Recently, I asked whether the new "Emperor Aquaman" direction, in which Arthur uses newfound abilities to reach out to the seas on other planets was sustainable. Well, some back-reading reminded me that Aquaman used to encounter aliens ALL THE TIME in the Silver Age.
Aquaman #1 Features annoying pest Quisp and the truly dangerous Fire Trolls who are from "another sea beneath the sea". It's still on earth but is very "otherworldly".
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Note that right from the start Aquaman covers would always tout the LENGTH of the stories. That's because Aquaman had previously been mostly a back-up feature and only appeared in short stories. If you really a lot of Silver Age Aquaman, you might come to the conclusion that Aquaman was better served by shorter stories, since many Aquaman stories are needlessly contrived and drawn out. It is, however, probably why Aquaman quickly got epic, world-building stories like meeting and marrying Mera and later having a baby with her.
Aquaman #4. Aquaman deals with scientists from the planet Suvia.
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| When your voice is as rich and impactful as Aquaman's, you do your OWN narration. |
Aquaman #8. Aliens from the planet Phrygia plot to steal Earth's seas.
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| Ah, Aqualad; always a ray of sunshine. |
Phyrgia the country is actually a real place on earth (or, rather, was, in the 10th through 7th centuries BCE in Anatolia). Had all those Cybele cultists. It's where Eclipso buys his hats.
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| No wonder he stays in the dark. |
Aquaman #10. Introduces Mera, a overthrown queen from ANOTHER DIMENSION. "Dimension Aqua", which sounds as though it should be outfitted in glorious mid-century plastic chic, like an underwater Howard Johnson's.
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| You'd miss Howard Johnson's, if you'd ever been there. |
Alas, Dimension Aqua was just a figurative and literal backwater.
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| Originally "Xebel" was just the name of a scientist in Dimension Aqua. Also... Mera has giant webbed feet, doesn't she? She is definitely an alien. |
Aquaman #12. Aquaman is kidnapped by aliens to participate in galactic aqua-gladiator fights.
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| The novelettes are thrilling because Aqualad's not actually in them. |
Aquaman #16. Aquaman falls afoul of an alien gang.
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| Mera is so dumb, that "alien shapeshifter" never occurs to her. This is what happens when you are from the boonies like Dimension Aqua. |
Aquaman #24. Unnamed aliens hire the Terrible Trio II to destroy earth's water.
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| Do NOT confuse The Terrible Trio II, who are schlubs, with the Awesome Threesome, who are, appropriately, awesome. |
By this point, aliens are so common in Aquaman stories that the writers don't even take time to name them. They might as well be tourists gawking in Manhattan.
Aquaman #27. Xen the alien collects sea creatures for his zoo. You may remember that this plot was recycled into Episode 5 of Filmation's Aquaman cartoon, "The Sea Raiders".
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| "WE HAVE CAPTURED A BIG-HEADED PURPLE-EYED FREAK! EXCELLENT!" |
2 comments:
It's funny but I had forgotten that Mera originally had webbed feet. I think I first came across that in my Aquaman Big Little Book. I need to dig out my copy (digital -- my originals are lost to the mist of time, but I read the hell out of them).
In which Aquaman ALSO fights aliens: "Aquaman is called upon to save the Earth from a band of outer space fishmen from the planet Pisces who have landed in the ocean and are demanding millions of dollars in ransom (in diamonds) to not destroy our planet. "
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