival sideshow.

But then Lori, just starting to wake up, murmurs "Must...find...Superman" in a weak voice. The erstwhile entrepreneur, guessing she's friends with Superman, decides "The only thing I'll get out of this deal is trouble!", and forgets the whole idea.

Later, Superman gets a message from S.T.A.R. Labs that Lori Lemaris is there. He arrives, and Lori, now awake, tells her old flame that her city of Tritonis recently came under attack from their sister city of Poseidonis. And seeming to be leading the invaders was...Aquaman!

Superman resolves to get to the bottom of this, and he and Lori head for Tritonis:

...this is a great little moment, between Superman and Lori. Lori is being sort of passive-aggressive here, and I like how Superman puts an end to all of it with a simple "Lori." It's a nice character moment, and I think it shows a side of Superman we rarely got to see.

They arrive at Tritonis, and meet up, with Lori's husband Ronal, who is at a loss to explain Poseidonis' sudden attack. Superman goes looking for Aquaman, and while doing so he is attacked by a giant squid!

He easily dispatches it, but is then attacked by sharks, turtles, and other creatures of the sea. Superman creates a whirlpool to dizzy them long enough for him to take off, but his thoughts are interrupted by the man he is seeking:

Aquaman explains that, after experiencing a sea quake, he headed for Atlantis, only to see it--and its protective domed--nearly destroyed from some sort of attack. He then took a patrol to Tritonis to see if the same thing has happened to them, when they were attacked without warning by Tritonis!

Clearly, something's going on here, so they both head for Tritonis. Upon seeing Aquaman, some of the city's royal guards attack, to no avail:

...I love all those guys, breaking their hands on Superman's abs.

Superman and Aquaman "surrender", so they can be taken to the city's elders. But when they arrive they are shocked to see...Ocean Master!

Turns out the elders of Tritonis turned over the reigns of power to Orm--bad idea--in exchange for protection from Poseidonis. Since this was done officially, there's no legal way Aquaman or Superman can do anything to Ocean Master, so they walk out, as Orm laughs.

Talking amongst themselves, Aquaman says he sensed something wasn't quite right with Lori and the others, being dominated by something in the royal chamber. Supes and Aquaman decide to sneak back in, but when they do, Ocean Master is waiting for them, and he zaps Aquaman, who mutters something to Superman about the model globe in the middle of the room being the source of the disturbance.

Orm himself smashes the globe open, releasing a giant, monstrous jellyfish, which seems to be a physical match for Superman!

This distraction gives Aquaman a chance to recover, and he goes after Orm. Meanwhile, Superman realizes this creature is using his own aggression and anger against him, using it as energy. The angrier Superman gets, the more powerful it gets.

Superman then goes limp, and the creature calmly releases him. This severs the mental connection with its master, giving Aquaman the chance to end the discussion:

Later, with the creature now gone (Superman having dumped it down the Marianas Trench), Lori and the others wake up from their imposes stupor, and peace between the two cities is restored.


This is really a great little story, and I love the little character moments, like with the fisherman and Superman with Lori. Also, it was a nice touch that Aquaman can mentally "listen in" on Superman's thoughts, as he does when he shows up in the story.

Writers didn't usually show Aquaman's mental powers so explicitly--in terms of being able to use them on humans (or Kryptonians, in this case)--so it was a pleasant surprise here.

Aquaman only made one more appearance as Superman's guest-star, in DC Comics Presents #48, which was another good tale. Considering their creative success, it's too bad Arthur didn't show up more in the title.

Adventure Comics #448 - Dec. 1976

Comics Weekend A full-length Aquaman story this issue of Adventure Comics, where we finally get to learn the true identity of the villainous Karshon!

Aquaman's got a lot going against him on this cover--his own people, a shark, and then Karshon! Will he survive?

This issue's story is called "Crown, Crisis, and Cataclysm", drawn by Jim Aparo (of course) and written by Paul Levitz (one of the few issues where Levitz got solo credit).

After the interruption of last issue, this installment features the return of the very cool Aparo splash pages:

Since last issue, Aquaman has returned home, to find his home ransacked, and his wife and son kidnapped! Arthur figures Karshon is behind this, but is momentarily stunned by the turn of events.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to indulge himself, since Black Manta, like a bad penny, turns up again to taunt him. Aquaman isn't in the mood, and starts to bitch-slap Manta:

...those slaps really look like they hurt.

After getting blasted by Manta, Aquaman wakes up imprisoned, chained to a wall, along with his old friend Vulko.

As Vulko fills Aquaman in on what's happened to Atlantis under Karshon's rule, Manta and Karshon squabble over the master plan. Manta wanted to kill Aquaman when he had the chance, but Karshon raps Manta across the face (dome?) and basically tells him to kiss off. Manta leaves, swearing revenge...

After the guards come in and take Aquaman away, Vulko is rescued by Aqualad, Aquagirl, and their friend Mupo, who start to clue Vulko in on their plan.

Meanwhile, Karshon tells his guards to release Aquaman, he wants to deal with him personally. Big mistake, since he is no match for the King of the Seven Seas--but of course, Karshon is tricky. He flips a switch, and:

But Karshon is shocked to see that Aqualad and the others--followed by a throng of Atlantean citizens--are right behind him.

They see that Karshon has been lying to them, telling them that Vulko died while in prison, among other crimes. The crowd gets angry, and demands Karshon's head.

Aquaman demands to know where Mera and Arthur Jr. are, but he breaks free and reveals his true identity:

...the supervillain The Shark!

Aquaman recognizes him from his previous fights with Superman and Green Lantern, and The Shark tells him that he has returned to his natural habitat--the sea--to go after the greatest, more powerful prey...Aquaman!

He shows that he has Mera and Arthur Jr. in a tank filled with sharks, used literally as bait. The Shark proposes a hunt, and if Aquaman survives, his family goes free!

Aquaman cautiously agrees, figuring its the only way to save his family. And since The Shark has been using his telepathic powers to keep everyone inside Atlantis, Aquaman must face The Shark all alone.

After a few well-thrown punches, The Shark lives up to his name:

....ew!

While being chased, Aquaman makes his way to a bunch of barrels of radioactive waste, dumped there by the Surface World (damn Dirt Walkers). He then makes a giant water swirl around The Shark, temporarily confusing him.

When The Shark sees a trail of blood leading to the barrels, The Shark picks one of them up, smashing it into the others, causing a massive explosion!

Turns out this was Aquaman's plan--he figured the sight of blood would drive The Shark's inner shark into a frenzy, not thinking about what he was doing. The subsequent radiation set off by the explosion made The Shark revert back to his original form, "a helpless ordinary creature of the sea."

Aquaman passes out from the radiation, too. But he is soon found by his friends and family, ending with the proverbial Happy Ending :

...nice! Aquaman has finally shed the burden of the throne, and is now free to be a full-time superhero and family man! Oh, if only it would last!


The Shark is a creepy villain, and this one of the few (only?) times I can think of when a bad guy actually went ahead and bit the hero. I'm sure The Joker must have tried it at least once...

Karshon/The Shark's palace--complete with Falling Net Action--practically cried out for a Mego playset. At the very least, they could've slapped a green bodysuit on a Batgirl body and called it Mera.

Oh, what could have been...

Adventure Comics #447 - Oct. 1976

Comics Weekend Aquaman faces more than one of his deadliest foes in this issue of Adventure Comics!

I've had such a fun time going back over this great Aquaman run in Adventure, I've decided to finish off the series over the next few weekends.

As usual, the artwork by Jim Aparo is top-notch--he really knew how to draw a punch, you know? I mean, look how bent over The Fisherman is--that looks massively painful, and yet he's still able to trash-talk the Sea King.

This particular issue is unusual in that it doesn't feature one of the hallmarks of the series, a dynamic, movie poster-ish splash page:

...I can't put my finger on it, but this first page looks like it was fiddled with in production. The title box looks a little thrown together (and not incorporated into the artwork, like the earlier ones), plus the credit box is much smaller than usual, as if the left hand panel has been shrunk down to fit in a smaller space.

Anyway, last issue ended with Aquaman discovering Black Manta is running guns to Atlantis, and picks up here with Manta explaining what happened to a mysterious accomplice.

Meanwhile, Mera and Arthur Jr. are attacked by two giant sharks and then dragged off...

Top-side, Aquaman and Aqualad hatch a plan, and they split up to put it into gear. Aquaman stays behind to investigate where the cache of laser rifles they found have been made. He tracks them to a factory:

...I like how spooky Aquaman looks in that first panel.

Anyway, Aquaman inadvertently trips an alarm, and a giant steel cage comes down and temporarily stops him, long enough to discover The Fisherman has returned, just days after Aquaman threw him in jail (in Adventure #443)!

Aquaman rears back and pastes The Fisherman one, only to have the villain implode!

Aquaman then wakes up, and finds himself in yet another super-villain death trap, dangling on a hook, as a series of laser rifles attempt to slice him into ribbons. But Aquaman manages to perform an escape worthy of Batman:

Aquaman quickly catches up to The Fisherman (turns out the first one was a decoy used to sucker Aquaman) and knocks him out.

Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, the two rogue sharks arrive with Mera and Arthur Jr., and we get to see who is the mastermind behind all these plots against the Sea King:

...the new King of Atlantis, Karshon! To be continued!

Another fine installment of the series, written by an ever-revolving writing team, this time consisting of Paul Levitz and Martin Pasko. Its sort of amazing, really, how well this series held together considering it had so many different hands working on it.

And, as ever, Jim Aparo brings his A game.
___________________________________________________________

In this week's Ambush Bug: Year None #2, Aquaman makes his second guest appearance with the Bug.

It's just this one panel, but of course I'm always happy to see Classic Aquaman show up in any DC book.

Adventure Comics #446 - Aug. 1976

Comics Weekend Aquaman takes on his most deadly foe in this Bicentennial issue of Adventure Comics!

Before we get to the story, let's take a moment to admire this cover--there's a lot of stuff going on here, but to my eye its very balanced and works quite well, despite all the clutter. Plus that shot of Aquaman on his steed holding an American flag should have been made into a 1976-era t-shirt.

Ok, inside the issue--we left off last issue with Aquaman and Mera returning home after a failed kidnapping (and ritual sacrifice!) of Mera. Presumably waiting for them is their son Arthur Jr., who got left behind during the melee.

But as we saw, Arthur Jr. has been violently grabbed by Aquaman's octopus pal, Topo! What's going on here? Well, let's see--first up, another wonderful Jim Aparo splash page:

Turns out Topo was instinctively trying to protect the suddenly-alone Arthur Jr., but was using a little too much force in the attempt. Arthur tells Mera Topo "isn't the brightest creature in the sea."

Then, Aquaman gets a video-call from Robin, the Boy Wonder, who tells him that he can't find their mutual friend, Aqualad, anywhere! Aquaman says he'll search for Garth as well, but warns Robin about what has happened in Atlantis, saying if he runs into Aqualad first, to tell him to stay away from the city.

So where is Aqualad? Well, nothing mysterious, at least at first. He's on a date with Tula, aka Aquagirl. But of course, there's more to it than that:

...I simply love Aparo's shifty, pencil-mustached mob guy and gun moll. They should get their own comic.

Aqualad gets dragged into the boat's kitchen, where he gets roughed up, until he's accidentally dunked with a pot of water. Big mistake!

Suddenly refreshed, Aqualad punches one guy's lights out, but then is knocked out from behind. When he wakes up, he sees an old foe waiting for him...Black Manta!

Manta then knocks out Tula, trusses her up, and dunks her overboard tied to an anchor, not realizing who she is. Manta is shocked to see Aqualad seemingly so indifferent to his date's fate, and throws him in the brig.

For a moment, we cut back to Atlantis where we see Karshon aiming to "teach Aquaman a lesson once and for all", whatever that means...

Back with Aquaman, we see him find Tula while on the hunt for Aqualad, and he frees her. They then prepare a frontal assault:

We find Manta dunking Aqualad in a tank of lobotomized marine life, so that even if--when--Aquaman shows up, he won't be able to call them off.

But Aquaman shows up earlier than expected, and suckerpunches Manta in the throat!

Manta recovers, mentioning Aquaman's recent exile ("How does he know---?" Aquaman wonders), thinking that while all this is happening, Aqualad is being killed by the killer fish.

But he doesn't see that Tula freed him, so that he can join in on the fun:

...I'm guessing Aquaman is pulling his punch in panel 1, since I don't see his green-gloved hand popping out the other side of Manta.

Manta jumps out an escape hatch into his Manta Ship, but Aquaman is ready with a giant squid to stop him! Unfortunately, Manta's ship is too powerful, and he does manage to get away.

As Aquaman and Aqualad hand over Manta's thugs to the police, Garth marvels that, in just the last few weeks, they've run into The Fisherman, Ocean Master, and now Manta! What's going on?

Aquaman thinks he knows--inside a crate dropped from Manta's ship is a laser rifle, the same kind that Karshon's men used on him (back in Adventure #444)! Black Manta is gun-running to Atlantis!

To be continued!

Jim Aparo was always so good at fight scenes--he really gets across how painful these superhero punches can be. How Black Manta--who doesn't have any real superpowers, especially--survives getting punched in the stomach by Aquaman is something that's beyond me. That's how Houdini died, you know!

Of course, this series ends very grimly, but these issues--the first half at least--really need to be collected into a trade. C'mon, DC, get on the stick!

Adventure Comics #445 - June 1976

Comics Weekend More from Aquaman's excellent solo series in Adventure Comics!

At the end of last issue, Aquaman had been dethroned by his people and replaced by the mysterious, scheming Karshon.

Without having Atlantis to call home, Aquaman, Mera, and their son Arthur Jr. take up residence in a new home, a specially-built headquarters befitting a legendary superhero.

But of course, before they even get to enjoy it, trouble looms on the horizon, as we see in another of Jim Aparo's spiffy splash pages:

Aquaman gives Mera a tour of the new digs (not noticing the intruders following them), and it is a swanky place indeed:

...this thing screams Mego Playset to me, too bad they never thought to make it. *sigh*

Anyway, while the family enjoys the peace and quiet, they are confronted by a group of armed amphibian men, who are here to kidnap Mera!

Aquaman of course isn't having any of that, and he starts busting heads, with the help of some nearby sharks, who are not as delicate as their master.

But one of them manages to hit the couple with tranquilizer darts, and they drag both of them away, leaving Arthur Jr. all alone to fend for himself. Soon, Aquaman and Mera wake up and start to learn what the heck is going on:

Aquaman listens to what their leader, Toxxin, has to say, but he realizes that this giant squid-like creature isn't trying to harm these people. Instead, it just uses them as bait to capture curious sharks and other marine life.

Toxxin then offers Mera up to the creature as a sacrifice, but Aquaman grabs her headpiece and uses it to stab it, and it lets Mera go. Mera then uses her hard water powers to help free her husband.

Aquaman then charges the creature straight on, circling around it hundreds of times, causing a vacuum around it, depriving it of oxygen, which kills it. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Aquaman do that before...cool!

Aquaman then slaps Toxxin upside the head with one of the creature's severed tentacles, and he and Mera swim off. The recently-liberated villagers are happy to free of the creature, not realizing the school of sharks headed their way...

Later, Aquaman and Mera arrive home, but there's still trouble:

To be continued!

Another great issue--Aquaman is really, well, super in these stories, getting to be much more of a badass than he is generally known for. Knocking someone out with someone else's severed arm is painful and humiliating. Nicely done, Arthur.

Adventure Comics #444 - April 1976

Comics Weekend A special book-length story in this issue of Adventure Comics!

Picking up from last issue, just as Aquaman had apprehended The Fisherman and started heading back for "a little peace and quiet" in Atlantis, we discovered that a new ruler has been elected in Aquaman's place!

This issue's story is "And Death Before Dishonor" written by Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, and of course drawn by Jim Aparo.

Like I've mentioned for every issue in this series, Jim Aparo treated us to some wonderfully dynamic splash pages.

Not that DC ever had bad lettering, but since Aparo was doing the job himself, it couldn't help but allow him to compose the most exciting image possible, since he could control where everything went:

Aquaman and his finny friends make it back to Atlantis, only to be stopped at the city's gates by Atlantean guards!

Aquaman, as is his wont, doesn't listen and quickly subdues the two guards. He thinks these two are goofing around, and tells them they may just find themselves spending "five years of communing with penguins!"

Aquaman then heads to the arsenal to pick up some Serum X had that he needs, though when he hits the fingerprint-activated controls, he gets a bit of a shock:

...that looks really painful. Nicely done, Mr. Aparo!

Anyway, now we see what has led up to this. While swimming home, Aquaman overhears on a surface dweller's radio that Atlantean vessels are attacking the country of Monaco, demanding a ransom in gold and silver! What?!?

Aquaman finds a fleet of underwater ships off Monaco's coast, and uses his electric eel pals to determine which ship is the main power source, figuring that houses the invasion's commander!

He smashes his way in, and get a terrible surprise as to who's behind all this:

Orm, guarded with a force field that keeps him safe from attack, demands Aquaman retrieve some Serum X, which Orm wants to use to create his own undersea kingdom!

We then cut back to the present, and Aquaman is waking up in front of Mera and his old friend Vulko, as well as Atlantis' new king, Karshon!

Karshon tells Aquaman that he has spent too much time away from the city, adventuring as a superhero, and says that if Aquaman attacks the arsenal again, he will exiled from the city! On top of that, they won't give him any of the Serum, telling Aquaman Ocean Master is his problem, not Atlantis'!

Aquaman is non-plussed, but luckily Mera is on his side:

Aquaman makes his way into the arsenal via a giant boulder made of coral, only to see Karshon waiting for him inside!

Karshon--and his pet shark--attacks him, but Aquaman gets off a lucky shot by throwing the giant coral rock at the shark, smashing its teeth in, leaving it to swim away in a trail of blood.

A few inches from the Serum, Aquaman stops, and realizes stealing it would be morally wrong. He swims off, determined to find another way to stop Orm.

This was not what Karshon was hoping for, as we learn he has a plan for Aquaman...but what is it?

Soon, we see Orm's fleet of subs attacked by giant killer whales and electric eels, with Aquaman back for a second go-round with his brother:

Ocean Master does manage to launch his missiles at Monaco, but luckily Mera is there, who uses her hard-water powers to grab them and explode them harmlessly!

Aquaman thanks Mera for showing up and saving the day, but she tells him all is ot not well--Serum X is missing anyway, and Aquaman is being blamed for it! Mera and Arthur Jr. were chased out of the city, and escaped only thanks to Vulko, who stayed behind. Arthur says he should go back to see who is framing him, but Mera offers maybe they should make that decision together, leading to one of my all-time favorite Aquaman panels:

A wonderfully happy, beautiful image--The King of the Seven Seas and his Queen, and their son. To me, this is Aquaman.

To be continued!

For some reason, Aquaman's normal page count got expanded to a full book for this issue (not that I'm complaining). In addition to the extra Aqua-content, we get another bonus page re-introducing new readers (remember them, comics industry?) to the cast of characters:

I feel like I should permanently post this on the right somewhere.