The Shrine couldn't let Mera Month pass without mentioning a show that has (to date) unfortunately gotten short shrift so far, in terms of coverage: The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure!
I've been meaning for years to get around to profiling this series' individual episodes, like I've done for the various incarnations of Super Friends. I absolutely loved this show as a kid--no pesky Wonder Twins or Robin taking up space, just all Aquaman all the time!--and its success helped launch the first and (for decades) most sustained wave of Aqua-merchandise. It still looms large in Aqua-History, some forty odd years later. So while we're not kicking off a look back at the series right now, we are going to jump ahead and profile an episode that featured Mera, "The Stickmen of Stygia."
Mera didn't appear in all that many episodes of the show, and when she did she didn't get much screen time (this was before it was known that women were, you know, good for stuff). But this segment opens with the Queen of the Seven Seas:
Aquaman, thinking the boulder is going to hit the ship, gets in the way of the boulder, causing it to hit him! Aquaman quickly wakes up, but he's pretty annoyed at Aqualad, who apologizes profusely (strangely(?), Mera doesn't seem to get any of the blame).
But unknown to the Aqua-Family, yet another alien race has invaded the seven seas (seriously, they must be standing in line to take on Aquaman), a race of stick-like creatures from the planet Stygia. The head baddie (below) issues commands to his crew, which involves zapping Aquaman, Aqualad, and others with a paralyzing ray:
The aliens try and blast off, but Aquaman lassos the ship, keeping it tied to the ocean floor. They respond by shooting out puffs of knockout gas, one of which hits Mera, putting her to sleep. Aquaman commands Aqualad to get her out of harm's way until she can recover:
They think he's bluffing, but when Aquaman aims the beam at some overhead rocks, causing them to fall onto the ship (actually the work of some dolphins), the Stickmen realize they are out of their, um, depth, and blast off.
Aquaman watches them leave, and we see that the fake beam--again, just a flashlight--was aimed by a now-recovered Mera:
The AquaFamily has a good laugh over the fact that the practical joke ended up helping them defeat the Stickmen! Aquaman and Aqualad climb back aboard their seahorses, ready for another adventure!
At only five or six minutes, these Filmation Aquaman shows move like lightning--there's an intro, a villain, an initial fight, then Aquaman wins. Done and done. I like this episode a little more than some others because Mera is involved, even though she acts more like a contemporary of Aqualad, rather than her husband. Still, the character was being introduced to millions of new people, something that undoubtedly helped keep her around as part of Aquaman's supporting cast during the lean years.
This may be our first recap of a Filmation Aquaman episode, but it won't be the last!
At only five or six minutes, these Filmation Aquaman shows move like lightning--there's an intro, a villain, an initial fight, then Aquaman wins. Done and done. I like this episode a little more than some others because Mera is involved, even though she acts more like a contemporary of Aqualad, rather than her husband. Still, the character was being introduced to millions of new people, something that undoubtedly helped keep her around as part of Aquaman's supporting cast during the lean years.
This may be our first recap of a Filmation Aquaman episode, but it won't be the last!
