In "Crime Wave!" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo, missing people are reappearing committing crimes, but when captured they are all in some sort of trance, mindlessly repeating, "I am dead. Thanatos killed me."
Aquaman is ambushed by a gang of thieve while rushing back to the sea after meeting with some surface-dwelling friends. Weakened by being out of water for almost an hour, Aquaman is knocked out and taken prisoner. When he awakens he finds himself standing outside an old mansion, holding a note from Mera telling him to meet here there. Searching the house he is attacked by his huge and grotesque mirror image (one of the things I loved about DC at this time is that no matter how outrageous the cover, it was from the included story), who knocks him out.
When he awakens he is in Atlantis and Mera explains how he had been found unconscious in an old house and the people were smart enough to bring him to water, where he then swam home. When he finds out that Mera did not send him a note, he is determined to go back to the house and find the evil creature that knocked him out. Getting to his feet, he is suddenly dizzy and collapses unconscious to the floor,
On the surface, the grotesque Aquaman is running down a road in search of water, wondering if the being whose features he stole is the cause of his water craving. He makes it to the shore and dives in, wondering if he will now be trapped underwater.
In Atlantis, Aquaman is swimming around and realizes that he has been away from his home for too long (I need to stop here and say that Aparo gives us a Hitchcock cameo here). He hears some commotion by the dome entrance and arrives to find the monstrous version of himself pummeling the city guards. When he yells at the creature to stop, he replies that he is Thanatos and he is there to kill him. They fight, but with every punch, Aquaman feels his strength being sapped and Thanatos getting stronger. Thanatos hits him so hard he is knocked out. When he awakes, he is once again back with Mera and told that Thanatos broke loose and escaped the city. Aquaman asks which direction he went and plans to go after him.
Meanwhile, back on land, the police believe that the people they have in custody, have been brainwashed, where they are thrown into a fantasy world in which they must fight a creature named Thanatos. They believe that Thanatos is the person's own death instinct, the evil side of their own nature. and that he gets stronger and stronger until he kills the subject. The police think they may know who is powerful enough to pull off such a stunt, and head out after him.
Aquaman has left Atlantis and is following Thanatos's trail, which leads him to Rusdic, a town he has never seen before and that looks like something out of the old west. He heads into the town saloon, but after not being served, he leaves. Back out on the street he is confronted by Thanatos, who wants to challenge him to a duel. He is given a gun by a local and Thanatos shoots Aquaman. When he comes too, he is back in Atlantis with Mera, who explains that he was only wounded. Aquaman protests that none of this is making sense, he keeps ending up in Atlantis with Mera. Just then, Thanatos smashes in through the wall and Aquaman prepares to do battle.
The police break into an abandoned warehouse across town and take out a number of thugs who have people strapped to machines.
In his fight with Thanatos, Aquaman starts bobbing and weaving, not letting Thanatos touch him, negating his superior strength. Aquaman starts to be the one landing the blows.
The police take down all the thugs and their leader, then start pulling people out of the machines, each one repeating, "I am dead, Thanatos killed me." Except for the last guy they pull out, Aquaman. After his rescue, Aquaman learns that the criminals responsible were the same gang that had once kidnapped Mera.
Edited by Dick Giordano.
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