Thursday, January 25, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 066

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.

Adventure #133 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #133 (October 1948) - The Great White Whale!

A whaler named Captain Mohab goes after the great white whale, and Aquaman gets involved.

This is a truly bizarre story. At first it seems to be a retelling of Moby Dick with Aquaman involved, but then you notice the different details... like Ahab changed to Mohab. But Mohab is missing a leg, just like Ahab... and blames the whale, just like Ahab... and this is an old-fashioned whaler, not a modern ship. And, of course, there's the whale itself.

There is never any indication that this is a dream, or a time travel tale like Adventure #121. The opening text box does say, "Fate plays strange tricks in the deep. This time a great sea-story - the tale of Moby Dick - is re-enacted when Aquaman runs afoul of the brutal Mohab"... so that seems to indicate that this is happening in modern times.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman never actually calls on fish in this tale.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Sharkey hits Aquaman from behind when he gets in a fight with Captain Mohab. Aquaman is hung from the mast as a storm is coming.

Quotefile: Aquaman, thinking, "This Mohab is made of iron - and hate! But iron man can be mastered by Aquaman!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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