Issue Description

Arriving from Dimension Aqua for a rendezvous with Aquaman, Queen Mera is, instead, met by Aqualad. Aquaman soon passes by, but ignores them, as they call out to him. Aqualad and Mera start to pursue Aquaman, but he waves them off. Suddenly, a strange alien girl surfaces next to Aquaman. Mera is crestfallen that Aquaman would choose to spend his time with the alien over her, but tearfully respects his choice. Aqualad, however, urges Mera to go after them, citing that Aquaman would never treat her so poorly. Mera uses her absolute command over water to ensnare Aquaman in a hard water lasso. The alien girl, though, also possesses abilities similar to Mera's. She reconfigures Mera's lasso construct into a giant hoop, that she then sends barreling at Aqualad and Mera. The pair are caught up within the hoop, momentarily, until Mera uses her powers to dissipate it. Mera then forms an extremely hard water tunnel that leads straight to Aquaman. Mera and Aqualad race to span the distance to Aquaman, but the alien uses her power to raise the tunnel high into the sky. By the time Mera can finally dissipate the tunnel, she and Aqualad have ascended so far above the surface of the ocean, that the fall back down will kill them. Mera pulls hard water gliders up out of the sea, to allow them to descend safely back down into the ocean. They decide to try a more stealthy approach to getting Aquaman back. Just as Mera is about to ambush the alien girl, she witnesses Aquaman's startling transformation into an alien, too.

Mera launches her attack, taking the alien girl by surprise, imprisoning her in a hard water cage. Mera demands the alien return Aquaman to normal. "Aquaman", though, turns out to truly be an alien. The pair of aliens, Rovere and Sirene, are sibling shape shifters. They crash landed on Earth, while trying to escape from an alien criminal gang. Rovere had run with the gang until Sirene convinced him to go straight. Now the criminals are in pursuit of Rovere, to stop him from going to the authorities on their world. The first Earthling Rovere encountered was Aquaman. Rovere imprisoned Aquaman within a cave, then assumed his identity to throw the alien criminals off his trail. Mera departs to free Aquaman from his imprisonment. Before she can return, the alien criminals arrive on Earth, quickly spying Rovere and Sirene with Aqualad. Clawed tentacles erupt from the alien vessel, capturing the trio. Rovere and Sirene escape by transforming into eels, abandoning Aqualad to his alien captors. The aliens interrogate Aqualad as to the whereabouts of Rovere and Sirene. When Aqualad fails to provide any information, the aliens prepare to kill him. Aquaman bursts from the sea, riding the crest of a wave created by Mera. They just about have the trio of alien criminals defeated, when the clawed tentacles erupt, once more, from the ship, capturing Aquaman and Mera, as well as Aqualad, again. The aliens believe Mera to be a shape shifted Sirene, as, to their awareness, only beings from their world can control & manipulate water the way Mera does. They demand Mera give up the whereabouts of Rovere, or else face execution. As they take aim with their weapons, enormous, monstrous crustaceans emerge from the sea, scattering the aliens. Their attack damages the alien vessel, inadvertently freeing Aquaman, Aqualad and Mera. Their freedom is short lived, though, as the creatures scoop up the heroic trio in their gargantuan pincers, and return to the sea.

The giant crustaceans turn out to be Rovere and Sirene. The rescue was the least a guilty Rovere felt he could do, for involving Aquaman in his troubles. Sirene's motivations though are entirely romantic, which raises Mera's dander. Aquaman steps in, quickly, to defuse the situation before it can escalate into violence. With the heroes thus distracted, Rovere swims away, back towards the alien gangsters. Aquaman, Aqualad, Mera, and Sirene race to intercept Rovere before he can reach the shoreline. Rovere has too big a lead, though. As he emerges from the surf, the aliens prepare to shoot him. Mera and Sirene hurl hard water spheres at the aliens, disarming them. The alien criminals grab Rovere, forcing him back into their ship. They rush to depart before the heroes can reach them. Mera & Sirene create a stream of water, reaching from the ocean to the hatch of the alien vessel. Aquaman and Aqualad rapidly swim up the channel, boarding the ship just in time. They quickly overpower the alien gangsters, but their leader throws a switch, launching the vessel into orbit. A paralysis beam emitter freezes Aquaman, Aqualad, and Rovere in their tracks. The alien gang leader places each of the three into glass cylinders & launches them into space. At the top of each cylinder is a length of chain, wound around a wheel. Aquaman spins the wheel, releasing the chain from the top of the cylinder. The chain is magnetic and anchors itself to the alien vessel's hull. As Aquaman winds the chain back up, he is drawn up against the ship. Rovere and Aqualad do the same. Aquaman instructs Aqualad to release enough of his chain to lower his capsule over the alien vessel's exhaust port. The aliens begin to succumb to the build up of trapped gasses within their ship. As the alien opens the hatch to clear the obstruction, Aquaman leaps inside. Weakened by the poison fumes, the alien gangsters are easily taken. Rovere pilots the ship back to Earth, returning Aquaman and Aqualad to the surface. Preparing to depart for home, with the captured alien gangsters, Sirene takes a moment to kiss Aquaman goodbye. Mera confides to Aqualad that while she likes Sirene well enough, she's very happy to see her go. Aqualad reassures Mera that Aquaman only has room in his heart for her.

Aquaman

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

Aquaman (Volume 1)

Starring: Arthur Curry as Aquaman and Aqualad.

Aquaman, the King of the Seven Seas, takes the plunge into his very own series. As the King of Atlantis, Aquaman protects not only his people but also all of Earth's oceans from any threat! This volume was important for a number of reasons. Mera was introduced as a character and a Superhero wedding (Aquaman and Mera) occurred in issue 18. Aquababy (Arthur Jr) was born in issue 22. Aquagirl (Tula) was a new character (33) and she became a love interest for Garth. Ocean Master was introduced as Aquaman's Half-brother in issue 29 and Black Manta became one of Aquaman's greates villains starting with issue 35 which included the Manta Men. Issue 40 began a multi-issue stor arc entitled the Quest for Mera and it concluded with issue 48. Aquaman had journey's to the land of the Maarzon's and to the surface world during his quest. Aquaman put Narkron in charge and he became a dictator which led to a Revolution in issue 47. The Bugala was introduced in issue 43 as was Aqualad dealing with the creature without Aquaman. Issue 46 was unique becaus it presented the same story as issue 45 but from Mera's perspective. Issue 49 reintroduced Phil Dawson, whom Aquaman met in issue 49 and very shrewdly had a picture of Deadman carved into the rocks under the ocean as a shadowing of his back-up role in issues 50-52. Those issues offered us the artwork of Neal Adams and the Deadman stories crossed over with the Aquaman lead story. Issue 54 brought Aquaman against the Crime Organization he battled in issues 44-46 and a new villain was unleashed, Thanatos. Issue 56 ended Aquaman's Title but when he was given it back in 1977, it started with issue 57. This storyline picked up where Adventure 452 left off. Aquaman went after Black Manta, thinking his son was dead. Cal Durham has a change of heart and starts turning for the good. Issues 58-60 had a Mera back-up story as she went to her own dimension of Xebel to find a device to safe Arthur Jr. Vulko told Mera in issue 58 that he was still alive. When Mera returned in Issue 60, Vulko told her that Arthur died. Issues 58-60 included such villains as Fisherman, Scavenger, and Kobra. It also included the origin of Aquaman in issue 58. Issue 61 had Batman and Green Lantern guest star as they battled Kobra. The issue ended with Batman yelling at Aquaman because Kobra got away and Aquaman swimming away from him. They later came to blows in Brave and the Bold 142. The funeral happened in issue 62 and Aqualad (after uncovering issues from his past in Adv. 453-455)

decided that he needed to meet with Aquaman face to face. Mera blames Aquaman for the death of their son but the reconcile at the end of the story and after the robot villain was defeated. The last panel left the cliffhanger that Ocean Master was behind the robot. Issue 63 ended this solo run which included a reunion with Aqualad, a journey to the ancient city of Atlantis and a battle with Ocean Master. When DC expanded the pages of their books, the Martian Manhunter was going to back-up Aquaman, but with the cancellation of half of DC's line of books, the Sea King lost out.

Collected EditionsShowcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 1 (Adventure Comics #260-280, 282, 284; Aquaman #1-6; Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #12; Showcase #30-33;Detective Comics #293-300; Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #55; World's Finest Comics #125-129)Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 2 (Aquaman#7-23, World's Finest #130-133, #135, #137 and #139 and The Brave and the Bold #51)Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol. 3 (AQUAMAN #24-39, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #73 and a story from SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #115)Aquaman: Death of a Prince (Adventure Comics #435-437, 441-455 and Aquaman #57-63)

Note: Although canceled in the early 1970s, the series was subsequently revived as a part of the DC Explosion. It was canceled once again approximately one year later.

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