Issue Description

                             Patrolling the high seas, Aquaman and Aqualad spy a ship on the horizon that is floating above the water. Nearing the strange phenomena, they see that it is their friend, the water sprite, Quisp, who is magically levitating the vessel. Seeing their approach, Quisp speeds off with the ship, ignoring Aquaman's attempt to make contact. Aquaman and Aqualad pursue the impish prankster. Quisp splits the ocean wide open before them. Aquaman and Aqualad are swimming too fast to stop their plunge into the watery crevasse. In the time it takes for them to recover, Quisp has made good his escape. Aquaman and Aqualad are quick to pick up Quisp's trail. Soon enough they re-encounter him, this time making off with a large barge. Launched into the air on the twin water spouts of two sperm whales, Aquaman and Aqualad are able to surprise Quisp and catch hold of him. Only for a moment, though, as Quisp's magic catapults the sperm whales into the two heroes. The impact renders them both unconscious. Quisp escapes again. Still stunned, Aquaman and Aqualad are too groggy to swim out of the path of an ocean liner, bearing down on them. The pair are rescued by Quisp. Faced with Aquaman's accusations of wrong doing, Quisp swears that he was not involved with the morning's activities. The culprit was , in  truth, Quisp's twin brother, Quink. Quisp is reluctant to believe that his brother would engage in criminal activities. Quisp follows the heroes to a nearby island to get to the heart of the mystery. The missing ships are all berthed on the island, under the watchful eye of the notorious pirate, Captain Slade. Aquaman is about to take Captain Slade into custody, when Quink ambushes the heroes, including his own brother, Quisp.  
                             Only momentarily stunned, Aquaman and Aqualad are quick to run down Captain Slade, tackling him out of his speedboat and into the ocean. Captain Slade wrests himself away from the two heroes, who are then attacked by both Quisp and Quink. Aquaman and Aqualad are slow to recover form the double magical assault of the two water sprites. When they do come to, Quisp explains that he had used his magic to deflect the worst of his brother's magic away from Aquaman and Aqualad. Suddenly, two enormous sea creatures from Quisp's hidden world beneath the waves, break the surface. Quisp postulates that the creatures must have followed either him, or Quink, into Aquaman's world. Docile underwater, the monstrous crustaceans go berserk on the surface. Aquaman instructs Aqualad to continue the search for Quink and Captain Slade, while Aquaman and Quisp try to intercept the marine beasts before they can reach the mainland. Arriving too late, Aquaman and Quisp mount the best defense they can in the face of the creature's rampage through a coastal town. Quisp's repelling magic is able to keep the beasts from harming any civilians, long enough for Aquaman to crash a milk truck into them. The flow of released milk over the creatures soothes them long enough for Aquaman and Quisp to get them back underwater. Meanwhile, Aqualad has caught up with Quink and Captain Slade, sending word to Aquaman via signal fish. Captain Slade, though, has spotted Aqualad and sends Quink to deal with him. Quisp arrives just in time, placing himself between Quink and Aqualad, finally able to confront his errant brother. Quink explains that he has come to Aquaman's world in pursuit of the water sprite criminal, Quirk. Quirk had been rumored to have allied himself with a marauding raider, one that Captain Slade had helpfully identified as being Aquaman. Quisp sets his naive brother straight, & orders him to return to their world, along with the Borer Beast and Crusher Beast that had followed him up. Aquaman, Aqualad, and Quisp resume their pursuit of Captain Slade. The find him, standing outside of an abandoned lighthouse, on a small islet. The criminal, Quirk, is by his side. 
                                     Quisp and Quirk square off against one another, but are too evenly matched for either to gain the upper hand over the other. A passing helicopter drops a weird weapon into Captain Slade's hand. With it, he's able to rob Quisp of his magical powers. With no defense against Quirk's magic, Aquaman, Aqualad and Quisp are easily defeated. Captain Slade boasts that the strange gun literally fell into his lap, dropped from a passing spaceship. Upon their first encounter, Captain Slade and Quirk were startled by one another and quickly attacked each other. Quirk lost his all his magical abilities, but Captain Slade's gun was damaged. Captain Slade set about to having the gun repaired, while Quirk waited for his magic abilities to return. The two were quick to strike a bargain. Quirk would help Captain Slade loot the high seas. In return, Captain Slade would give Quirk the gun. Quirk could then return to his world, rob all the other water sprites of their magic abilities, making him all-powerful in his world. They're just about to imprison Aquaman, Aqualad, & Quisp in the lighthouse's dungeon, when a giant manta ray sweeps the heroic trio into the sea. Captain Slade & Quirk go on to loot another cargo ship. Midway through the crime, Quisp arrives, traveling atop a giant water spout. Captain Slade fires his weapon at Quisp. No effect. He fires again to no avail. Believing the weapon is no longer capable of stealing a water sprite's magical abilities, Quirk is quick to dissolve his partnership with Captain Slade. Aquaman leaps aboard Captain Slade's speedboat & wrests the gun from his grasp. Captain Slade begs Quirk to save him. Bearing no love for Aquaman, Quirk readies an attack. Aquaman blasts Quirk with the ray gun. Much to Quirk's surprise, his abilities vanish. Aquaman reveals that while Quisp did lose his abilities again, when Captain Slade fired upon him, it was actually Quink who was creating the water spout that Quisp was riding atop. Quisp returns all the plundered loot back to the various cargo ships that Captain Slade targeted. Aquaman and Aqualad take Captain Slade into custody, while Quisp and Quink return to their world with Quirk.

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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