Issue Description

Aquaman and Aqualad are visiting Queen Mera in Dimension Aqua, where, in his honor, a colossal statue of Aquaman is being unveiled. A temporal whirlpool forms, disrupting the ceremony, and heralding the arrival of Poseidon, ancient Greek God of the Sea. From the distant past, Poseidon has spied upon Mera. He has now come to claim her as his bride. Mera spurns Poseidon, declaring herself for Aquaman. With a wave of his trident, Poseidon enlarges a seahorse to the size of a suitable mount, then charges Aquaman. Aquaman telepathically commands the seahorse to throw Poseidon. Poseidon uses his trident to cut the seahorse off from Aquaman's power, to bring it more fully under his sway. Poseidon transforms the seahorse into an enormous sea dragon, commanding it to burn Mera's kingdom down, unless she relents, and agrees to marry him. For the sake of her people, Mera acquiesces. Aquaman, though, won't let her go without a fight. He tackles Poseidon, and the two struggle for several moments. Poseidon gains the advantage, and prepares to deliver the death blow. Mera stays his hand, pleading with Poseidon to take her now, back in time, to his kingdom. Poseidon crushes a strange pod from his belt pouch, recreating the temporal whirlpool. With Mera clasped tightly in the sea god's arm, they fade away. Mera's people are outraged at Aquaman's failure to save their Queen. They tear down his statue, demanding he leave Dimension Aqua immediately, never to return.

During his brief struggle with Poseidon, Aquaman palmed one of the pods from the sea god's belt pouch. Aquaman shows the pod to Mera's people, declaring his intention to go after her, and reclaim her from Poseidon. Aquaman crushes the pod, as Poseidon had done. A temporal whirlpool forms about him. Aqualad is just quick enough to leap into the whirlpool, too, before it vanishes. Arriving in ancient Greece, Aquaman and Aquald ascend Mount Olympus. Their request for an audience with the King of The Gods, Zeus, is granted. Zeus is sympathetic to Aquaman's plight. Never one to let an opportunity to humble his brother pass, Zeus arranges a contest between Aquaman & Poseidon, with Mera as the prize. To counter the power of Poseidon's trident, Zeus gives Aquaman an amulet that will protect him from the trident's magic. Zeus places a golden apple within a sealed underwater cave. Whoever can bring it back to him first, unaided, wins the contest. Unbeknownst to Aquaman, Poseidon's man, Proteus, has mystically purloined the protective amulet from Aquaman's person. Aquaman and Poseidon leap from Mount Olympus into the sea. Aquaman, the much faster swimmer, takes an easy lead over the sea god. Poseidon, however, merely uses the magic of his trident to create great iron balls, shackled to Aquaman's wrists. The weight of the heavy metal spheres drives Aquaman to the sea floor. Aquaman summons sawfish to cut through the chains, but they prove unequal to the task. Aquaman telepathically calls out to a pair of jellyfish, instructing them to swim back and forth over his wrists, until they are slimy enough to slip free of his manacles. Aquaman reaches the sealed cave, to find the great iron door swung wide open. Still hoping to find the golden apple before Poseidon can, Aquaman quickly swims into the cave. Poseidon bolts the door shut behind Aquaman, leaving him sealed in the cave forever.

Trapped within the cave, Aquaman is still able to issue out telepathic commands to the surrounding sea life. Aquaman sends a swordfish to spear the golden apple from Poseidon's grasp. Poseidon prepares to pursue the swordfish, when an octopus assaults him, making off with Poseidon's trident. Meanwhile, Aquaman has also sent for a giant manta ray, which, with great effort, manages to tear the iron door from the cave mouth, freeing Aquaman. Aquaman returns to Mount Olympus with both the golden apple and Poseidon's trident, much to Zeus' great glee. Zeus laughs at and taunts the humbled sea god, casually tossing Poseidon's trident back to him. Aquaman, however, states that, in all fairness, he did not win the contest. He broke the rules by calling in the fish to assist him. Zeus decrees that such honesty should be rewarded, naming Aquaman the winner anyway. Outraged, Poseidon summons the North Winds, destroying Zeus' throne room. Abducting Mera, Poseidon flees back to the present. Mera uses her water wielding power to create an enormous, hard water sea creature. Poseidon uses the power of his trident to temporarily erase Mera's powers, but it's too late. The creature is still coming from him. Only now, Mera has no control over it. The creature's first strike shatters Poseidon's trident. Both powerless, Poseidon and Mera swim as fast as they can to escape the hard water construct. Aquaman and Aqualad arrive in the present, just in time to see Mera's creature closing in on her and Poseidon. Spying a makeshift wooden raft adrift on the waves, Aquaman and Aqualad leap aboard. With dolphins powering the raft, Aquaman and Aqualad are just able to rescue Mera and Poseidon, before the hard water creature devours them. Summoning a school of angler fish, Aquaman instructs them to attract the creature with their luminous illicium. The creature turns to pursue the angler fish, which lead it ever deeper beneath the waves, until the intense oceanic pressure crushes the hard water construct. Humbled again for having to be rescued by Aquaman, Poseidon apologizes for his all he's done. Aquaman provides the sea god with a pod, given to him by Zeus, to create a temporal whirlpool. Poseidon returns to ancient Greece, and Mount Olympus.

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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