Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 080

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order. After I read each story I will post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Adventure #147 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #147 (December 1949) - The Man Who Was Rescued 100 Times!

Aquaman rescues Dan Dunbar from different perils across the world, and eventually goes to find out why.

Finny Friends Report: A giant sea turtle gives Dan a resting place after his first rescue. Aquaman breaks up a fight between an octopus and a swordfish. He then has to save Dan from a group of sharks, using a giant squid to create a smokescreen. Aquaman rides a dolphin to the Sargasso Sea. He rescues Dan from a giant clam, an angry walrus, and a giant lobster. Aquaman rides a whale in his final rescue of Dan. He then allows an octopus to play with Dan after he learns the truth.

Dan Dunbar and his jet-powered blimp (!) claim to be mapping all the ocean currents. But Dan quickly arouses Aquaman's suspicions, as Dan has to be rescued three different times in three different parts of the world... all of which just happen to be near where Aquaman is. Hmmmm... Oddly enough, Aquaman allows the rescues to continue and doesn't confront Dan directly. He eventually climbs up to the blimp himself and finds a movie crew filming each rescue for "the greatest sea epic of all time"! A large donation to charity, and Aquaman allows the film to go ahead with his name on it.

Certainly not the best tale of this era. It does have the distinction of pointing out that Aquaman doesn't always control sharks. It's also the last of the 1940's tales, as the next story is cover-dated January 1950.

Quotefile: Text box: "Vicious sharks are the renegades of the sea, and Aquaman must outwit them with the aid of a friendly denizen of the deep!"

Aqua-Exclamations: "By Neptune's beard!", "Suffering Seaweed!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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