Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Writers: Aquaman in Adventure 247-284

Adventure 282 logo with Aquaman blurb

247 would be an arbitrary start to a run of any comic except Adventure; the significance lies in the Superboy story, of course, not with Aquaman or the other back-ups. A number of my attributions here were circulated through fandom in the Nineties by Rich Morrissey, but on this list I've filled in the gaps in the run.

Jack Miller typically uses the captions Just then..., Before long..., The answer comes the next instant..., and In the next [adjective] instant...; Robert Bernstein typically the caption Moments after... instead of Moments later.... But these are not hard and fast differences, of course; in "The Robinson Crusoe of the Sea" (252) there's a Moments after..., but more clues point to Miller. If so, he happened to use that style of caption once.

"A World without Water" (251), out of all the Aquaman stories, uses the exclamations "Owoofff" and "Eeaahh" (also used in only one Green Arrow story: "The Man Who Hated Arrows" in 249). These are seen throughout the Dale Evans and Sierra Smith stories by Joe Millard, at DC, as well as the myriad of stories he did at Quality. The "Y-i-i-i-i" in both turns up in 250's "The Guinea Pig of the Sea."

All Aquaman art in these Adventure issues is by Ramona Fradon except 284, which is by Jim Mooney.

"How Aquaman Got His Powers" in 260 is the new origin. "The Manhunt on Land" in 267 is the crossover with Green Arrow, the other back-up, also written by Robert Bernstein at the time; the two villains switch land and sea theatres of operation. "The Kid from Atlantis" in 269 introdues Aquaman's new partner, Aqualad.

Aquaman begins appearing in the forerunner to his own book, four Showcase appearances, in the same month as Adventure 280. With 281, the back-up space that held Aquaman and Congorilla stories is devoted to double-length stories of either one, alternating, so Aquaman doesn't appear in 281 or 283. After Adventure 284 his back-up slot moves to Detective and then to World's Finest.

The Superboy story in 280, by the way, "Superboy and the Mermaid from Atlantis" (written by Jerry Siegel), takes two panels to account for the difference between Aquaman's Atlanteans with legs and Lori Lemaris's fishtailed merfolk.

Aquaman in Adventure 247-284 Writers

Apr/58 #247  Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad Jack Miller
May/     #248  The Traitor of the Seven Seas Miller
June/     #249  Wanted—Aqua-Crook Robert Bernstein
July/     #250  The Guinea Pig of the Sea Joe Millard
Aug/     #251  A World without Water Millard
Sept/     #252  The Robinson Crusoe of the Sea Miller
Oct/     #253  The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C. Bernstein
Nov/     #254  The Menace of the Electric Man Miller
Dec/     #255  Aquaman's Double Trouble Bernstein
Jan/59 #256  The Ordeal of Aquaman Bernstein
Feb/     #257  The Imitation Aquaman Bernstein
Mar/     #258  The Incredible Fish of Doctor Danton Miller
Apr/     #259  The Octopus Man Miller
May/     #260  How Aquaman Got His Powers Bernstein
June/     #261  Aquaman Duels the Animal-Master Bernstein
July/     #262  The Undersea Hospital Bernstein
Aug/     #263  The Great Ocean Election Miller
Sept/     #264  Aquaman and His Sea Police Bernstein
Oct/     #265  The Secret of the Super-Safe Bernstein
Nov/     #266  Aquaman Meets Aquagirl Bernstein
Dec/     #267  The Manhunt on Land Bernstein
Jan/60 #268  The Adventures of Aquaboy Bernstein
Feb/     #269  The Kid from Atlantis Bernstein
Mar/     #270  The Menace of Aqualad Bernstein
Apr/     #271  The Second Deluge Bernstein
May/     #272  The Human Flying Fish Bernstein
June/     #273  Around the World in 80 Hours Bernstein
July/     #274  Aqua-Queen Miller
Aug/     #275  The Interplanetary Mission Bernstein
Sept/     #276  The Aqua-Thief of the Seven Seas Bernstein
Oct/     #277  The Underwater Olympics Bernstein
Nov/     #278  Aqualad Goes to School Bernstein
Dec/     #279  Silly Sailors of the Sea Bernstein
Jan/61 #280  The Lost Ocean Bernstein
Mar/     #282  One Hour to Doom Bernstein
May/     #284  The Charge of Aquaman's Sea Soldiers Miller

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