Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 114

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 #190 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #190 (July 1953) - The Hunter of the Seven Seas!

Joseph Lundgren, a famous big-game hunter, has tired of the same old prey and decides to go bag some monsters of the deep.

Finny Friends Report: A whale is caught and shocked by Lundgren. A giant octopus is caught in a net. Aquaman is alerted by other finny friends, and approaches the ship on dolphin steeds. He has a turtle free itself by biting through a rope, then it smashes a tank with a sawfish in it who frees the whale by cutting through the electric cable. Aquaman asks the whale to not destroy the hunter's ship. When the typhoon hits, Aquaman's fish cut loose a lifeboat. Flying fish locate the crew members washed overboard. The whale frees Lundgren and his friend from their diving sphere tomb, and shelters them as they get into the lifeboat. A group of dolphins pulls the lifeboat to shore, while Aquaman and Lundgren ride on the whale.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is captured in a net with his dolphins as he approaches Lundgren's ship. He frees the dolphins easily, but chooses to stay captured to find out what's going on.

Quotefile: Aquaman, "Now-- Since the lives of these creatures are more important than any fun you get from catching them... you can let them go!" Lundgren, "Are you crazy? This voyage has cost me a fortune! If I return empty-handed, my reputation as a sportsman will be ruined!"

This is another story that illustrates Aquaman's fatal flaw in the Golden Age. He's a human. But he's friends with the fish. And he doesn't let people capture fish... except for aquariums and the like, which he supports. Oh, and he supported a whaler earlier, too. And obviously lets fishermen do fishing. So how does he justify stopping Lundgren and not stopping a fisherman? Are some fish his friends and other fish not? Does the Golden Age Aquaman have a double-standard?s

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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