Action Comics #530 - April 1982

Comics Weekend "Home...Home On The Waves!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Frank Chiaramonte.

Aquaman, at the end of last issue, has helped the citizens of Vortuma fight off the assault of the Land-Masters. But this still leaves him stuck on their planet, with no conceivable way of getting home:

The leader of Vortuma mentions something called the Vibrus, a malevolent creature that lives in the depths of the sea. When attacked, it gives off high levels of vibration-energy, energy that maybe could be used to replicate the beam that brought Aquaman there!

Aquaman finds the Vibrus--a magenta-colored, multi-fanged creature--and attacks it with just enough force that it expels some of its energy into Aquaman, causing the Sea King to dematerialize!

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ray Palmer is on a sailing cruise with his wife Jean. Ray is enjoying himself, but Jean is nothing but complaints, especially about them having to be there to rendevous with Aquaman:

...I love the fact that, no matter where she appeared, Jean Loring was always written as a real shrew. Always complaining, no matter what the situation, and Ray's just too dumb to see that they aren't a good match (boy, have I been there). He's probably blinded by the kind of outfits that Jean is wearing here--you never saw Lois Lane show that much skin.

Anyway, Ray finds an unconscious Aquaman, and has to change into The Atom to have enough strength to bring Arthur to the surface:

It was The Atom and then Air Wave's turn at the Action Comics back-up slot, with Aquaman returning in #536, which we'll see here next Comics Weekend!

Action Comics #529 - March 1982

Comics Weekend "Death If By Land...Death If By Sea!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Pablo Marcos.

Continued last issue, Aquaman has taken it upon himself to help defend the undersea society of Vortuma against a group of marauders called the Land-Masters:

Aquaman leads the denizens of Vortuma to safety inside a nearby cave. But just as he gets them all inside, he is hit on the head and knocked out by a tentacle holding a rock.

When he finally awakens, Aquaman finds himself in the middle of some sort of desert--with no water in sight.

After staggering through under the blazing sun, Aquaman encounters some of the Land-Masters. Hoping they're not the same ones he met before, he tries to communicate with them, to no effect.

He then grabs one of their shirts, and find it tears off in his hands, spilling water all over him. Aquaman is confused--the Land-Masters were supposed to be air-breathers, so what are they doing with the water inside their suits?

The other two of the other Land-Masters run off, and Aquaman chases them, discovering...open water!

Too weak to run any further, he collapses, and let's himself roll downhill into the sea:

...Aquaman discovers that the Land-Masters are the same creatures as the citizens of Vortuma!

A battle starts, and Aquaman manages to fend them off long enough for his friends who he left in the cave to reemerge, and together they defeat the Land-Masters:

...to be continued!

This final chapter in this part of the story is maybe a tad too condensed for just eight pages, considering all that has to happen.

But overall it works well, and penciller Alex Saviuk pulls off a couple of very nice shots, aided tremendously by colorist Tom Ziuko, like the final panels of pages two and six, above.

Tomorrow, Aquaman tries to get home, with help from The Atom!

Brave and the Bold: "The Color of Revenge!"

I just got around to watching last week's episode of Brave and the Bold, starring Batman teaming up with the now adult Robin to take on Crazy Quilt.

Aquaman doesn't appear anywhere in the episode, but he is mentioned twice--first, when Batman unexpectedly shows up in Bludhaven, Robin's turf (headed for the corner of Haney and Aparo streets, a nice touch), and Robin greets his former mentor dismissively with: "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in a whale's belly with Aquaman or something?"

Then, a few moments later, when Robin complains about the old days when he was stuck "rotating the tires on the Batmobile", Batman responds with: "Speedy had to sharpen arrows, Aqualad had to scrape barnacles. Everyone earns their stripes!"

DC Superheroes Scrapbook

These are some pages from a DC Superheroes Scrapbook, where you can adorn your favorite family photos (or other keepsakes) with various DC heroes!

The Aquaman page looks to be by Tom Grummett (and underrated comic artist, I always thought), and the JLA(ish) page looks to be by Howard Porter and John Dell, who were drawing JLA around this time.

While I appreciate DC wanting to give Aquaman some sort of easily recognizable symbol (like Flash's lightning bolt, or Hawkman's hawk silhouette), that green "A" has to go!

AquaFamily Tattoo

This amazing tattoo--of the whole AquaFamily--is currently residing on the epidermis of Rev. OJ Flow (he of Newsarama)! The Rev. sent me this pic over the weekend, making him our newest member of F.O.A.M.!

Here's what OJ had to say about it:

"This has been a work in progress since February, but I had to wait until the work was done yesterday. This took 4 sessions (altogether probably 9-10 hours), the tattoo was done by Patrick Cornolo of Speakeasy Custom Tattoos here in Chicago.

I think you can pretty much sort out the lineup. The piece takes up my upper right leg, from just over the knee to the hip on the outer side."

...now that's dedication to the King of the Seven Seas! Rev OJ, welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Super Powers #6 Original Art by Jack Kirby

The newest issue of TwoMorrows' excellent Jack Kirby Collector (#52, which you can order here) features a section of Kirby original art, highlighting final pages of various stories the King drew.

The one you see above is the final page from Super Powers #6 (written by our pal Paul Kupperberg), featuring all the participating heroes, including Aquaman!

I believe these Super Powers series were the only time Kirby ever drew the Sea King. Imagine what an early-1970s Aquaman comic might have been like, written and drawn by Jack Kirby during his New Gods heyday...

JLA Trading Cards Ad - 2009

This ad is running in the current issue of Previews, calling attention to the new Justice League of America trading card sets that are available for order elsewhere in the catalog. Nice to see Aquaman right in the center!

I'm still not sure whether I'm going to get these or not. In the listing, they showed two of the "sketch" cards, neither featured Aquaman, so that put me off a bit. (Another thing that put me off was the retail price for the binder--$25.00. Yowza!)

I think I'll buy a couple packs of these to see just what the cards look like, and go from there. Anybody else planning on picking these up?

Aquaman in French!

Yesterday we ran an Aquaman back-up story from Action Comics #528, titled Land-Masters of the Sea!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Frank Chiaramonte.

A while back, F.O.A.M. member Kyall Coulton sent me the above splash page from a French Aquaman comic, but since I hadn't gotten around to the original English version yet, I held onto it. Now we can see what the two versions look like side-by-side (sort of):

Thanks Kyall!
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Our pal Dan Jurgens, who we did an interview with back in February, graciously just completed a second interview with me for TreasuryComics.com, this time about his work as writer and layout artist on the treasury-sized Superman/Fantastic Four book! Click here to read our talk!

Action Comics #528 - Feb. 1982

Comics Weekend "Land-Masters of the Sea!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Frank Chiaramonte.

Picking up from last issue, Aquaman got zapped by an outer space beam, transporting him to the homeworld of an alien creature:

Aquaman is introduced to the denizens of the undersea community, called Vortuma. Aquaman is greeted warmly, but the tour is cut short when his guide senses great danger, and pulls Aquaman inside!

The "danger" are the two underwater goons we saw attack Air Wave last issue, called The Land-Masters. Its explained that they live outside Vortuma, and regularly come into the city and steal food and other vital supplies.

They make a bee-line for Vortuma's leader, but Aquaman steps in and breaks it up. One of them seems to have amazing powers, as he creates a Red Tornado-style whirlpool and aims it Aquaman!

Aquaman manages to "reverse" the whirlpool (a trick he learned from The Flash!), and knocks both of the Land-Masters out.

The governor of Vortuma is thankful, but scared for Aquaman's safety:

...Aquaman learns that the planet used to be a lush, floral paradise, until a horrible blight left it barren. Soon after, the Land-Masters appeared, and enslaved the inhabitants of Vortuma.

Aquaman now realizes what he has to do:

...to be continued!

I love the recurring character trait of Aquaman that he makes it a personal crusade to help out the various creatures of the sea, whether they be from Earth or another planet. He can't stand surface dwellers--any surface dwellers--inflicting pain or subjugation on beings of the sea.

And, odds be damned, Aquaman's gonna step in! Be back here next Saturday to see the next installment of Action Comics!

Action Comics #527 - Jan. 1982

Comics Weekend "Air Wave Under The Waves!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Dennis Jensen.

Picking up from last weekend, we're continuing our look at Aquaman's run in the early-1980s Action Comics, written by Bob Rozakis.

Last issue's Aquaman segment was a self-contained story, where Aquaman teamed up with The Atom. He has to share his back-up slot with another guest star, this time it's Air Wave:

Air Wave gets attacked by a group of uniformed goons, but they run right past him and instead attack the octopus!

He manages to scare them off, but the octopus has been hurt. Before Air Wave can figure out a way to communicate with the creature, he finds himself beamed out of the room, back to where he started!

Dropping out of his cape, he sees a miniaturized version of the octopus. He sees it obviously needs water, so he brings it to his cousin's apartment, where there's a fish tank. Not knowing what to do with this creature, he asks for help from his mentor, Hal Jordan!

He tells Hal the story, who says if the need to communicate with sea life, he knows just the person to contact:

...finally! It's page six already, I was wondering when Aquaman would show up!

Anyway, Air Wave and Green Lantern catch up with Aquaman, and they tell him what's happened. Aquaman tries to telepathically communicates with the creature, but fails. When Air Wave explains the nature of the "beam" that zapped him, Aquaman surmises it sounds a lot like a Zeta Beam, the one that zaps Adam Strange and carries him to Rann!

They guess that maybe another planet has perfected the Zeta Beam technology:

...to be continued!

Never having been a big fan of Air Wave, as a kid I was frustrated that Aquaman had to share space with him, especially considering the back-up was just a measly eight pages. Now I don't mind it so much--I like the way Rozakis weaved the three rotating characters in and out of each other's stories.

On a side note: I think I'd like to get the "Forward, brother whales!" panel made into a t-shirt.

Upcoming Aqua-Products

This is yet another Aquaman statue scheduled for release earlier this year, and I think I like it even better than the other one!

Its part of a collection featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman--the Super Friends! There's no retail price listed yet, but I can safely bet it'll be beyond what I can justifiably spend on AquaSwag right now. Oh well, maybe someday on eBay...

Tip courtesy F.O.A.M. member Chris Rees--thanks Chris!


On the other end of the toy spectrum, we have these odd little things:

These are called "Blammoids" apparently, and while at first I blush I was like "What the hell are these?", the more I look at them, the more I am charmed by their sheer oddness.

I love Sinestro's Snidely Whiplash-esque mustache, Aquaman's total lack of a face, and, best of all, the hard plastic flame shooting out of Firestorm's noggin. Totally delightful.

Now these I'll be buying!

Tip courtesy F.O.A.M. member Joe Mello--thanks Joe!

While I'm shilling, F.O.A.M.er Brian Knippenberg sent me a CBR link to this preview cover of Blackest Night #2, where you can see a Zombie Aquaman just over Hal's left shoulder!

Coming out on August 25th is the first volume of Brave and the Bold on DVD, and here you can see Aquaman on the sleeve (flying, yet!). The Aquaman episode "Evil Under The Sea!" will be one of the four episodes included on the disc.

With only four episodes included, this release seems more like a primer for casual fans of the show, rather than the die-hard (excuse me while I raise my hand) who would want to own the entire first season. I may wait until that release rather than picking this up.


I'll be doing separate posts on these items if/when I actually add them to the collection, but I wanted to give everyone a head's up on their existence so you can place your own orders. It's the Shrine's small attempt to boost the economy!

Heroes of the DCU Busts Ad - 2009

This ad for the Heroes of the DC Universe line of busts, made by DC Direct, ran in the most recent issue of Toyfare.

As I've said many times before, I'm pleasantly surprised Aquaman is even included in this first batch (over, say, The Flash or Robin). The bust certainly is quite nice--I'd say it's probably the second best of the bunch--but the price tag is still keeping me from ordering it (or the Mera one).

But who knows? Maybe one day soon I'll break down and decide I can't live without it. You never know with me.

Spiral Notebook - 2008

...and the Aquaman stationary flood continues!

After posting several different Aqua-related stationary items in the last two weeks, I got an unexpected package from F.O.A.M. member Mark Sauter (creator of my custom Mego Black Manta doll), containing two different spiral notebooks featuring the Sea King! Wow, thanks Mark!

I have to say, I really am shocked how front and center Aquaman is on this stuff. Usually, he's relegated to the background, if he appears at all, but here he's front and center, getting just as much space as big-time movie-star Batman.

(If anyone reading this actually works on these "DC Originals" items, please drop me a line--the Shrine would love to talk to you!)

Kids WB Online Graphic

This is one of a whole pile of images that are currently residing over on the Kids WB website, brought to my attention by F.O.A.M. member Joe Mello. Thanks Joe!

I'm not exactly sure what these downloadable graphics are for (as opposed to wallpapers, buddy icons, and screen savers), but they're spiffy looking nonetheless. (Interesting that the classic Aquaman logo is being used in conjunction with the JLU version of the character)

You can click here to go to the page where they have a whole bunch of these images, along with all the other stars of the WB!

Interesting note: I haven't done a thorough examination of all the site's content, but I bet these are the only nipples that appear anywhere on there.

AquaSketch by Derek Fridolfs - 2009

This beautiful sketch is by artist Derek Fridolfs, who I met at the 2009 New York Comic con.

I had never really heard of Derek before, but but when I happened by his table, I saw some samples of his work, and I really loved it--it was cartoony and solid, like Bruce Timm's work, but very fluid, like Paul Pope, a combination I thought looked really cool!

Luckily, Derek was so fast at doing sketches he started working on this Aquaman piece right in front of me, and just a few minutes later he was finished, turning in what I think is a great portrait of the Sea King!

Action Comics #521 - July 1981

Comics Weekend "Grow, Little Growfish!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Vince Colletta.

I haven't run a series for Comics Weekend in a little while, so I thought we'd spend the next couple of installments talking about Aquaman's run in the early-1980s Action Comics.

Some of you will remember that this series started off in Adventure Comics #475, by the boffo team of J.M. DeMatteis and Dick Giordano. That series sadly only ran four issues, before being continued in the back of Action Comics, still written by DeMatteis but this time drawn by Don Heck.

But DeMatteis' run on the character (and an excellent one, at that) ended with Action Comics #520, which is where we left off. So now we pick up with the very next issue, with Bob Rozakis and Alex Saviuk taking over the creative duties:

Aquaman asks the Atom to find this microscopic organism in the ocean--a, no pun intended--tall order, but the Atom takes up the task.

Amid all the life forms in the ocean, the Atom actually does manage to find what he's looking for. But when he gets close to it, the organism immediately doubles in size!

The Atom also enlarges himself to deal with it, but the blob of matter grows even bigger, wrapping itself entirely around the Tiny Titan!

The thing grows so large it breaks the surface, where Aquaman sees it:

...I love third panel, where the colorist tinted Aquaman a few shades darker for the portion of him that's under the water. A nice, exciting pose by Alex Saviuk, topped off with a simple but dynamic color effect by Jerry Serpe.

Anyway, Aquaman is able to pick up a telepathic message from the Atom, still trapped inside the blob. He commands a bunch of swordfish to puncture the creature repeatedly, giving the Atom a chance to escape.

The Atom--this time as Ray Palmer--surfaces, warning Aquaman not to hurt the creature any further :

...panel three is very funny, where Aquaman and Ray have a little argument over the correct nomenclature of the creature. A nice character touch, especially when you consider writer Rozakis had only eight pages to write a complete story featuring two heroes.

After several issues of Action Comics featuring solo Aquaman back-ups, next issue would begin a run of Aquaman, the Atom, and Air-Wave rotating in the slot, sometimes featuring 2 o the 3 heroes teaming-up, like they did here.

Aquaman would return in Action Comics #527, which we'll cover next Saturday for Comics Weekend!

Aquaman (Vol.1) #15 - June 1964

Comics Weekend "Menace of the Man-Fish" by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy.

I thought we'd set the Wayback Machine to the early 1960s for today's installment of Comics Weekend, to Aquaman's very first series, back when it was drawn by the great Nick Cardy.

This issue opens with Aquaman and Aqualad facing a problem superhero universes have to deal with a lot: well-meaning but slightly mad scientists:

Our heroes follow Dr. Deering back to his lab, where he is also working on a serum that will allow humans to breathe underwater!

But something goes wrong, and there's an explosion that goes off right in Deering's face! Suddenly he finds it difficult to breathe, and Aquaman determines he needs water to breathe!

They take him underwater, and, true enough, Deering can now breathe. Aquaman and Aqualad get a doctor to examine him (using a high-tech underwater craft), and Deering is distraught news at the news: he's stuck underwater, all alone.

Deering is so distraught his mind starts to go:

...I love that last panel, with the furrowed brow of Dr. Deering peering out of the water. Cardy at his cartoony best.

Anyway, Dr. Deering climbs into the giant, crane-like machine he's built, and goes on a rampage in a nearby city, stealing a skyscraper! To be continued in Part 2!

After an ad for Palisades Park, NJ (starring Superman), a PSA called "Names Do Hurt!" and an ad for Capt. Storm #1, we're back to our story:

...Deering's machine seems unstoppable, as it makes its way through the city. The police are unable to stop it, even losing one of their helicopters in the fight.

Deering then steals part of a bridge(!), and some more skyscrapers, carrying them all underwater, building an "underwater metropolis" so he won't be so lonely.

Aquaman and Aqualad, seeing this from afar, try and figure out what to do--Deering is clearly mad, but they try one last attempt at reasoning with him.

Deering won't listen, of course, and he takes his plan to the next step--getting some people for his new city! He hops in his ship and uses it to grab a nearby passenger ship, but Aquaman commands some whales to get in the way.

Deering gets so mad he uses the machine's claws to grab Aquaman and Aqualad, turning them into his helpless puppets! To be continued in Part 3!

After an ad for House of Secrets and Rip Hunter, Time Master, a text piece called "Underwater Oddities" (ah, third class mailing permits, how I miss you!), and a subscription ad, our story concludes:

Deering tells Aquaman and Aqualad he plans to keep them in his new city, as his friends.

As Aquaman decides what to do, a pair of giant scissors comes flying through the city! It comes by and cuts the strings holding our heroes tight. What's going on here?

Turns out its Aquaman's new friend, Mera!:

Re: Panel 1 above: Hubba-hubba!

With Aquaman and Aqualad free, Deering gives chase in his machine, but Mera slows him down with another example of her hard water powers. He then turns on the machine's vacuum mechanism, trying to suck them all right inside!

But Mera, upon Aquaman's lead, forms a hard water ball, jamming it inside the vacuum. This stops Deering for the moment, but he vows to go find other people to kidnap, and takes off.

After one more failed attempt at grabbing a passenger ship (thwarted again by Mera), a Navy gunboat starts firing on Deering, with the intent of killing him and destroying his ship!

Aquaman has a meeting with the Navy captain, who informs Aquaman that Deering is too big a risk, and therefore must be stopped at all costs. Aquaman says he has one last idea...and the Navy captain gives the Sea King one last chance before they have to step in.

Aquaman, Mera, and Aqualad meet up with Deering, and Aquaman tells him that his city is already filled with people! They take a look, and Deering sees his city teeming with people! How can this be?

Turns out these are people from Mera's other-dimensional world, put there to distract Deering long enough for Aquaman to get control of his ship!

But Deering can control his ship by remote control, so it looks like Aquaman's last plan has failed. But then, suddenly, Deering's ability to breathe underwater starts to fade! He begins to choke, and passes out! Now what?

Aquaman notices the remote control, now out of Deering's hand:

...the end!

Whew, what a story! These early issues of Aquaman--whether written by Jack Miller or later Bob Haney--were jam-packed with plot. I honestly think that if this story had been done nowadays, it would fill enough issues to be reprinted a trade paperback.

Dr. Deering is a little more malevolent than your typical kooky scientist, which I think gives the story a nice little edge, underscored by the fact that the Navy is prepared to blast Deering--and his ship--to kingdom come.

And what a goofy little ending--Aqualad moving skyscrapers around like they were tinker toys. This would have made a great episode of the Filmation Aquaman cartoon!