Friday, November 2, 2007

Aquaman #37

Aquaman #37 (On Sale: November 2, 1967) features just a stunning Nick Cardy cover; it's beautifully designed and masterfully executed, full of raw emotion. How could anyone pass up this comic on the stands? To me this cover marks the beginning of Cardy's ascendancy as one of the greatest cover artists of all time.

"When the Sea Dies" is by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy. A great cataclysm under the sea interrupts a fight between Aquaman and the Ocean Master. The sea itself begins to rot. Aquaman traces the source of the disturbance to a scorpion-shaped vessel piloted by the Scavenger. The villain is searching for a time decelerator hidden under the ocean. Aquaman's best efforts are unable to penetrate the Scavenger's ship, so he forms a temporary alliance with the Ocean Master.

Mera and Aquababy are then kidnapped. Aquaman is unable to free them, but when the Ocean Master locates the time decelerator, the Scavenger leaves his ship. Ocean Master tries to double-cross Aquaman, but he is stopped. The Scavenger uses the time decelerator in an attempt to become immortal.

This strip is sort of a turning point for Aquaman as it features the last appearances of Tusky the Walrus, and Storm and Sea Imp, Aquaman and Aqualad's giant sea horses. I know, I said this about the sea horses in Aquaman #35, but I was misinformed I guess.

Edited by George Kashdan.

2 comments:

Dave said...

When I got to meet Nick Cardy a few years ago at FallCon here in the Twin Cities, I got this issue autographed (I think I picked it up there at the con), and Cardy said that a lot of fans had told him that this was their favorite cover of his. I mentioned how much I loved the covers he did for Aquaman after this, when he was no longer drawing the stories inside (the Skeates/Aparo run), and he told me that editor Dick Giordano had let him do whatever he wanted with the covers during that period.

My favorite Cardy cover may be Teen Titans #17 ("The Return of the Mad Mod!"), which you've incorporated into your logo for this site -- and which was also a Giordano-edited comic.

-Keller said...

It's really hard to pick a favorite Cardy cover. I loved most of the Aquaman covers and most of the Teen Titan covers starting around this time. But then there are the amazing Bat Lash covers he did and numerous others. I remember a romance special called "Love 1970" that featured this amazing Cardy cover to a couple kissing while kneeling on the beach that just blew me away.

I met Cardy at SDCC a few years ago and what a sweet man. He is also one of those artists who look like he was drawn by himself; that is, he has a Nick Cardy kind of face.