Thursday, August 23, 2007

Ripples Through Time - 147

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 #224 Aquaman Splash Page
Adventure #224 (May 1956) - The Seventh Wonder of the Sea

Jim Travis is mugged and loses his portfolio of pictures of the seven wonders of the sea, but Aquaman decides to help him retake all the images in one week.

Glove Color: Green.

Finny Friends Report: A sea turtle protects Jim from the propeller. Aquaman has tons of lantern fish and luminous squid light up the first wonder. A chain of octopi hold Aquaman steady in a strong current so he can take a picture of the second wonder. Two sawfish cut down a coral tree (!) that is blocking Aquaman's perfect shot of the third wonder. Whales create a spouted platform that Aquaman uses to take an image of the fourth wonder. A eel wraps around Aquaman to protect him in the depths where the fifth wonder is.

Quotefile: Jim, after explaining that he was attacked, "Metropolitan Studios are offering a $100,000 prize for true photographs of the Seven Wonders of the Sea! I had six pictures and their negatives -- the only ones I own -- in that briefcase!"

This story is the first one to be interrupted by ads and have a "Continued on 3rd Page Following" notice.

I have to wonder, considering the lengths Aquaman has to go to in order to get some of these photos, whether Jim Travis had a completely different set of wonders in mind, and thus won the contest entirely due to Aquaman's intervention.

The first wonder is an underwater mountain range that is "greater than the Rockies, deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon". The second wonder is the Lost Continent of Mu. The third wonder is the Great Barrier Coral Reef. The fourth wonder is the wrecks in the Sargasso Sea. The fifth wonder is the ruins of Atlantis. The sixth wonder is Port Royal. As for the seventh wonder... well, Jim provides that photo and here's Aquaman's reaction to it:

Bemused Aquaman

Going back to the fifth wonder, Aquaman says, "The remains of Atlantis are so deep that even I'd need some special equipment to reach them without getting crushed!" Apparently by this time his origin has been completely unlinked from Atlantis, and the previous adventure with Atlanteans forgotten. In only three years, that will change again.

Have you read this story? What do you think?

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