VOLUME 1 1959 - 1963
COMICS INDEX
VOLUME 1 1959 - 1963
COMICS INDEX LEONIDAS FRAGIAS
The Arts & Charts Index to Aquaman The format and design of this book is based on George Olshevsky's Marvel Index series and Murray Ward's DC Index series. Their books have a beautiful layout which was an inspiration for me. The Official Marvel Index is a series of comic books released by Marvel Comics which featured synopses of several Marvel series. The books were largely compiled by George Olshevsky and featured detailed information on each issue in a particular series, including writer and artist credits, characters who appeared in the issue, and a story synopsis. The Official Marvel Index was preceded by the Marvel Comics Index (also compiled by Olshevsky) and distributed by Pacific Comics Distributors sporadically from 1976-1982. These books were magazinesized as opposed to comic-sized. The first Official Marvel Index titles were published in 1985, and produced regularly through August 1988. A similar series of indices was published for DC Comics. The Official DC Index was released by Independent Comics Group (an imprint of Eclipse Comics) from 1985–1988. The books were edited by Murray Ward. The data for this book is taken from various sources. I fill the gap of the missing data, since I have the complete collection of DC and Marvel comics from the 1930s to the present. Also I made some corrections, when the data is wrong. The book series cover the silver age (from the mid-1950s to 1969) and the bronze age (from 1970 to 1986) of DC Comics. This is my favorite era, when it comes to comics. Many thanks to DarkMark, George Olshevsky, Murray Ward, Mark Waid and Mike Tiefenbacher among others. Leonidas Fragias
THE AQUAMAN COMICS INDEX Volume 1, 2018. Published by Arts & Charts. Editor: Leonidas Fragias, Writers: Various. Aquaman is trademark of DC Comics Inc. All art and cover reproductions Š2018 DC Comics Inc.
Adventure Comics #260 May 1959 Story: “How Aquaman Got His Powers” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When a U.S. Navy submarine attempts to test nuclear depth charges in a certain area of the sea, the charges are intercepted and disarmed by Aquaman. He then tells the sub commander his reasons for doing so, and the story begins with his origin. Aquaman reveals that his father was Tom Curry, an ex-sailor and lighthouse keeper, who saved a mysterious blonde girl named Atlanna who was washed up on a raft by a storm on Curry’s island home. The two fell in love and were married two weeks later, and had a son, Arthur Curry. But Tom was astonished at young Arthur’s swimming prowess, and was flabbergasted at the realization that his son could breathe water and extract oxygen from it, like a fish. Even more mysterious was the fact that even sharks did not harm him. A few years later, Atlanna died, but revealed the truth of her origin on her deathbed: she was an Atlantean, an amphibious human, exiled from the sub-sea realm because of her desire to visit the surface world, and Arthur has inherited her powers to live underwater, “to communicate with sea creatures...to perform great water feats...and to become ruler of the oceans!”
Adventure Comics #261 June 1959 Story: “Aquaman Duels the Animal-Master” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman encounters a criminal animal trainer who uses his beasts against Aquaman’s sea creatures.
Adventure Comics #262 July 1959 Story: “The Undersea Hospital” (6 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman opens a hospital in the ocean to take care of injured sea creatures.
Adventure Comics #263 August 1959 Story: “The Great Ocean Election” (6 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Aquaman sees a blimp which advertises Vic Wake for governor of the island of Comstock shot down, he contacts Wake. The candidate tells him that he was the former treasurer, but was fired when he learned Governor “Big Jim” Mason was embezzling from public funds. Aquaman uses his sea creatures to help Wake campaign, but Mason uses his control over government services to block them at every term. Finally, at a “gala fish show” Aquaman is putting on, Mason is thwarted in his attempt to sabotage it, and, after being thrown in the water and treated to an Aquaman-made whirlpool, confesses his crime of embezzlement in public. Vic Wake is later elected governor of Comstock.
Adventure Comics #264 September 1959 Story: “Aquaman and His Sea-Police” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: The coastal city of New Venice has become a city of canals since a seaquake flooded the streets six months ago, and the townspeople have adapted to waterways instead of streets. But Mayor Lyndon confesses to a visiting Aquaman that they have not found ways to handle speeders in fast boats, pickpockets, and the like. The sea king uses his aquatic legions to nab the offenders or to discourage antisocial behavior, and is made temporary police chief of New Venice. Another crack in the ocean floor threatens to drain the water from New Venice, disappointing the townspeople, so Aquaman and his fish friends plug the crack in time. Later, during a parade through the canals in his honor, Aquaman gives his badge back to the grateful mayor.
Adventure Comics #265 October 1959 Story: “The Secret of the Super-Safe” (6 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman agrees to sink a huge safe in the ocean, but later learns its maker was a counterfeiter.
Adventure Comics #266
Adventure Comics #267
November 1959 Story: “Aquaman Meets Aquagirl” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Lisa Morel, daughter of famed ichthyologist Dr. Hugo Morel, sees Aquaman trapped by a giant clam underwater, she dives in and frees him with an electric torch, spending over five minutes submerged without taking a breath of air. She admits her behavior was instinctive, but Aquaman tests her later and discovers she has the same water-breathing, super-swimming, and fish-commanding powers as he does. He tells the Morels his origin story, but Dr. Morel maintains that he himself is not from Atlantis, so that does not explain Lisa’s new powers. Later, after Lisa discovers she can no longer remain out of water for more than an hour, she designs a costume for herself patterned after Aquaman’s, and dubs herself Aquagirl. She aids him in his tasks, despite his insistence she must remain on land or be endangered...and, a few days later, she almost drowns underwater. Aquaman saves her and reveals her origin secret: that her purple eyes betray her as an Atlantean throwback, a child who will briefly manifest sea-powers, but lose them just as quickly. Such infants are sent to the surface in waterproof lifeboats. Dr. Morel admits that he lied, and that he actually found Lisa some 20 years ago in just such a lifeboat. Lisa thanks Aquaman, and says she will never forget her brief career as Aquagirl.
December 1959 Story: “The Manhunt On Land” (8 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman’s old for “Shark” Norton and Green Arrow’s nemesis The Wizard both escape from state prison on the same night. They vow to vary their modus operandi, with Shark pulling crimes on land while the Wizard takes to plundering the seas. When the police learn of the escapes and the crooks’ new m.o.’s, they ask Aquaman to help them catch Shark, even if he is operating on land. Aquaman dons a water helmet and takes along some octopi, swordfish, and other sea denizens with him in a big water tank on the back of a truck, and is thus able to corral Shark and his gang.
Adventure Comics #268 January 1960 Story: “The Adventures of Aquaboy” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman saves a blind man who is trying to drown himself because he has lost the chest of pearls he has been gathering for years in order to finance an operation to restore his sight. But Harte refuses to believe in Aquaman, thinking he is a thief out to get him to reveal the spot where he lost the pearl chest in the sea. Aquaman recognizes the man as Captain Harte, whom he once saved at sea secretly as Aquaboy, years ago. The head injury Harte sustained in that sea wreck caused him hallucinations and possibly resulted in his blindness. Harte still refuses to credit his story. Aquaman remembers what a hard time he had convincing people that an Aquaboy really existed. Finally, when a seaquake wrecks the reef they are standing on and hurts Aquaman, the sea king summons a large whale to rescue them both. Feeling the whale’s teeth, Harte finally realizes that Aquaman is real. Days later, Aquaman recovers the chest of pearls and returns them to a grateful Captain Harte.
Adventure Comics #269 February 1960 Story: “The Kid from Atlantis” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon
Adventure Comics #270
Adventure Comics #271
March 1960 Story: “The Menace of Aqualad” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Aquaman saves the life of a fortune teller, she repays him with a prophecy that someone new who has entered his life will imperil him and replace him. After Aqualad gets hit in the head and begins acting strangely, Aquaman fears the prophecy may indicate his new partner turning traitor. Finally, he learns the truth: that Aqualad has been fixing up an underwater cavern as their new home, just in time for Aquaman’s birthday.
April 1960 Story: “The Second Deluge” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad meet the seagoing Captain Noah, who predicts a second deluge will soon doom the world, and asks for permission to take two sea creatures of every species and put them on his ark. The two think he is a harmless crackpot, and grant him permission, but are astonished soon afterward when violent storms endanger ships and planes at sea. It happens that Captain Noah is actually a scientist who has perfected a way of extracting gold from seawater by pumping millions of gallons of cold ocean water through a nuclear-driven apparatus into the clouds, where the cold water “seeds” the clouds and creates dangerous storms. Aquaman deduces that Captain Noah is not what he seems when he sees several sea creatures in his “ark” are mislabelled, and arrests him for endangering people at sea from the storms caused by his device.
Adventure Comics #272 May 1960 Story: “The Human Flying Fish” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: A criminal scientist, Dr. Krill, operates on gangleader and exswimming champ Bragg to give him the power to survive underwater, swim at great speed, and fly through the air for short distances as the Human Flying Fish. The new villain outwits Aquaman in several robberies at sea, until the hero lures him into a trap and defeats him with electric eels.
Adventure Comics #273 June 1960 Story: “Around the World In 80 Hours” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: To help out an author who has written a book about a swimmer who circles the globe in 80 hours, Aquaman agrees to duplicate the feet, but a gang of smugglers uses it to their own advantage.
Adventure Comics #274 July 1960 Story: “Aqua-Queen” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When a contestant in a women’s swimming competition is passed over for honors by Aquaman, she vows to prove her abilities in water are greater than Aquaman’s, and apparently does so.
Adventure Comics #275 August 1960 Story: “The Interplanetary Mission” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: A group of moviemakers gone bad tries to trick Aquaman and Aqualad into retrieving a Kryptonite meteor from the sea by disguising themselves as aliens seeking help.
Adventure Comics #276 September 1960 Story: “The Aqua-Thief of the Seven Seas” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman is called on to recover a chest of diamonds which has been stolen from the sea, but is soon accused of being the thief himself.
Adventure Comics #277 October 1960 Story: “The Underwater Olympics” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad stage an “underwater Olympics”, commanding two separate teams of sea-creatures which compete against each other in selected events. The contest seems even, with conscienceless “salvage” expert Bart Horval spying on the events in hoping of finding something from which he can profit. In the last event, Aquaman deliberately makes a detour around a bed of seaweed instead of going through it, thus keeping himself from racking up enough points to unseat Aqualad. The sea prince wins, and Bart Horval goes home. Later, Aquaman reveals only to his fish friends the real reason for his detour: a Kryptonite meteor was lying within the seaweed. If he had gone through the seaweed bed, the Kryptonite would have been revealed to Horval, who could have sold it to enemies of Superman. Instead, Aquaman’s allies dump the meteor into a deep ocean trench.
Adventure Comics #278
Adventure Comics #279
November 1960 Story: “Aqualad Goes to School” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman enrolls Aqualad in a school on land. The principal allows him to attend for two weeks, with a test to be given at the end of that time to determine which grade he belongs in. Aqualad proves his intelligence during classes, but, the day before the entrance exam is to be given, takes a bad blow to the head while rescuing a boater. He gains temporary amnesia as a result, but the principal says he may be faking, and orders the test to go on. While Aqualad is being asked the questions, Aquaman secretly prompts him from afar to jog his memory, and Aqualad passes the test.
December 1960 Story: “Silly Sailors of the Sea” (6 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When four boys take a sailboat for a day at sea without asking the owner’s permission and without having sufficient sailing know-how, Aquaman and Aqualad teach them a lesson by subjecting them to a whirlpool, a phony sea serpent, an artificial “storm”, and a faked-up pirate ship. Abashed, the boys return to land, make amends with the boat owner, and agree to get lessons on seamanship.
Adventure Comics #280
Showcase #30
January 1961 Story: “The Lost Ocean” (7 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Jim and Ted Flood, the stars of TV’s Sea Chase, get the bends and have to spend time in iron lungs, Aquaman and Aqualad take their places to save the show from being cancelled. They use their aquatic powers to create spectacular stunts for the show, and, after completing the assignment, agree to keep their work on it secret from the world at large.
January-February 1961 Cover Artist: Howard Purcell / Sheldon Moldoff Story: “The Creatures From Atlantis” (Chapter 1; 9 pages) Chapter 2: “Prisoner of Atlantis” (9 pages) Chapter 3: “The Battle of the Sea Creatures” (7 pages) Editor: Jack Schiff Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Origin: Aquaman (retold in detail from ADVENTURE COMICS #260) Synopsis: Aquaman is summoned by enslaved Atlanteans, from whose realm he has been banished by an outsider. But he is also taken prisoner by the villain Trino and other amphibious aliens from another dimension, who force him to labor with the Atlanteans on a weapon which can melt all metal and which Trino intends to use to conquer the surface world. Aquaman manages to get a telepathic message to Aqualad, who brings an army of aquatic creatures to free his mentor. Aquaman, Aqualad, and the sea creatures defeat Trino and his cohorts, and the grateful Atlanteans declare Aquaman a Hero of Atlantis and grant him and Aqualad admission into their undersea kingdom.
Adventure Comics #282 March 1961 Story: “One Hour to Doom” (13 pages) Writer: Robert Bernstein Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: In pursuit of a smuggler, Aquaman and Aqualad repeatedly reach their one-hour limit out of water, and must find means of resaturating themselves or die.
Showcase #31 March-April 1961 Cover Artist: Howard Purcell / Sheldon Moldoff Story: “The Sea Beasts From One Billion B.C.” (Part 1; 9 pages) “The Creature Army” (part 2; 8 pages) “The Menace of the Future Fish” (part 3; 8 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad must deal with a criminal who has stolen a device to devolve and control fish.
Adventure Comics #284 May 1961 Story: “The Charge of Aquaman’s Sea-Soldiers” (13 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Jim Mooney Synopsis: Aquaman has several run-ins with Prof. Enos Snark, a criminal scientist who operates on the high seas, but beats him every time with the help of his aquatic allies. Snark creates a desalinization machine that removes the salt from seawater for a certain distance. Thus, when Aquaman’s fish and marine allies try to attack his ship, they are unable to do so, their strength sapped by the fresh water. To counter this, Aquaman has special diving-tank equipment built for the fish, filled with salt-water tanks. Thus armed, the allies of Aquaman are able to capture Snark.
Showcase #32 May-June 1961 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Creature King of the Sea” (Part 1; 8 pages) Part 2: “Captives of the Criminal Creature” (9 pages) Part 3: “The Deadly Land Trap” (8 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad battle a criminal who uses an ancient wizard’s treasure to transform himself into a powerful sea creature.
Detective Comics #293 July 1961 Story: “The Sensational Sea-Scoops” (6 pages) Editor: George Kashdan Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: When the publisher of the Maritime News is injured by a pirate who wishes to stop an upcoming edition, Aquaman and Aqualad step in to make the paper deliveries with their finny friends.
Showcase #33 July-August 1961 Cover Artist: Dick Dillin / Sheldon Moldoff Story: “Prisoners of the Aqua-Planet” (6 pages) Part 2: “The Alien Creature Ambush” (11 pages) Part 3: “King of the Land Creatures” (8 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad come to the aid of Venusian refugees fleeing a tyrant on their home planet, but are captured with them and taken to Venus.
Detective Comics #294 August 1961 Story: “The Fantastic Fish That Defeated Aquaman” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Harry Black, a modern-day pirate and old enemy of Aquaman’s, seemingly has his old foe beaten with fish that obey his commands. But Aquaman exposes Harry’s “fish” as robots, and defeats him by shortcircuiting his control box with electric eels.
Detective Comics #295 September 1961 Story: “The Curse of the Sea Hermit” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad deal with the phenomenon of a houseboat owner who seems to affect all who come near him with a strange and deadly curse.
Detective Comics #296 October 1961 Story: “The Mystery of Demon Island” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad capture the Sea Demon, a crooked skindiver extorting tribute from islanders by dressing up in a demon costume, imitating a legendary demon, and using an electrically-gimmicked trident.
Detective Comics #297 November 1961 Story: “Aqualad, Stand-In for a Star” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Sheldon Moldoff Synopsis: Aqualad agrees to do stunts for a young movie star playing “SeaBoy”, an aquatic hero, but finds working for the pampered actor something of a burden.
Detective Comics #298
Detective Comics #299
December 1961 Story: “The Secret Sentry of the Sea” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad protect diplomats from two warring nations while they work out a peace treaty on a ship at sea, supposedly in secret but attacked time and again by belligerents from both nations. Eventually, Aquaman discovers that the ship has been located by a mechanical “fish” with a transmitter, and destroys it.
January 1962 Story: “Aquaman’s Secret Teacher” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Captain Bean, an old retired mariner, has a habit of spinning tall tales to local children in Seaville of how he taught Aquaman everything he knew. His granddaughter, Mabel, isn’t pleased and asks Bean to stop telling the kids such stuff, despite the fact that it makes him a hero to them. When Aquaman and Aqualad come ashore to see a plaque Seaville has put up to honor them, they meet the captain, much to the latter’s flusterment. But when a typhoon threatens a small ship offshore, Bean makes a suggestion that gives Aquaman a way of saving it. Afterward, Aquaman thanks the Captain for his advice in front of an audience of children, and Mabel says that she’ll never again stop him from spinning yarns about Aquaman.
Aquaman #1
Detective Comics #300
January-February 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Invasion of the Fire-Trolls” (Chapter 1; 9 pages) Chapter 2: “One Hour to Doom” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “The Sinister Secret of the Fire Trolls” (8 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Quisp, a Water Sprite, summons Aquaman and Aqualad to help deal with Fire Trolls who have emerged from the fissure of an erupting underwater volca#The Fire Trolls are impervious to anything except extreme cold, and a freezing solution created by a scientist is in too small supply to defeat them. However, when a combination of the freezing spray and Quisp’s power temporarily shrinks Aquaman and Aqualad, the two heroes are inspired to defeat the Fire Trolls by the same means and seal them back into their fissure forever.
February 1962 Story: “The Mystery of the Undersea Safari” (6 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad are deceived by a crook named Jeffers and his cohorts, posing as members of Professor Jeffers’s expedition, into running a gauntlet of traps set by the ancient keepers of the golden Idols of Idora in order to find Jeffers, whom they fear has been harmed. In reality, the gang was only intent on getting Aquaman and Aqualad to spring and defeat the traps, which they do; Jeffers, having a map with the hazards clearly marked, is safe and in possession of the idols. When Jeffers and his men hold Peters, Aquaman, and Aqualad at gunpoint, Aquaman fakes a final trap with the help of octopi and scares Jeffers into surrendering in return for defeating the last trap.
Aquaman #2
Aquaman #3
March-April 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “Captain Sykes’ Deadly Missions” (Chapter 1; 9 pages) Chapter 2: “Prisoners of Pecos Island” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “The Menace of the Genie-Creatures” (8 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: By capturing a ship and its crew, the pirate Captain Sykes forces Aquaman and Aqualad to go on a quest to bring back a wizard’s magic chest to him.
May-June 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Aquaman From Atlantis” (chapter 1; 7 pages) Chapter 2: “The Double Doom” (9 pages) Chapter 3: “The Battle of the Fish Armies” (9 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: An Atlantean villain named Pomoxis tricks Aquaman into a timewarp that inserts him into a battle between ancient Persians and Greeks, while he impersonates Aquaman and begins raiding ships for loot.
World’s Finest Comics #125
World’s Finest Comics #126
May 1962 Story: “Aquaman’s Super Sidekick” (7 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Since Aqualad is the only witness to an act of piracy committed by Captain Claw, the pirate’s gang makes an attempt to kill him before he can testify on the morrow. Aqualad and Aquaman are exploring a wrecked ship when vapors engulf the lad from an old chest with an inscription that the opener will gain super-strength for 12 hours. Neither one believes the legend, but both pretend in public that it is true, to ward off Claw’s assassination attempts, and Aquaman uses his sea creatures to secretly make it look as though Aqualad has incredible strength. However, members of Claw’s gang, in secret, overhear Aquaman admit the hoax, trap him, and try to ram him with a sub. As it turns out, Aqualad really does have super-strength from the vapor exposure, and is able to wreck the sub and tow it to the surface. But, minutes later, the deadline expires and he returns to his normal strength again.
June 1962 Story: “Aquaman’s Super Sea Circus” (7 pages) Editor: George Kashdan Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad stage a sea circus for charity, but Topo the octopus botches things by grandstanding. When Aquaman is knocked unconscious by one of Topo’s blunders, thieves steal the proceeds, and both Aquaman and Aqualad are trapped by the crooks when they follow. But Topo clambers out of the sea, single-handedly (with eight tentacles) defeats the villains, and releases Aquaman and Aqualad. Aquaman tells Topo that he’s a big ham, and that his audience at the circus is waiting for him.
Aquaman #4 July-August 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Menace of Alien Island” (chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “Quisp’s Last Stand” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “The Undersea Trap” (9 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman, Aqualad, and Quisp help a group of alien scientists battle criminals of their race who have gained control of a terrible weapon.
World’s Finest Comics #127 August 1962 Story: “Aquaman’s Finny Commandos” (7 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman trains new schools of fish to help him cope with Captain Rader, a pirate, but one of Rader’s men spies on them, within a midget submarine disguised to look like a large puffer fish. Rader makes preparations for Aquaman’s tactics, but, instead, when Aquaman and Aqualad turn up to battle him, they use new forms of fish as allies that Rader has not prepared himself for. The defeated pirate asks Aquaman how he knew about his preparations, Aquaman replies that a real puffer fish floats upside down, unlike the phony puffer Rader’s man used.
Aquaman #5
World’s Finest Comics #128
September-October 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Haunted Sea” (Chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “The Deadly Trap in Coral Mountain” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “A Sorcerer Rules the Waves” (9 pages) Writer: Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad are tricked into restoring an evil sorcerer from a micro-world to his full size, whereupon he menaces them and the sea world.
September 1962 Story: “The Trial of Aquaman” (7 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman commits acts of thievery, is caught, jailed, tried, and convicted. But a gang of crooks frees him from the police and take him to their hideout, where they have Aqualad as a captive, having forced him earlier to commit the crimes or risk harm to his partner. Now they think Aquaman is a true ally--but he takes the opportunity to free Aqualad and capture the gang. Later, he reveals the entire operation was a hoax to lure the crooks out of hiding and rescue Aqualad.
Aquaman #6
World’s Finest Comics #129
November-December 1962 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “Too Many Quisps” (Chapter 1; 7 pages) Chapter 2: “The Beasts From the Water World” (9 pages) Chapter 3: “The Water-Sprite Raider” (9 pages) Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad run afoul of a hostile Water Sprite they take to be Quisp. However, when they encounter the real Quisp later, he informs them that the other sprite is his brother, Quink, who isn’t even mischievous. That thesis gets tested roughly when the threesome find Quink keeping company with Captain Slade, a pirate, who turns Quink’s power against them. As it happens, Quink is on the trail of Quirk, a criminal Water Sprite who has been reported working with an Earth pirate. When Quink encountered Slade, the pirate deceived him into thinking that Aquaman was the pirate. The foursome join forces and finally take down Slade and Quirk.
November 1962 Story: “The Menace of the Alien Fish” (7 pages) Writer: Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When three giant fish with incredible powers escape from a spacecraft from the planet Vulcan and begin wreaking havoc on Earth, Aquaman and Aqualad help round up the creatures on behalf of a Vulcan who claims to be their keeper and the pilot of the Vulcan craft. But the heroes soon learn that the Vulcan is a villain who hopes to use the fish to gain power on his homeworld, and the real pilot is captive aboard the ship. Aquaman uses giant turtles to help capture the evil alien, and the pilot thanks them and promises to take the criminal and the fish back to Vulcan.
World’s Finest Comics #130 December 1962 Story: “King of the Land Beasts” (7 pages) Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: While Aquaman is directing salvage operations on a cargo of chemicals, Aqualad falls asleep and dreams that Aquaman is mutated by the chemicals into an alien-faced villain with control of all land beasts.
Aquaman #7 January-February 1963 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Sea Beasts From Atlantis” (Chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “Doom on Clay Island” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “Prisoners of Atlantis” (9 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Pomoxis uses a surface criminal and Quisp as pawns to distract Aquaman and Aqualad so that he may seize power in Atlantis.
World’s Finest Comics #131 February 1963 Story: “The Man Who Controlled Water” (7 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Professor Polloy, a criminal scientist, commits acts of piracy with a molecular ray that enables him to harden water and form it into any shape he chooses. Aquaman and Aqualad have a tough battle against their new adversary before destroying Polloy’s ray machine with the help of a giant manta ray.
Aquaman #8 March-April 1963 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Plot to Steal the Seas” (Chapter 1; 7 pages) Chapter 2: “The Double Doom on Planet Oceanus” (9 pages) Chapter 3: “Marooned in Space” (9 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad must stop an alien from robbing Earth’s water, but help another alien siphon water from another world to his parched planet.
World’s Finest Comics #132 March 1963 Story: “The Fish in the Iron Mask” (7 pages) Writer: Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Topo the octopus finds a large iron helmet in a cave and tries it on, he becomes possessed by the spirit of Merdo the wizard, whose mind was imprisoned in the helmet centuries ago by another wizard for trying to overthrow his king. Merdo’s spirit gives Topo great strength and the ability to communicate in English, and Aquaman is unable to remove the helmet from Topo against Merdo’s will. Since Merdo wishes to take over the body of Aquaman, the hero pretends to be defeated so that Merdo will order Topo to take off the helmet and place it on Aquaman’s body. An instant after Topo takes the helmet off, Aqualad commands the octopus to drop the helmet, and Topo obeys. Later, Aquaman has the helmet crushed by a giant clam.
Aquaman #9 May-June 1963 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Secret Mission of King Neptune” (chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “The Menace of the Aqualad-Creature” (7 pages) Chapter 3: “The End of Aqualad” (10 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: The sea appears menaced by a being called King Neptune, who commands the animals of the oceans and changes Aqualad into a great beast.
World’s Finest Comics #133
Aquaman #10
May 1963 Story: “Aquaman’s New Partner--Aqua-Girl” (7 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: When Aqualad takes ill and is taken to Atlantis to recuperate, Aquaman fills the gap by taking on a new partner, a girl Atlantean named Selena, whom he dubs “Aqua-Girl.” The new Aqua-Girl performs well as Aquaman’s ally, arousing the jealousy of Aqualad, who fears he will be permanently replaced, and the interest of Merlon, a male Atlantean whom Selena had a crush on but who couldn’t be bothered with her earlier. In the end, Merlon marries Selena, Aqualad heals and is accepted as Aquaman’s partner again, and Aquaman reveals to Aqualad that part of the plan was to make Merlon jealous enough of Aquaman that he would propose to Selena...which he did.
July-August 1963 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The War of the Water Sprites” (Chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “The Doom of Quisp” (9 pages) Chapter 3: “Aquaman’s Last Chance” (8 pages) Writer: Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: When the criminal Water Sprite Quirk and two of his followers invent a weapon that can take away and restore a sprite’s powers, and discover a strange strain of seaweed which, when eaten, can expand their size and powers gigantically, Quisp follows them to Earth to try and get Aquaman and Aqualad to defeat them. Initially, the evil Water Sprite trio’s powers prove too much for Aquaman and his allies. But, by stealing Quirk’s weapon and then by changing themselves into giants, Aquaman and Aqualad manage to defeat Quirk and his men.
World’s Finest Comics #135 August 1963 Story: “The Creatures That Conquered Aquaman” (10 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Ramona Fradon Synopsis: Aquaman and Aqualad come upon a band of four green-skinned aliens wearing strange metallic headbands that give them power to project bolts of electrically-based force. The aliens are looting a warehouse, but when the two heroes send whales to block their exit, the outworlders blast the whales aside and are about to do the same to Aquaman when Lador, one of their number, parries their blasts with his own. Lador and Aquaman are taken prisoner by the other aliens and imprisoned in a “cage” of electricity, after Lador’s headband is removed. Lador tells Aquaman that he is from a parallel dimension, inventor of a warp-machine that allows them entry into Aquaman’s world. The alien criminals tricked him into crossing over to Earth to gain elements that would perfect the headbands. When this was done, they declared their intention to loot the Earth. Aqualad diverts the alien crooks’ attention with an assault of sea creatures, then dons Lador’s discarded headband and frees Aquaman and Lador. After some trickery, Aquaman, Aqualad, and Lador strip the villains of their headbands and capture them. Lador destroys the headbands, and tells Aquaman and Aqualad he will take the villains back to his world.
Aquaman #11 September-October 1963 Cover Artist: Nick Cardy Story: “The Doom From Dimension Aqua” (Chapter 1; 8 pages) Chapter 2: “The Super Sea Sleuth” (8 pages) Chapter 3: “Prisoners of the Water World” (9 pages) Writer: Jack Miller Artist: Nick Cardy Synopsis: Mera, a water-world queen from another dimension with the power to shape water to her will, is pursued into Earth’s oceans by Leron, an usurper from her world, and she seeks the aid of Aquaman and Aqualad.
VOLUME 1 1959 - 1963
An Explanation of the Comics Index In this series, we examine every issue of every DC and Marvel comic book of the silver and the bronze age and also provide you with a color reproduction of the comic’s cover, a complete listing of the creative people involved in producing the comic, a summary of what happened in each adventure, and various other information. All comics indexed in a series will run in serial order, beginning with the first issue or the earliest issue that features the series being indexed. Each of the index entries is as self-explanatory as possible. Some of the criteria we used to create an index entry are provided below. Cover Credits It usually takes many people to produce a comic book cover, from conception and design through coloring and production, and it is impossible to credit them all. The Artist, responsible for the basic execution of the cover, does the lion’s share of the work. If more than one artist works on a cover, some usually pencil and the others usually ink. Records of artists and letterers are sometimes unavailable, particularly for covers that appeared many years ago, so the identities of some cover artists and letterers are the best guesses that the indexers and DC’s and Marvel's current editors and art staff can make. Credits other than Artist or Artists and Letterer appear where known. Story Information Story titles are given as they appear on the title pages, not as on the covers or in coming attractions. When a story lacks a title or title page (a rare occurrence), a note to this effect appears as a Comment. Story credits are taken from the credits as published. As with cover credits, it is impossible to credit everybody who worked on a story, but whenever additional information is available, it appears in the Index. If the published credits in a story are incorrect, the Index corrects them wherever possible.
Chronology A time line for all of DC’s and Marvel's comics that allows proper chronological ordering of the appearances of every DC and Marvel character is far from complete. Nevertheless, some appearances are known to precede or follow others. Whenever chronological information is known reliably but is not obvious from the continuity of the stories, it is noted in parentheses. “First appearance” accompanies a character’s listing when the comic is the earliest one in which the character appears. A first appearance is not necessarily a character’s chronologically earliest appearance, which might occur, for example, in an origin flashback first told many years later. As a general rule, in the case of feature characters who are members of a team but who also appear in their own features or comics, issue-by-issue chronological notations for these characters are made in the indexes to their own features, not in the index to the team feature. For instance, Superman’s chronology is noted in The Superman Index, not in The Justice League of America Index. A casual reading of a few Plot Synopses will make it abundantly clear that a whole month does not usually pass for the characters in between monthly issues of a comic. Many issues begin hours or even minutes after the previous month’s story. Consequently, a character who has had his own feature for ten years will not have aged ten years in the time it took for those comics to come out. As for trying to determine in what year a given adventure takes place, there’s no conclusive answer. Specific dates that appear in stories, as well as mention of current events and popular culture, depictions of contemporary fashions, and usage of contemporary slang, are all what is known as Topical References. These are specific details added by a writer or artist to a story to make it seem current at the time the story is being published. They are not necessarily indicators of when — what year or even what decade — a story took place.