Showcase Presents: Aquaman, Vol. 2

The later half of the mid-1960s adventures of Aquaman are covered in this massive collection. We visit Atlantis just after the birth of the Aquababy. But things are far from idyllic. That's because the First Family of the Seven Seas are about to enter the era of the aqua enemies!

The shrimp-costume clad Fisherman was the only recurring villain introduced from the last volume. While he does return in this book, the Fisherman is far from the most dastardly criminal to put up his dukes against Aquaman. That distinction is a toss up between the Ocean Master, who happens to be Aquaman's murderous amnesiac half-brother or the mysterious Black Manta, a maniac who has little qualms with using Aquaman's infant son as murderous bait!

On the personal side of things, cracks in the foundation of the royal family are starting to form. Aqualad is beginning to experience the growing pains of puberty as Aquaman's kid sidekick as well as a third wheel compared to Mera and Aquababy. The insecurities of Queen Mera are also coming to the forefront whether it be in jealousy of another female who catches the King's eye or from conducting a series of childish pranks that result in severe chidings from her husband.

It's not all serious stuff in this volume. That's because right around the time these comics were being published new, Aquaman and Aqualad were the stars of a 30 minute animated segment of The Superman/Aquaman Hour. As the new stars of Saturday morning TV, every other issue of Aquaman was more geared towards younger readers. A blurb advertising the series adorns those covers and characters from the show pop up; like Aqualad's walrus pet, Tusky. But when it comes to the artwork of Nick Cardy, things feel a little bi-polar.

Instead of using his more matured look of art, in the kids-geared issues, Cardy reverts back to the more cartoony style he copied of Ramona Fradon (Metamorpho). One thing that remains constant are the dynamic paneling of the stories. The use of triangular panels and out of order sequencing are highly reminiscent of Jack Kirby! Add to it a lot of erratic lines and scribbled chapter titles, Cardy is able to invoke an underwater setting perfectly!

A team-up with Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen is where the volume ends. Volume 3 also marks the end of Showcase Presents' run of Aquaman stories. But it doesn't have to be the end for me. 

Pardon the pun, but I really got hooked on the adventures of Aquaman and I really want to read the rest of the pre-CRISIS story of the King of Atlantis. While there remains about 3 dozen issues of Aquaman and Adventure Comics, I don't have to resort to collecting the floppies. There are 3 color volumes of Aquaman stories. If I can get them for a good deal, I should have some great, but powerful, reads awaiting me one day soon.

If you are a fan of Jason Mamoa's Aquaman, this is the volume to read. A bunch of the characters that appear in that movie either make their debut in this era of Aquaman comics- or they are finally mentioned despite Aquaman having made his first appearance nearly 3 decades earlier.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.