Flash #209

Flash #209 (On Sale: July 20, 1971), has a  cover by Dick Giordano.

We begin this issue with "Beyond the Speed of Life" by Cary Bates, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano. The Flash receives a mental picture revealing the whereabouts of the Trickster and Boomerang. He races to the scene but is tripped up by an extended rope set up by the two villains. Flash trips at super speed and his velocity throws him into another dimension. A sentinel voice tells him that he has broken through the speed of life.

In the meantime back in the earthly dimension, Boomerang and Trickster examine Flashes lifeless body which appears to be dead. Back in the alternate dimension, Flash is informed that a being called the Devourer is threatening to eat its way to earth's own dimension and Flash prepares to do battle with it. As Flash battles the Devourer, it changes shape. It even takes the form of Flashes wife Iris. 

Flash battles the Devourer until it devours itself. Back on earth, Grodd the Super Gorilla has appeared and reveals that it was he who mentally controlled the two villains into tripping up the Flash. He subdues the two villains and scoops up Flashes lifeless body for disposal. At that point, Flash’s ghostly figure arrives from the other dimension. He is assisted by the sentinel in reentering his own body and pounds Grodd into the ground.

Next up is Kid Flash in "Coincidence Can Kill" by Steve Skeates, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. Wally West witnesses a robbery as he rounds the corner. He activates his costume ring but instead of his costume appearing, he gets hit with a cloud of gas. He examines the ring and discovers that it isn’t his. He recalls that the only time he took off his ring was to wash his hands in the biology lab. He was washing next to a classmate that he refers to ad Genius George. Fearing that his identity might be compromised, Wally rushes to George’s house to recover his ring but George’s mother informs him that her son has left with an acquaintance to attend a school meeting. 

Wally transforms into Kid Flash and tracks down George's car to a sleazy neighborhood. George is being escorted to see a crime boss who is interested in hiring George to create technical gimmicks to assist them in crimes. George secretly intends to take down the crime boss and turn him in. George deploys his ring and expects to have a gas come out but the Flashes costume comes out instead. 

Kid Flash arrives instantly and subdues the thugs. Flash then talks to George to try to explain why his costume came out of his ring but George himself theorizes that the gas must have leaked out of his ring and that Flash threw the costume out as a distraction. Kid Flash is relieved that he doesn’t have to come up with an explanation himself.

This issue's reprint is "The Elongated Man's Undersea Trap" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Giella and reprinted from Flash #119 (1961). The Elongated Man, Ralph Dibny, and his new wife Sue are honeymooning in the Caribbean. While skin diving, Ralph disappears. Sue sends a message to the Flash for help. Flash arrives in the Caribbean and begins his search for Ralph. He sees some creatures riding underwater skis. Suddenly, one of the creatures shoots and captures the Flash.

When he regains consciousness, Flash is in a pool with several other missing divers. The Bredans, as the creatures are called, are fishing for the men. Flash is caught and becomes the slave of the capturing Bredan.

Flash plays along with the situation so that he can locate Ralph. He finds Ralph at a construction site, but his friend’s memory is missing. Flash helps Ralph recover his memory, then the two heroes defeat the Bredan slave masters. Flash and Ralph free the other slaves, and Ralph is returned to his honeymoon with Sue.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

House of Secrets #93

House of Secrets #93 (On Sale: June 1, 1971), has a nice cover by Bernie Wrightson.

We begin this issue with "Lonely in Death" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. At first circumstances in an old house lead a young woman to believe her recently deceased mother is attempting to kill her in order to have company in the afterlife, but then the resentful brother is revealed as the cause of the near-fatal mishaps. He attempts to stab his sister with a spear but falls out a window to his death when startled by something the woman takes to be her mother's ghost protecting her, not attempting to kill her as she mistakenly previously believed.

Next up is our first reprint, "The Curse of the Cat's Cradle" drawn by Alex Toth and reprinted from My Greatest Adventure #85 (1964).

That is followed by "Nightmare" by Gerry Conway and Jack Abel. A man being paid to sabotage a construction project has a nightmare about falling into a dark area and then being seized by a giant hand. After he wakes up and heads to the construction site he finds that his nightmare was a premonition.

Next, we have our second reprint, "The Beast from the Box" drawn by Nick Cardy and reprinted from House of Secrets #24 (1959). Charles Sanders releases and eventually kills a thing from a box.

We end this issue with "Never Kill a Witch's Son" by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. A niece and her husband plot to kill her uncle for insurance money, but since the uncle's mother fancies herself a witch, the husband hatches a scheme to drive his wife to suicide so that he can get all the money. He fakes the uncle's appearances after they push him to his death off the balcony claiming that he had a fainting spell, but does too good a job and while his wife has been sedated, she sees her husband at the balcony and mistakes him for her uncle and shoves him to his death. All this time, the uncle's mother has been tending her son's grave, believing herself to be responsible through black magic for what happens to the niece and her husband.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Super DC Giant S-26

Super DC Giant S-26 (On Sale: May 20, 1971), has an Aquaman cover by Dick Giordano.

This reprint-fest begins with "The Creatures from Atlantis" by Jack Miller and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Showcase #30 (1961) During a morning sea-storm, Aquaman and Aqualad come to the rescue of a cargo ship that's been struck by lightning. When Aquaman finds that the cargo hold broke open and crates carrying a new type of poison are drifting out of the ship, Aquaman and his undersea pals collect all the boxes. Ordering Aqualad to bring all the cargo to shore, Aquaman then returns to his home. There he finds fish with a telepathic message from Atlantis asking for help. Thinking of Atlantis, Aquaman recounts his origins: How his mother was an exile from Atlantis who bore a child with a lighthouse worker. As he remembers how his mother revealed his true nature on his death bed, Aquaman decides to go to Atlantis to find out what he's needed for. Upon his arrival, he is suddenly attacked by two giant humanoid sea monsters.

Brought into the city, Aquaman sees that the people of Atlantis have been enslaved by this race of amphibious sea creatures. When trying to demand answers by one of the leaders of these creatures, Aquaman is sentenced to work on the same device the other Atlantians are working on. There he finds out from one of the workers that these creatures came from a "hole" that appeared in the water. Sometime later, Aquaman attempts to start a revolt by summoning an army of sea creatures to come to his rescue, however, the creatures have blowguns which they use to turn back the attackers. Later, hiding in a tube close to the creatures, Aquaman learns the truth: They are criminals from another dimension who are building a device that would melt all forms of resistance from the surface world in their bid to conquer the entire planet Earth. Spotted by the creatures, Aquaman is locked up in a cell but manages to contact his undersea friends, who summon Aqualad with a swordfish to spring Aquaman out of the jail.

Racing to the surface to stop the creatures who are out on a test of their new weapon, Aquaman, Aqualad, and an army of sea life attack the monsters. However, they do not stop the creatures from testing their weapons. After a number of attacks, Aquaman orders an army of seagulls to drop bombs on the creature's vessel rendering it inoperable. The feeling creatures enter an undersea forest, where Aquaman manages to grab hold of their dimensional device and uses it to send them back home. Once the people of Atlantis are free, they reward Aquaman with a Hero of Atlantis medal before Aquaman and Aqualad return to their home in the sea.

Next, we have "A World Without Water" by Joe Millard and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Adventure Comics #251 (1958). Aquaman is thrown into the year 6958 A.D. by an accidental atomic explosion. There he is revived by Zed-3, a scientist, who informs them they have done limited time travel experiments, but that almost all water on Earth evaporated in a nova eruption 1000 years ago. The sea creatures adapted to life on land, and Earthmen invented pills to replace moisture content, which sustains Aquaman. Just as Zed-3 is about to send Aquaman back to 1958 with a time machine, criminal scientist Dr. Varn breaks in and attempts to hijack the device. Aquaman commands the land-dwelling whales, manta ray, octopi, and flying fish to defeat Varn and his gang. Then Aquaman is sent back to his normal era.

Next up is "The Human Flying Fish" by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Adventure Comics #272 (1960). One day in a lighthouse, a man named Victor Bragg and Dr. Krill watch as Aquaman uses his fish telepathy in order to catch a number of smugglers making their getaway on a speed boat. Bragg figures that there is no way to beat Aquaman, however, Dr. Krill tells Bragg of a special operation that would turn him into a human flying fish. With new-found powers based on the flying fish, Dr. Krill predicts that Aquaman would not be able to stop Bragg. Bragg undergoes the operation and is transformed into the Human Flying Fish. Soon he is sent on missions to steals sunken treasure and other items of value from under the sea, outperforming Aquaman each time and making his escape in a helicopter that Dr. Krill has waiting for him each time.

Eventually getting wise to the Human Flying Fish's tactics, Aquaman devises a trap for the crook, luring him to appear when he makes a false report of a priceless cargo of uranium that was lost at sea. Taking the bait, the Human Flying Fish attempts to steal the uranium (really an empty container) and is soon incapacitated when Aquaman summons electric eels to his aid. He then uses swordfish to knock down Dr. Krill's helicopter and the two crooks are arrested.

That is followed by "The First Aquagirl" by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Adventure Comics #266 (1959). While riding in her yacht, a young woman sees through its glass floor that Aquaman has his leg pinned in the mouth of a giant clam. Grabbing an electric torch and jumping overboard, she saves Aquaman's life. Upon returning to the surface, both Aquaman and the girl are shocked to learn that she was under the water for 60 minutes. The girl introduces herself as Lisa Morel, daughter of Dr. Hugo Morel, a famous Ichthyologist. Swimming to meet her father, Aquaman is once more surprised to find that Lisa can also swim at great speeds and up waterfalls. When revealing the discovery to Lisa's father, he dismisses it until she exhibits the ability to command sea life when she orders seals to prevent her father's prized globe from falling into the ocean. Convinced, Dr. Morel asks Aquaman how he acquired his powers, Aquaman explains his origins once more. Since none of the Morel family originated from Atlantis, that theory was ruled out. Aquaman tells them he must return to the sea but he will return the next day.

Upon his arrival, he is met by Lisa, who is wearing a duplicate of Aquaman's costume and calling herself Aquagirl and wants to patrol the seas with Aquaman. Aquaman allows her to follow along, only to ensure that she remains safe from the perils of the sea. After a few missions out at sea, suddenly Lisa's powers begin to fade away and Aquaman must rush her to the surface. Wondering what happened, Lisa is given the answers from Aquaman who found them in his mother's diary. In it, it explains that in Atlantis they eventually developed the ability to breathe underwater, however, there was the occasional "throwback" that were unable to, and so they were sent to the surface so that they can live. These throwbacks were identifiable by their purple eyes. Aquaman explains that Lisa must have been one of these throwbacks and that she gained her water-powers only because she attempted to save Aquaman, and that she would be fated to lose them anyway. Returning back to Dr. Morel's home, he admits that he lied to Aquaman about his daughter's past and that he found her 20 years ago in a lifeboat.

Up next is "The Shark with the Human Brain" by Jack Miller and Ramona Fradon and reprinted from Adventure Comics #203 (1954). Shark Wilson escapes from prison. He heads for the beach where legend has it that the sand will transform men into fish. Aquaman then encounters a real shark with Wilson's face. The shark displays amazing intelligence, but Aquaman and his fish friends defeat it. The shark then disappears, and Wilson is found on the beach. Aquaman wonders whether the legend is true and Wilson was really the shark.

The issue ends with it'\s one piece of original content,  "The Island of Fear" is a two-page text story with illustrations by Steve Skeates, Sal Amendola, and Dick Giordano.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

World's Finest Comics #203

World's Finest Comics #203 (On Sale: April 22, 1971), has a nice Superman/Aquaman cover by Neal Adams. 

This issue features Superman and Aquaman in "Who's Minding the Earth?" by Steve Skeates, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Aquaman follows an underwater rainbow and strange sounds to a nearby island. On the island, he finds the ruins of an oceanography lab. Aquaman is then attacked by a group of mutant dolphins and knocked unconscious.

Later in Metropolis, Clark Kent meets a strange creature who is searching for Superman. The creature causes Superman and everyone nearby to temporarily lose their sight. It then splits in two and heads out to sea. Superman follows it. He finds Aquaman and revives him.

Together the two heroes meet the original creature. It explains that it is a mutant dolphin that was raised by humans. However, it began uncontrollably spawning clones of itself which were bent on the destruction of mankind. There are now many clones assembled. The clones use their mental powers to occupy Superman with a hallucination. Aquaman fights on. Eventually, Superman breaks the spell. Working together the mutants are defeated. Superman then carries them to another world where they can develop without threatening humanity. Reprinted in Best of DC #13 (1981) and World's Finest: Guardians of Earth HC (2020).

Editend by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #207

Flash #207 (On Sale: April 15, 1971), has a nice cover by Neal Adams. 

We begin with the Flash in "The Evil Sound of Music" by Mike Friedrich, Irv Novick, and Murphy Anderson. Barry and Iris Allen attend a rock concert where the group, the Washington Starship perform. Grace, the lead singer, is the niece of Sargon the Sorcerer. Sargon has used the concert to lure the Flash into his control. 

Casting a spell on the music, Sargon conjures demons that attack the crowd. The Flash leaps into action to save them, but once the crowd is safe, Flash falls under Sargon's control. The mystic sends the Scarlet Speedster to the Flash Museum to retrieve Sargon's Ruby of Life. Sargon regains the ruby and escapes, but he regrets having put his niece in danger. There is, of course, an Earth-1/Earth-2 problem with all this, but the lines were very loose back in the day. 

The backup features Kid Flash in "Phantom of the Cafeteria" by Steve Skeates, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. Wally West observes the disappearance of food in the school cafeteria. Some students panic because they think a ghost is responsible, but Wally suspects another speedster. 

His theory turns out to be correct. He follows the speedster to the outskirts of town. where he learns that the speedster is a member of a subterranean race who came to the surface after a series of landslides. The creature has a fast metabolism which required him to steal food to save himself from starving. Wally helps him return home, then he seals the entrance to the tunnel.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Flash #204

Flash #204 (On Sale: January 21, 1971), has a nice cover by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

We begin with the Flash in "The Great Secret Identity Expose" by Robert Kanigher, Irv Novick, and Murphy Anderson. Continuing from the last issue, after returning to the 20th Century, Iris Allen suddenly possesses the ability to see through disguises. She correctly identifies an imposter who has kidnapped a business tycoon and fingers two bank robbers. Though Iris clearly blurts out their identities, Iris has no memory of doing so.

When Flash is called to testify in court beside his comrades in the Justice League, Iris nearly exposes their secret identities. Flash intercedes to protect his friends. Fearing Iris will cause more trouble, he takes her back into the timestream. During the trip, the locket she received from her birth father glows. The Flash deduces that it is the cause of Iris's outbursts. Removing the locket cures Iris of the condition.

The backup Kid Flash story is "The Mind-Trap" by Steve Skeates, Dick Dillin, and Murphy Anderson. Wally West is touring the exhibit of Rama-Skeet, an Egyptian pharaoh at the Blue Valley Museum when a car crashes outside the museum, and a man is pronounced dead. A few moments later, the dead man rises. He has been inhabited by the spirit of Rama-Skeet.

Wally switches to Kid Flash and races to the scenes. The spirit then takes over Kid Flash's body. Wally blacks out during the time he is possessed, but he revives fifteen minutes later. The spirit has moved to another body.

Kid Flash deduces that the conscious mind of the host must fight the spirit leading it to find another host. He ensures that the new host is not near any other people when the time limit expires. The spirit is ejected from the host and appears to be destroyed permanently.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Teen Titans #32

Teen Titans #32 (On Sale: January 19, 1971), has a nice cover by Nick Cardy.

The Teen Titans star in "A Mystical Realm, a World Gone Mad" by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. New editor Murray Boltinoff's attempt to add horror to the Titans was a huge mistake in my view. Mal is thrown back in time by an experiment conducted by Mr. Jupiter. Kid Flash uses the Cosmic Treadmill to rescue his teammate. While in the distant past, Mal encounters a tribe of neanderthals. One of the tribesmen attacks Mal. Kid Flash arrives in time to save his friend, but the caveman falls to his death. When Kid Flash and Mal try to return to their own time, they discover an alternate timeline.

Kid Flash hypothesizes that the timeline was created by the death of the caveman. The Titans seek help from a sorcerer who resembles Mr. Jupiter. Jupiterius puts the Titans through a test to earn his help. In the first test, Kid Flash must compete in archery against Trueshot, a doppelganger of Speedy. Kid Flash wins, but the test is not over. Continues next issue. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB (2007).

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Aquaman #56

Aquaman #56  (On Sale: January 5, 1971), has a classic cover by Nick Cardy. Rarely were the covers of Aquaman symbolic, but the whole concept of "The Creature the Devoured Detroit" was symbolic as the "creature" was hypergrowth of algae from Lake Erie, not a sentient monster.

This was indeed a sad issue for me as a teenager, not at the time it was published, but two months later when Aquaman #57 did not arrive and we learned that the book had been canceled. I've said a few times here that growing up, this was my favorite comic book series and my favorite creators, and I have to give the credit to Dick Giordano's editing of the book. He brought in from Charlton a creative team that was young and developing (Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo) and let them and cover-artist Nick Cardy just run wild. And over the two and a half years they all worked together, Skeates became as innovative and skilled an author as any in the field, and Jim Aparo transformed from this bulky, blocky style, to a master story-teller, propelling thinly muscled characters from panel to panel, page to page. 

We begin this last issue of Aquaman for six years with "The Creature that Devoured Detroit!" by the creative team of S.A.G., Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, and editor Dick Giordano. It begins with a guy arguing with his wife about the quality of her beef stroganoff when all he wants to do is watch the Warren Savin Show on TV. This show is a thinly veiled Tonight Show with Ed McMahan and Johnny Carson, drawn beautifully by Aparo. The show is interrupted by a news bulletin about an emergency in Detroit, where the city is being overrun by algae from Lake Erie, which has been growing at an alarming rate ever since Detroit has been experiencing 24 hours of daylight for the past week. It is believed to be caused by a satellite in orbit using mirrors to keep Detroit lit at all times. Aquaman was supposed to appear on the show but disappeared during the news bulletin. 

Aquaman swims to Detroit and finds the city streets clogged with algae and decides to see an old friend in the police department, Don Powers. Cut to the Crusader, Detroit's own hometown hero where he goes at it with some goons repainting stolen cars. Meanwhile, Aquaman finds a cop and asks about Don, only to learn that he left the force and runs his own Private Investigation Lab. 

Aquaman tracks Don down and while talking to his old friend learns that the crime rate in Detroit is down 38% in the last week. Don lets Aquaman know that he put the satellite up there and it is working great at decreasing the crime rate. Aquaman cannot believe his old friend is actually the cause of the problems and when he explains that the city is being evacuated, Don sluffs it off as left-wind conservationist hysterics.  When Aquaman looks for a way to destroy the satellite, Don and his men knock him out and Don tells his men to dump him on a park bench,

Don then goes into his office and changes into his Crusader costume. We learn that he put the satellite up to lower the crime rate, but also because his eyesight is failing and he can no longer see well enough at night to fight as the Crusader. He is after a ring of car thieves and plans on destroying the satellite and retiring from crime-fighting as soon as he captures the ringleaders. 

Aquaman wakes up on the bench and saves a young girl from the clutches of the ever-increasing algae. In a typical Skeates moment, a senior woman blames the algae on the "younger generation" and laments that this happened to Detroit instead of Cleveland. 

On his way back to Don's offices, Aquaman sees a crowd up the street and investigates. They are surrounding the dead body of the Crusader. One witness says he doesn't understand what happened; the Crusader was running along the rooftops then tripped and fell over some wires that were in plain sight. Someone pulls off his mask and Aquaman recognizes his old friend Don. He rushes back to Don's lab, beats his way past the guards, and pushes a button that destroys the satellite. 

This should be the end of the story, but four years later, Steve Skeates is now working for Marvel writing their undersea hero, the Submariner. In Submariner #72,  "From the Void It Came..." the story begins with a hand pushing a button that destroys a satellite that has just been boarded by the Slime-Thing. The narrator makes the odd remark that the identity of the person destroying the satellite is not of the reader's concern. This may have been the first crossover between Marvel and DC that was not a joke.

The back-up is a one-page Aquagirl story "The Cave of Death" also produced by S.A.G. Aquagirl watches a group of children playing ball on the outskirts of Atlantis. She sees one chase the ball near a cave. She races to pull the boy away from the cave entrance. She explains that no one who has entered the Cave of Death has ever returned.

The entire issue was reprinted in Aquaman: Deadly Waters The Deluxe Edition (2020).

Edited by the master, Dick Giordano.

House of Secrets #90

House of Secrets #90 (On Sale: December 1, 1970), has a beautiful cover by Neal Adams. I absolutely loved this cover.

This is one of my favorite issues of House of Secrets that I treasure to this day. It begins with a framing sequence by Gerry Conway and Bill Draut. Abel receives a large package on his doorstep. The package contains a computer which talks. Abel and the computer exchange stories. After the stories are told, Abel shuts down the computer.

In "The Distant Dome" by Steve Skeates and George Tuska, young Thomm tells his girlfriend Kathhy that they must leave their domed city to find food in the distant dome they see. Kathhy reminds Thomm that they cannot go outside the dome, for the monster lives out there. Thomm says he does not believe in the monster, but Kathhy takes him to her grandma, the eldest in the city, and she says that although she has never seen the monster, her parents did. She explains how the world was once a beautiful place and the people did many great things like flying to the moon and visiting nearby stars, but that once the monster came, the people had to protect themselves with domes. Over time, the communications between domes failed, but no one would go out to try and fix the problem, their fear of the monster being too great.

After the visit with grandmother, Thomm still thinks the only way to keep everyone alive is to brave the red sands between the domes and find help. That night they sneak out of the domed city. Thomm brings a sword just in case, but they find no monster and they make it to the next dome only to find it filled with red sand and void of people. Kathhy wants to go back home, but Thomm says they must push on to the next dome he can see in the distance. On their way they pass a sign, "Danger: High Pollution Area" and Thomm remarks that Pollution was the name of the monster. As they reach the next dome Kathhy wonders what they will do if it too is empty, and Thomm replies that they will continue on to the next dome and the next and the next. We are left to wonder if there is anyone else left alive on the polluted Earth.

Next is "The Symbionts" by Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler, and Neal Adams. Lawrence Herndon has spent the past ten years alone on a prison planet, looked after by his computer, Laura. When his sentence is up the computer tells him it loves him and doesn't want to let him go. Lawrence says she is just a machine and he is leaving. When the men arrive to bring him home, Laura shoots at them and tells Lawrence she will never let him leave her. Lawrence says that he will never stay and will kill himself if she does not let him go. Laura says she realizes what she must do. When the shooting abruptly stops, the two men enter the compound in search of Lawrence, but he is nowhere to be found.  The men who have come to pick him up have brought a female prisoner to leave behind. After they do so, the computer welcomes her to her home for the next ten years, saying, "You may call me Larry." This story was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17 (1982).

This is Rich Buckler's first pencils for DC, his only previous professional work having been for Warren. Rich was one of the first young artists that Neal Adams helped in their first DC story. During his career, Rich worked for 24 different publishers, usually as a penciler, but sometimes as also a writer. At DC he started on the horror books but soon gravitated to the back-up strips: Robin, World of Krypton, and The Rose and the Thorn. By 1972 he had moved on to Marvel where he drew the Avengers, Man-Thing, and Ka-Zar. In 1973 he drew the first three issues of The Black Panther story, "The Panther's Rage," which became the backbone of the Black Panther movie, and in 1974 he took over the artistic reins of The Fantastic Four and Morbius, the Living Vampire. Also in 1974 he took over the pencils of Thor and in Astonishing Tales #25 debuted his creation, Deathlok, the Demolisher. He would occasionally sneak in a back-up story for DC and also worked for Atlas, where he created the Demon-Hunter.

In 1976 he moved back to DC where he drew Jonah Hex, Captain Comet, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Batman, Star Hunters, The Flash, and many others. Buckler collaborated with Gerry Conway on a "Superman vs. Shazam!" story published in All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (April 1978). He drew the newspaper comic strip The Incredible Hulk for approximately six months in 1979. Buckler and Roy Thomas created the World War II superhero team the All-Star Squadron in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 (Aug. 1981) which led to the team's own title the following month.

Buckler worked for Archie Comics in 1983 and 1984, when that publisher briefly revived its Red Circle Comics superhero line, and he recruited Cary Burkett to write the Mighty Crusaders title. In 1985, Buckler returned to Marvel and briefly drew The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer Peter David. 

He was the author of three books on comic book artistry: How to Become a Comic Book Artist and How to Draw Superheroes (Solson Publications) in 1986, and How to Draw Dynamic Comic Books (Vanguard Publications) in 2007. Buckler died May 19, 2017, after a long battle with cancer.

We end with "Jedediah" by Mike Friedrich and Gray Morrow. A prophet of God feels the call to preach on a planet that has no fear of death, but when he arrives he is told no one will listen to him since they discovered a substance they call Char-ite which they mine. The prophet wishes to see the mines and is warned they are dangerous, but he disregards the warning. When he enters the mine, a blast is set off and he is killed but finds himself conversing with one of the locals. The local tells him that he breathed in some of the dust which made him like they are, all dead. The prophet realizes that he is on a planet of ghosts.

The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB (2008).

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Teen Titans #31

Teen Titans #31 (On Sale: November 17, 1970), has another great cover by Nick Cardy. 

We begin with the Teen Titans in "To Order Is to Destroy" by Steve Skeates, George Tuska, and Nick Cardy. While waiting outside the office of the school psychologist Dr. Pauling, Johnny Adler overhears the doctor recommending a brain operation to a student who has trouble studying. Fearing the doctor, Johnny leaves the office. Then he is attacked by a group of students who are being mind-controlled. Johnny takes refuge in a small cabin, but he is unable to reach help until Wally West comes to campus on a college tour. Wally helps Johnny, then leaves to bring in the Titans.

When the Titans arrive on campus, they find that Johnny has been captured and forced to have the brain operation too. Now he is part of the student group controlled by Paulson, who orders the Titans attacked. While the Titans battle the students, Johnny overcomes his programming and goes after Paulson. He gets Paulson to issue a desist order to the students. After Paulson is arrested, the damage to the students' minds is reversed. This story was reprinted in Super-Team Family #7 (1976) and Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB (2007).

The back-up story is the Hawk and the Dove in "From One to Twenty" by Steve Skeates, George Tuska, and Nick Cardy. While patrolling the back alleys for crime, Hawk witnesses a newsdealer giving twenty dollars worth of change to a customer who paid with a one-dollar bill. Hawk suspects that the customer is running a shakedown racket and follows him. When the man is mugged, Hawk goes after the muggers, but he is knocked out.

Don finds his brother and working together they return to the newsstand. They see the same man performing the same transaction. They realize that it isn't a shakedown, but both men are involved in counterfeiting. Hawk and Dove apprehend the men and leave them for the police. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB (2007).

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Aquaman #55

Aquaman #55 (On Sale: November 3, 1970), has another amazing cover by Nick Cardy.

 We begin with "Return of the Alien" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. In order to check on the girl Citizen, whom he left in the hands of alien slavers during their last meeting, Aquaman has Mera send him back into the world within her ring. There Aquaman discovers the girl has learned from her slavers how to overcome her prejudice against communicating anywhere except in her "church", and that she is now happy with her lot in life. 

Aquaman is pulled back into his own realm by Mera. Meanwhile, Aquagirl has become upset with what she calls the "reactionary ravings" of Mupo, the former rebel leader, and is turned off by Aqualad's being too busy to see her, and Noxden, an Atlantean politician, starts making anti-Aquaman speeches and insisting on a democratically elected leader for Atlantis.

We finish with Aquaman in "Computer Trap!" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo. Returning from a trip to the surface world, Aquaman comes across a deserted metropolis underwater. He is quickly paralyzed by the power of a computer, which, in ages past, had controlled the minds of anyone over 30 years of age and made them into work-drones. The young people left the city, and their elders eventually died off. The computer intends to make Aquaman its new slave, but he telepathically summons an electric eel to short out some of its circuits and free him. Then he has other fish cause a cave-in at the cavern in which the computer is situated. Aquaman then leaves, feeling the menace is over, but the computer, though damaged, is still active.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #12

Witching Hour #12 (On Sale: October 22, 1970), has another great cover by Nick Cardy. 

Steve Skeates was one of my favorite writers after coming over to DC from Charlton with Dick Giordano, and editor Giordano let Steve own this issue of the Witching Hour. From top to bottom, stem to stern, this is Skeates' issue dealing entirely with the duality of man.

It begins with a one-page framing sequence by Skeates and Alex Toth and it is just wonderful. Toth's smooth exaggeration of the three witches' faces is just priceless as Cynthia tries on a new hat. Just lovely work. 

The framing sequence blends right into our first tale, "Double Edge" by Steve Skeates and Alex Toth. which delves into the double-nature of man. The good, the evil and the ability of talismans of power to amplify each of these. When a teenage boy finds a talisman in an old junk shop, he is sure it has real powers, but one day his step-mother sends him out to do his chores and throws away all of his "junk." A few days later he decides to run away from home and he never returns. He goes to the dump, but is unable to locate his talisman, figuring that some tramp must have found it. 

He spends the next years in search of the talisman or one just like it, which eventually brings him to Los Angeles and the old Pryor Mansion and the old bag who lives there that many say is a witch. He figures that she must have a talisman and he intends to take it and use it for good. One night, as he approaches the old house he is attacked by a bolt of pure energy and the old witch is upon him. Realizing that the man only has the powers of a neophyte, she tows with him as his strength slowly dissipates.

The witch decides she is tired of the game and throws one last high energy bold at the man, only he holds up a charm that reflects the bolt back at the witch, killing her.  As he approaches her body he sees that it is his step-mother and her talisman is the one she said she threw away all those years ago. The three witches watch as he sits in shock and wonder if he will use the talisman for good or follow in his step-mother's footsteps.

Next is "Double Take" by Steve Skeates and George Tuska with an assist on the witches by Alex Toth. An actor is being blackmailed so he decides to end his problems by killing the blackmailer. After shooting him in his apartment, he is confronted by a director and film crew in the room who tell him he has to do it over as he did not follow the script. When the director says they need to do it again, the blackmailer gets up and the actor shoots him again then makes a break for the door. The director tells him to wait, that he needs to go over to the mantel and wipe off his fingerprints. Protesting that he never touched the candlestick, the actor does as he is told, and then starts to leave the apartment. When he opens the door he is confronted by the police and as they arrest him he yells at the director that it is all his fault, but of course, the police don't see anyone else in the room. This story was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #24 (1982).

We end with "Double Cross!" by Steve Skeates, Gil Kane and Dan Adkins. A young woman joins a yoga class where, unknown to her, the instructor is a Satanist. He teaches her to see the normally unseen forces of good and evil struggling her possession of her soul and this frightens her to the point of wishing to discontinue her studies. He gives her a charm in order to dissuade her from quitting, telling her that it will ward away evil spirits. What she doesn't know is that the charm is supposed to ward away good spirits. When the evil creatures that only she can see accost her, she accidentally drops the charm down a grate. 

She goes to the yoga instructor in order to procure a stronger charm, but the Satanist assumes that she has been possessed and invites her to join their black mass. When he sees that she is upset and confused, he realizes that her soul has not yet been claimed for evil and has his demons pursue her. She breaks the glass of a department store window in order to seize a cross to ward them off. She explains all this to police who tell her she will have to wait in a cell to see if the department store owner wishes to press charges. They remove the cross from the hysterical woman as evidence and leave her terrified waiting in the cell for the demons to find her, unsure if she will be strong enough to fight them off without the cross.

The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Witching Hour Vol. 1 TPB (2011) and was edited by Dick Giordano.

Flash #202

Flash #202 (On Sale: October 20, 1970), has a cover by Dick Giordano. 

We begin with the Flash in "The Satan Circle" by Robert Kanigher, Irv Novick and Murphy Anderson. Iris is sent to Hollywood to write a series of articles about missing persons and cults. Shortly after she arrives, Barry Allen gets a phone call alerting him that Iris is in trouble. The Flash runs to Hollywood where he encounters members of a satanic cult. They have captured Iris and dose the Flash with hallucinogenic drugs. The Flash is able to overcome the effects of the drugs, rescue Iris, and defeat the cult and its leader, Lucifer.

Our backup story is Kid Flash in "The Accusation" by Steve Skeates,

Dick Dillin and Murphy Anderson. Carson has a recurring nightmare in which Kid Flash accuses him of killing Walter Savin. Carson has no memory of killing anyone, but he recognizes the name from a news report. Savin was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Plagued by feelings he doesn't understand, Carson gets into his car and begins remembering hitting the boy. He tries to leave town. On the road he passes Kid Flash, who has just rounded up a gang of street thieves. The sight of Kid Flash causes Carson to swerve. He crashes his car and is killed upon impact.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Teen Titans #30

Teen Titans #30 (On Sale: September 15, 1970) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with the Teen Titans in "Greed... Kills" by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. The costumeless Titans are assigned by Mr. Jupiter to procure a charity donation from businessman Hargood P. Tout, but become sidetracked by a premonition of Lilith's which has them preventing a robbery. When one of the thieves, is hit by a car while making his getaway, the Titans call it a night. The police are interested in the old man as one of them recognized him as Kevin Murphy, who supposedly died in a fire ten years prior.

The next day the Titians are rebuffed when they meet with Tout about a donation to Jupiter's criminal rehabilitation charity, Tout espousing about law and order and how he would never help lazy criminals. The Titans are unsure how to continue, as Mr. Jupiter told them not to come back till they had secured the donation. Lilith, with another premonition, suggests they wait till tonight and visit the old guy in the hospital who was hit by the car.

   

That night, two assassins break into the hospital and kill one of the officers on Murphy's room and have the other officer pinned down. The Titans arrive in time to take out the assassins and go into Murphy's room with the cop as Murphy is awakening.

Murphy explains that the killers have been sent by Hargood Tout, who is revealed as Murphy's former criminal partner. After Tout had used his ill-gotten gains to become a legitimate businessman, he had tried to have Murphy done away with to prevent him from revealing Tout's shady past, but Murphy had faked his own death in order to foil his would-be assassins. Now revealed as being still alive, Murphy is again a target, until the Titans stop Tout's hirelings. The story ends abruptly with the Titans vowing to see that Tout faces justice.

Next is a two-page Kid Flash text story, "Whirlwind" by Steve Skeates, illustrated by Rich Buckler. These four illustrations are Buckler's first work at DC. When a man uses a device which turns him into a human whirlwind to rob a band, Wally West dons his Kid Flash uniform once again to stop him.

We end with our cover-story, "Some Call it Noise" starring Aqualad and Aquagirl by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. Aqualad and Aquagirl come ashore to enjoy part of an outdoor rock concert in a small coastal town. Meanwhile, a hospital patient becomes a berserk madman when given an injection of an experimental synthetic hormone. He escapes the hospital, and is drawn to the concert by the sound of the music. There he menaces the audience, knocking Aquagirl in the head before Aqualad overcomes him, 

Aquagirl awakes in a daze and instead of heading back to the water, wanders inland. Aqualad barely manages to find her and return both of them to the sea before they die, having been on land beyond their one-hour time limit. This story was reprinted in DC Super Stars #7 and the entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Aquaman #54

Aquaman #54  (On Sale: September 3, 1970) has yet another striking cover by Nick Cardy.

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.

Teen Titans #29

Teen Titans #29   (On Sale: July 16, 1970) has a nice cover by Nick Cardy. First off, I am a sucker for the half above water/half underwater covers, usually drawn on the war books by Joe Kubert. It works really well here to accentuate the underwater action scene featuring the Hawk and the Dove with the defeated stars of the book on the dock above water. A really well-designed cover by Cardy (or more probably, Carmine Infantino).

The book-length "Captives" is by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. Skeates was a much better choice than Robert Kanigher to write the Titans as he was actually a young buck at the time and didn't show any of the phony teen hipness that plagued many Kanigher characters (think of those annoying hipsters in the Phantom Stranger). Also, by including the Hawk and the Dove, which Skeates co-created with Steve Ditko and centering the action this issue on Aqualad and Aquaman's nemeses Ocean Master, they have brought Skeates' first two DC books together in one story. This was a neat trick orchestrated by editor Dick Giordano.

After storming out on his teammates, Aqualad was defeated in a fight against the Ocean Master, tied to a tree and left to die. Aqualad is discovered and released by Kid Flash, Speedy and Wonder Girl. Despite taking a vow of non-violence (Teen Titans #25-26), Aqualad's fellow Teen Titans are willing to assist against the Ocean Master. A mutual friend, named Sharon, had witnessed ordinary citizens transforming into horrific creatures. Aqualad's investigation into the matter had turned up the connection to the Ocean Master.
 

Despite being overwhelmed by the Ocean Master's forces, Aqualad managed to plant a tracking device on one of the Ocean Master's minions. Meanwhile, Hank and Don Hall mount their own investigation. The Halls enter Sharon's apartment, and await the arrival of the Ocean Master's henchmen. As the thugs near the Halls become the Hawk and the Dove. A battle ensues, with the Hawk being overwhelmed. The Dove escapes the apartment to find aid. The Hawk is carried to the waterfront as the Dove, leading the Teen Titans, races to the Hawk's rescue.
 

While the Teen Titan's subdue Ocean Master's men, the Ocean Master, himself, drags the Hawk beneath the waves. The Dove pursues, only to also be overwhelmed by the Ocean Master. The Hawk recovers, to finds himself tied to the Dove, around a featureless cylinder. While the Hawk was unconscious, the Dove was interrogated by The Ocean Master. The Dove learned that the Ocean Master had formed an alliance, with an alien race intent on taking over the Earth. The aliens have employed a second alien race, with more warlike tendencies to act as their agents upon the Earth. These aliens were from the classic Aquaman #51-53 Skeates/Jim Aparo Aquaman, Neal Adams Deadman crossover.
 

The warrior aliens have the ability to temporarily appear human, allowing them to surreptitiously move among humanity, stealing mankind's scientific secrets. It was one such alien, that Sharon witnessed, shedding his human form. The Hawk and The Dove manage to raise their arms up high enough to clear the cylinder. After subduing the guards, the Hawk and The Dove begin searching for the Ocean Master. The Teen Titans work on locating the Ocean Master, via the tracking device planted by Aqualad.
 

After subduing another of the Ocean Master's minions, the Hawk and the Dove finally confront the Ocean Master. Standing with him is one of the alien warriors, still in it's human form. The Hawk immediately attacks the alien. Holding to his pacifist code, the Dove attempts to assist the Hawk, in as non-violent a fashion as possible. The Ocean Master fires a ray that dissolves the alien's human disguise. Realizing that allowing the Hawk to put their opponents down, violently, places the Dove in a moral quandary. When the fight with the alien begins to go badly for the Hawk, the Dove puts aside his pacifistic nature, to aid the Hawk.
 

The Hawk and the Dove have just about gained the upper hand, when another group of aliens enter the room, and join the fight. Just as the Hawk and the Dove are about to be overwhelmed, the Teen Titans arrive. In short order, the battle is won, and the crisis is over.

Afterwards, Aqualad points out how foolish the Teen Titans' vow of non-violence is, in the face of alien invasion threats and the prevalence of super-villains. The Teen Titans agree to act in times of extreme crisis. For the most part, though, the Teen Titans will continue to find ways to use their powers in service to humanity, without resorting to violence.

This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents:Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

This issue was edited by Dick Giordano.

Teen Titans #29

Teen Titans #29 (On Sale: July 16, 1970) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

 The book-length "Captives" is by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. Continuing from last issue, after Aqualad's failed encounter with Ocean Master, he is left for dead. Voting to forego their vow against using their powers and costumes for the duration of the present case, the Titans track down Aqualad in time to rescue him. 

Hawk and Dove pursue a lead on their own, returning to Sharon Tracy's apartment. When the thugs who had attacked Sharon earlier return. Dove recruits the other Titans to help out, but both Hawk and Dove are nevertheless captured by Ocean Master and held prisoner in his undersea headquarters. 

Hawk awakens in Ocean Master's hide-out, finding he and Dove are captives. Dove explains that Ocean Master is working with aliens. The brothers escape their bonds and start a fight with Ocean Master and his alien allies. The other Titans, who trail them to Ocean Master's hideaway,  help them overcome the invaders. 

The Titans agree to redon their costumes only in cases of extreme emergency, and Aqualad, reconciled with his teammates, returns to Atlantis. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Aquaman #53

Aquaman #53 (On Sale: July 2, 1970) has another classic cover by Nick Cardy. Good lord they don't get much better than this!

It is 1970 and there is a rumor going around that California is going to have a major earthquake and sink into the Pacific. Kinda hard to believe these days, but this rumor got so much traction that then governor, Ronald Reagan found some flimsy excuse to be out of the state the day it was supposed to happen. Just a funny last minute schedule change his people said, but we all knew. "Is California Sinking?" by the SAG team (Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo and Dick Giordano) taps beautifully into this 1970 paranoia as only Steve Skeates could.


It opens on a mundane scene of a secretary typing away in an office, obvious until the last moment to what is happening around her. From that startling scene we flip the page to one of Jim Aparo's great splash (no pun intended) pages, showing the power of his triple-threat penciling, inking and lettering. IS CALIFORNIA SINKING?


Well, is it? Californian millionaire Elliot Harlanson (gotta love that name!) has just been told that it will and what that means to him is his beautiful home will sink with it. And Elliot is having none of that. But he is being told that he can save his home, and California in the bargain, if he just buys an atomic bomb and blows up Atlantis. Because, you see, it is the rising of Atlantis that will cause the sinking of California and if Atlantis does not rise, well then, California does not sink! Or at least that is the story being peddled by Elliot's visitor, a mysterious "scientist" who we shortly learn is actually an agent of O.G.R.E. (Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement), who can't afford to buy an a-bomb of their own. They plan on seeing that Aquaman is in Atlantis when Elliot's bomb goes off.

It is now two weeks later and on the east coast Elliot and is his ever-present girl-friend meet the "scientists" from O.G.R.E. on a dock, where Elliot's submarine, atomic bomb inside, await. We find out that O.G.R.E. has enlisted the help of Black Manta to keep Aquaman by Atlantis and preoccupied. They have given Manta a gun that scrambles brain waves and Manta uses it to thwart an attack of sea creatures on him orchestrated by Aquaman. As Aquaman leaves Atlantis to confront Manta, the sub leaves the Florida coast heading for Atlantis.

When Manta uses the gun on Aquaman, the Sea King is able to counteract the gun's affects by concentrating on getting Manta. While Aquaman takes care of Black Manta, Aqualad and some Atlantian police take care of Manta's men. When Manta mumbles something about "They said I'd have nothing to worry about," Aquaman wants to know who "they" are and sort of, well, beats the information out of Manta. When Manta confesses that he got the gun from O.G.R.E., Aquaman knows something bigger than Manta and a gun is going on and he begins scouring the area around Atlantis looking for danger.

Meanwhile on the shore the O.G.R.E. "scientists" have a run in with the feds. who take them down only to be told that they are too late to save Atlantis or Aquaman.

Back at Atlantis, Aquaman sees the sub coming in close and sends a giant squid to capture it. Caught in the squid's grasp, Elliot freaks out, "You act like you don't care what happens to my beautiful, spacious home!" and accidentally whacks a lever. The lever that releases the bomb! Learning what he has done a distraught Elliot proclaims, "I'm too rich to die! Do something!" But there is nothing they can do while caught in the squid's grasp.

Aquaman sees the bomb however and races toward it at speeds only the King of the Sea could muster. Alas, he is still to slow and the bomb hit the sea floor!

And bounces harmlessly away. It is a dud! Inside the sub, Elliot is furious! "Wait till I get my hands on the rat who sold me that bomb!" His girl-friend tells him to, "Just cool it!"

In the epilogue a few days later the feds tell Aquaman the O.G.R.E. are being taken care of by them and not to worry. They also tell him that they have let Harlanson go, as he was duped; he actually thought he was saving California from destruction and had no idea that Atlantis was populated. When Aquaman talks about the act a fate that resulted in a dud atomic bomb the feds reveal that they actually took care of that, or rather their agent on the inside did. That is when Elliot's girl-friend, in reality Agent 03, Honey James, shows up.

Aquaman says that he let Manta go, as the revelation that Manta was being duped by O.G.R.E. was more than enough punishment. After they leave the feds and head back for Atlantis, Aqualad wonders what will happen to Atlantis's people should it rise from the ocean depths. Aquaman says not to worry as that would not happen till well past the year 2000, so they have plenty of time to figure it out.

"And so our story ends. Yet, once question remains unanswered..." Shots of the secretary going under water... "Is California Sinking?" Shamefully, shamefully never reprinted.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Teen Titans #28

Teen Titans #28 (On Sale: May 12, 1970) has another great cover by Nick Cardy.

The book-length "Blindspot" is by Steve Skeates and Nick Cardy. Donna Troy's roommate, Sharon Tracy is out for a walk one night when she sees something she should not have and is shot at and chased by some men. She manages to lose them, but in doing so she also loses her purse with her ID. At around the same time Aqualad is looking for the Titans, having been unable to contact them for weeks. When the Titan's HQ is deserted, he heads for Donna's apartment, where Sharon mistakes him for the men who were shooting at her; the men who show up just after Aqualad.

A fight ensues and Aqualad takes care of business. When the bad guys scram, Sharon tells him what happened and how she saw something horrible, but she is unable to remember what it was. For her safety, Aqualad stashes Sharon at Titans headquarters and heads to Hudson University in search of Robin.

He finds him, fighting car thieves in an alley and joins in the fray. As they fight Aqualad tells Dick about fighting the thugs trying to harm Sharon and suddenly remembers that one of the men he fought in her apartment worked for Ocean Master. Now Aqualad needs the help of the Titans more than ever. Robin takes him to Mr. Jupiter's estate where the other Titans refuse to help. He tussles with the group, calling them chickens till Donna explains how they feel responsible for Dr. Swenson's death and how they vowed to never use their powers again.

He talks them into putting on their uniforms again and going to hear Sharon's story. They agree and Lilith goes into a trance and resurrects Sharon's missing memories. As Sharon walked though the park she saw three men talking and one of them shot another with a ray-gun that revealed the man's true form, that of a hideous alien. Aqualad asks for their help in finding the truth and stopping the killers coming after Sharon, but the team hesitates and Aqualad. Angry and alone,

Aqualad heads back to the park where Sharon was attacked in searching of clues. As he finds a paper with  scientific notations on it, he is assaulted by three men, one of whom is Ocean Master. A fight ensues and Aqualad is knocked out and tied to a tree where he will die in less than an hour without water. Continued next issue. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

This is followed by a one-page Tiny Titan gag strip by Pete Costanza.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Aquaman #52

Aquaman #52 (On Sale: April 30, 1970) has yet another stunning Aquaman cover by Nick Cardy. Giordano's refusal to add nonsense tot he artwork allowed Cardy to utilize every inch of cover space to tell his story.

We begin with Aquaman in "The Traders' Trap" by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo, which continues the story that began in Aquaman #50. Aquaman and his female companion's fight against a tribe of cave dwellers is interrupted by an alien slaver ship, which captures Aquaman and the girl as slaves. They imprison them in glass tubes, but Aquaman is able to break loose. He then defeats the aliens and escapes the ship, but is forced to leave the girl behind.

Aquaman then returns to the caves where he feels a pulling force guiding him. He is knocked out by the villagers who take him closer to the source of the pull. Aquaman recovers and fights off the villagers. Back in Atlantis, Mera watches as Black Manta sends men to the ocean floor outside the city. When Prof. Vulko suggests what Aquaman would do if he were there, Mera shouts out in vain for her husband to return. Amazingly, Aquaman finds himself growing in size, emerging from the realm in which he had been lost, a subatomic universe in Mera's ring, and reappears in front of a startled Mera. After their reunion, Aquaman learns of Black Manta's presence, and prepares to send the villain an ultimatum. This story was reprinted in Adventure Comics #503.

Next we have Deadman in "Never Underestimate a Deadman" by Neal Adams,  concluding the intertwining back-up story that began in Aquaman #50.  Deadman and Tatsinda, in her sddire form, emerge on Earth near Ocean Master, who is bemoaning his fate. Sighting the alien craft some distance away, Deadman possesses Ocean Master and enters the aliens' vessel, conversing with them and learning of their plot to conquer Earth by blasting it with intelligence-destroying rays. He also learns that, since they do not believe in taking life, they merely sent Aquaman into a subatomic universe in his wife Mera's ring.

Using Ocean Master's body, Deadman attacks them, but an alien ray knocks out Orm's body. The aliens take it in stride that Orm had been possessed and place themselves in a trance that blocks Deadman's attempts to take them over. Deadman notes the locations of the ray-amplifiers on a globe of Earth, and realizing they are far from human habitation, he uses the bodies of animals to destroy the amplifiers. Deadman worries that the radiation device might still work without the amplifiers, and needing someone who can enter the alien ship, decides to bring back Aquaman. Deadman possesses Prof. Vulko and through him reminds Mera of Aquaman, causing her to demand Aquaman's return...and her will is powerful enough to accomplish it, enlarging him from the universe of the ring.

But the deadline for activation of the ray-device is at hand, and Deadman fears he is too late to stop the aliens. When he arrives back at the alien ship, he finds that the device backfired and stupefied the aliens, who are barely able to pilot their ship back home. An indignant Tatsinda informs Deadman that, if she hadn't swum out to the ship and ripped through the device's cables, they would "all be gibbering idiots by now!" Reprinted in Deadman Collection HC and Deadman Vol. 2 TPB.

These three issues, with the intertwining plots and some wonderful story-telling is one of my favorite arcs of the S.A.G. Aquaman era. Like I have said before, you just never knew what Skeates/Aparo/Giordano were going to come up with next.

Edited by the amazing Dick Giordano.