Aquaman

by Robert Bernstein and Robert Bernstein

Since his dramatic debut in the 1940s, Aquaman hasbattled the forces of evil using his super-strength and his abilities tobreathe underwater and communicate with and mentally control sea life.This... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401212239
• ISBN13: 9781401212230
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Length: 542 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Fun with the King of the Sea

I never was a big Aquaman fan. but I enjoyed reading vol.1 of this Showcase entry. The stories are quick and fun. Art by Ramona Fradon and Nick Cardy add to the enjoyment. Aqualad nevers seems to know what's going on. You'll breeze through this volume. Another fine DC Showcase silver age entry.

Aquaman... the Aquatic Ace, the Marine Marvel, the Sea Slueth and, of course, King of the Seven Seas

Aquaman made his initial appearance in DCs' More Fun Comics #73, cover dated November 1941 ( Green Arrow debuted in the same issue) during what is referred to as the Golden Age of Comics. Not a headliner at that time, he was a popular back-up feature and as the super-hero genre died out in the early 1950s, Aquaman was one of the handful of super-hero characters who survived and made the transition into the Silver Age of Comics. Showcase Presents Aquaman, Vol. 1 contains forty-nine Aquman stories... over 540 pages of the Sea King's amazing Silver Age adventures reprinted from Adventure Comics 260-280, 282 and 284; Detective Comics 293-300; Showcase 30-34; World's Finest 125-129, Lois Lane 12, Jimmy Olsen 55 and Aquaman 1-6. The stories are family friendly, light-hearted and just plain fun. No angst, no soap opera drama to speak of, but plenty of action. This was an interesting time in Aquaman's history. The editors at DC decided to do more with the long-running feature, giving Aquaman a new origin and expanding his supporting cast. Listed below are a few of the highlights. Adventure Comics # 260 (May 1959): How Aquaman Got His Powers- Aquaman gets a brand new origin to usher him into the Silver Age and the reader discovers that the Atlantis is a living, (water) breathing civilization, giving the Sea King something he hadn't had before in his 18 year history... a plot engine for his adventures. Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #12 (Oct 1959): The Mermaid from Metropolis- More important than the story's plot of this 13 page gem is that this story marks the first time that Aquaman appears outside his own series. Aquaman meets both Lois Lane and Superman and emerges from his solitary Aqua-verse into the larger DC universe. Adventure Comics # 266 (Nov 1959): Aquaman meets Aquagirl- Aquaman meets a surface girl with powers similar to his own and the reader gets a glimpse into Atlantean society. Adventure Comics # 267 (Dec 1959): The Manhunt on Land and The Underwater Archers- Despite having shared the same comic books since 1941, Aquaman and Green Arrow meet for the first time in these linked stories. Although not technically a team-up story, Aquaman does make a cameo appearance in the last panel of the Green Arrow installment. Adventure Comics #268 (Jan 1960): The Adventures of Aquaboy- The adventures of Aquaman when he was a boy. Hey, it worked for Superman. Adventure Comics #269 (Feb 1960): The Kid from Atlantis- Aquaman's supporting cast gets a real boost with the introduction of Aqualad into the series! Before this, the only recurring character in the series was Aquaman's exceptionally intelligent and loyal pet octopus, Topo. The reader gets another glimpse into Atlantean society and the series gets another plot engine. Adventure Comics #272 (May 1960): The Human Flying Fish- Aquaman faces off against his first costumed, super-powered super villain. The Human Flying Fish may not have been cool enough for a rematch with the Sea King,

Backstory

I didn't start reading Aquaman until the mid-1960s, so these stories are more history than memory to me. Still, it's a good package, and you just can't go wrong with the work of Nick Cardy. Advisory: there are virtually no female characters of any kind in this volume, so it's not a prime item for collectors of Cardy Women.

500 pages of budget priced B DC heroes

Unable to afford even all the major DC comics, I missed many of the secondary character adventures. Here is a fabulous collection, budget priced, for old and new readers. This is another case of buy it before it goes out of print. So, don't delay. Unlike Namor, Aquaman never engaged in insane violence. A few of the Sub-Mariner adventures, were enough to make me wonder why Namor was considered hot stuff. Now, Aquaman may have been a bit dopey, but he was a good guy. I would have given this title 5 stars, had not it been printed into the binding. Interestingly enough, the same stories, and less are printed in "DC Archives The Aquaman Archives,vol l," albeit in color and hardbound at the retail of $49.95. Those who wish to see how the other "fish" lived may be interested in "Marvel Masterworks Presents The Sub-Mariner Vol. 1.," a collection which primarily postdates the Aquaman stories.

AQUAMAN COMMANDS THE FISH!

AQUAMAN is by far the most underrated DC COMICS hero. This Showcase collection provides the very hard to get silver age stories from Adventure comics + a story from Lois Lane not collected in the Archive edition + the Showcase issues and the first couple issues of the regular Aquaman series. Money well spent. This is A+ stuff from a historical perspective and, if you like the character, it's a good fun read. And, for all of you Sub-Mariner fans out there, you might want to know that Aquaman was actually connected to Atlantis way before Namor. Namor was originally from the Artic sea and didn't connect with Atlantis until Stan Lee wisely gave him what Aquaman already had. Sure, the Sub-Mariner came first, so it's a fair trade. But AQUAMAN commands the fish! How cool is that? Bradley Mason Hamlin, Mystery Island Publications 2007.