Showcase Presents: Aquaman, Vol. 3

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.

Showcase Presents: Teen Titans, Vol. 1

I will read anything in comic book form. But if you had to make me choose between

Marvel and DC, I'd have to side with the Distinguished Competition. That being said,

DC has never been perfect. It's had just as many hits as it has had misses. One thing that Marvel destroyed DC on was how it published the generation gap of the late 1960s.

The very book that I am reviewing today is an excellent case in point in how the elder

statesmen writers of DC had trouble relating to the teens of the Vietnam era.

This book collects the first 18 issues of the original Teen Titans series along with the team's very first appearances in The Brave and the Bold and Showcase. From the first story, the main theme was that when it comes to teens, adults just

don't understand. When the teens of a small coastal town go on strike, the sidekicks

of Batman, Aquaman and the Flash agree to intervene.

The Teen Titans were created to help troubled teenagers have a voice when the old

folks won't listen. Even the Caped Crusader shows his age in the earliest adventures

calling Robin a wild and rebellious teen. Yet the Titans are anything but. Along with late addition Wonder Girl, these heroes would go undercover as regular teens. Yet, they're so clean cut that anyone else with street smarts would finger these kids as narcs.

Bob Haney does manage to create some pretty awesome villains for the Titans to combat. There's the British fop, the Mad Mod, who rivals the Joker in level of criminal

genius. Then there's the grotesquely costumed Gargoyle. He's got a vendetta against

one of the Teen Titans. But unfortunately, we never find out why in this volume. Plus who can forget Ebenezer Scrounge in the classic Christmas caper?!

Yes, Teen Titans did villains well. But in terms of the teens themselves, I think

someone did their research on kids from the 1940s. All of the teens in this book are

squares- except for the guest stars! Speedy, Beast Boy and a Russian lad named

Starfire are all welcome visitors to this massive collection. But as for Robin and his

cohorts, they might as well be speaking Japanese with their ridiculous attempts at

young adult slang!

Things do seem to be changing for the better in the last 3-4 stories. We get different writers contributing including an early stint by New Teen Titanslegend, Marv Wolfman.

I found myself disappointed that this volume came to a close when it did. Things

started getting good!

At least there's a volume 2. However it's getting increasingly difficult to find Showcasecollected volumes for a good price, much less at all.

A mixed bag of teen angst from a time when DC's best and brightest just couldn't

relate.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.