Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Ripples Through Time - 035

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #106 Aquaman Splash Page
More Fun #106 (November 1945) - The Liar Who Told The Truth!

Captain Ligh enjoys his tall tales, until the Five-Fathom Fisherman's club insists he prove his adventures to become a member.

Captain Ligh's first tale is about wrestling an octopus and tying it into a knot. His second one is the classic "tiger by the tail" story, only with a shark. Those are just the two we get to see, but apparently he tells stories about catching deep-water fish, because that's what the club members want him to do, and they give him only ten days to do it. By incredible luck, he manages the feat on the first day! But Aquaman steals the fish, because it will explode in a few minutes due to lack of pressure. Eventually Aquaman makes it right, on the last day of the test.

To solve Ligh's problem, Aquaman goes looking for a deep-water fish that can handle low pressures, but gets attacked by a gang of nasty fish who don't respect his dominion over the sea. We get two solid pages of deep-sea action with Aquaman, with dark and moody coloring, with the bright exception of Aquaman himself. Eventually, Aquaman finds some plastic powder and uses it to "glue" an oyster shell on the fish, protecting it for a journey to the surface so Ligh can join the club.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman rescues the fish that Ligh hooks from the low pressure of the surface. He's later chased by the same fish and its friends, who don't have "respect for royalty". He sends turtles after them, but the turtles are too slow. He gets giant jellyfish to sting them, but a few escape. So he gets his octopus friends to create a cloud so he can escape. Later, Aquaman captures the same fish and puts it on Ligh's hook.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is not captured or knocked out in this story, although he is chased by a gang of fish for awhile.

Quotefile: Aquaman, upon being attacked by a gang of fish, "Hey, back up! Don't you know that I'm ruler of the sea?"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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