9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Aquaman! King of the Seven Seas!, March 22, 2009
This review is from: Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 3 (Paperback)
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, Aquaman was a popular back-up feature and as the super-hero genre died out in the early 1950s, he 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. 3 contains 18 of the Aquatic Ace's fabulous Silver Age adventures from Aquaman 24-39, Brave and the Bold 73 and Jimmy Olsen 115. Highlights include:
Aquaman # 26 (Mar-Apr 1966): From O.G.R.E. With Hate- In the 1960's, thanks to immense popularity of the Sean Connery James Bond movies, super spies and secret agents were everywhere in the movies and television, saving mankind from super subversive, secret societies and criminal organizations. The comic book industry certainly followed suit. In this story, Aqauman and Mera go undercover at a sea-side resort as Mr. and Mrs. Waterman (cute, eh?) to defeat the evil plans of O.G.R.E. (Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement).
Aquaman #29 (Sep-Oct 1966): Aquaman, Coward-King of the Seven Seas- Aquaman's rogues gallery gains another costumed super villain, the Ocean Master! The neferious villain has a grand scheme to stifle the sea trade of the entire world unless his conitions are met. Why is Aquaman seemingly afraid of the Ocean Master? Perhaps it is because the Sea King realizes something that the Ocean Master does not.... that hero and villain are, in reality, half-brothers.
Aquaman #33 (May-June 1967): Aqualad's Deep-Six Chick- The cover boldly advertises that "She's Wild, Wet and Wacky!". The cast of Aquaman gets a new addition and teen-age Aqualad gets a girlfriend when he meets Tula, the new Aqua-Girl.
Brave and the Bold #73 (Sep-Oct 1967): Galg the Destroyer- The battle to determine the fate of the planet takes place inside a single drop of water when the Atom comes to the aid of Aquaman against Galg the Destroyer.
Aquaman #35 (Sep-Oct 1967): Between Two Dooms- Although the King of the Seas refers to the Black Manta as his "old enemy" on page 3 of this story, implying earlier encounters, this is actually the first appearance of Aquaman's arch-foe, and just prior to the debut of the Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure animated series. The other "Doom" in this story is the Ocean Master, giving Aquaman a real double threat to deal with.
The DC Showcase Presents series (as well as Marvel's Essential series) are black and white reprints, chock full of content, presented at a very affordable price. These stories were written 40 years ago with 8 to 11 year old readers in mind. They're family friendly, fun, cleverly plotted stories with tons action and none of the soap opera-ish angst that permeate comic books published today. This book features great Aquaman art by one of the true greats of the Silver Age, the tremendously talented Nick Cardy! Enjoy!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astonishingly Good!, September 2, 2010
This review is from: Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 3 (Paperback)
I wouldn't exactly say I'm an Aquaman fan. But this collection is astonishingly good and super fun. This is totally artist Nick Cardy's show, and he puts on a pure spectacular event. Most Silver Age comics just repeat themselves from month to month, but this puppy is one big long soap opera/adventure. This is a great series. Nick Cardy's Aquaman should be up there in importance with Neal Adams' Batman, Joe Kurbert's Enemy Ace or Berni Wrightson's Swamp Thing. Truly a Silver Age treasure. This volume is especially good, but don't pass up the earlier volumes of the series. Also, recommended is Ramona Fradon's wonderful DC Archives Aquaman Vol. 1.
Sure hope DC puts out another in this Showcase series to finish off the Nick Cardy run. My thanks to DC for reprinting these.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine finish to the Silver Age for Aquaman, December 31, 2011
This review is from: Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 3 (Paperback)
Having previously purchased volumes 1 and 2 of Aquaman's Showcase Presents collections, I looked forward to (finally!) seeing the introduction of Aquaman's greatest villains. In this regard, this 3rd volume does not disappoint. The first appearances of the Ocean Master (Orm, Aquaman's half-brother) and Black Manta are made here. Anyone that watched the Superfriends as I did will recognize Black Manta as the guy with the clamshell helmet... he also happens to be my favorite of all the villains from the Legion of Doom! Previous volumes largely had aliens and smugglers, but Volume 3 really moves into a more superhero vs. villain mode.
Aquaman as a character is great, as always. His supporting cast of Aqualad and his wife Mera is complimented by Aquababy (already speaking words, and in one case, grown to adolescence by a villain to marry his daughter), as well as featuring the first appearance of Aquagirl (or Tula, or as she's called in this collection- Aquachick!). The stories are campy, including Aquaman going undercover as a government spy on a couple of occasions, or Aqualad and Aquagirl hypnotized by an evil scientist to rob wealthy yachters as dancing 'swingers'! Overall, it's goofy, but it's fun too.
All but 2 of the stories are pencilled by Nick Cardy, who does a decent job throughout. The storytelling and proportion are good, but some of the inking is a bit uneven. Since only the writer and penciller are the ones that ever got credit back then, there is no one specific to fault. It's not a major distraction though. The writing is as I said, quite campy, but a product of the times. Anyone expecting a brooding Aquaman should read
Aquaman: Death of the Prince instead of this. For me, this is good fun from a simpler time in comics. The only letdown is that Black Manta didn't get a few issue story arc, and that this collection is only about 440 pages, whereas most other Showcase collections are in the 520-40 page range. Still, highly recommended for Silver Age and Aquaman fans.
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