Thursday, February 01, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 071

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 #138 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #138 (March 1949) - Marooned in the Deep!

Aquaman is unable to breathe open air for a week after a dive six miles down into the Great Deep, and Black Jack gleefully takes advantage of the situation.

Aquaman's condition is leaked to the press very quickly, as in previous stories. Apparently there is no sense of doctor/patient confidentiality, or the paparazzi in the Golden Age DCU are particularly nasty and effective. They GA DCU paparazzi might well be paid a lot by the underworld to report on superheroes' conditions... anything that might give the bad guys an advantage.

Black Jack's ship has an electrified smoke-screen, to throw off radar as well as visual contact.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman starts the story assisting a fish who is trapped in the Great Deep, six miles under water. When he learns that Black Jack is raiding the Gold Coast, he has dolphin steeds take him to the area. Because he can't surface, he has a swordfish poke a hole in Black Jack's rowboat. An octopus grabs the thugs, but Black Jack fights it off and escapes. Aquaman uses a swordfish and turtle in a sword fight with Black Jack and his thugs.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is knocked unconscious by the pressure at six miles down, and is put in a pressure tank when he's found to prevent him from getting the bends. He wakes in the pressure tank.

Quotefile: Aquaman, walking through a polluted city at the end of the story, "Oh boy! Is it great to breathe in air again -- or is it? Cough... Choke!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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