SHOWCASE #30 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1961)

Aquaman was created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger as a backup feature for DC's More Fun Comics in 1941.  He spent years as both a backup and main feature for various Dc anthology comic books, and was one of the few DC heroes to continually appear throughout the 1950s.  In 1961 he copped a four-issue feature run in Showcase, beginning with this issue, while also gaining his very first cover art.  In 1962, Aquaman scored his very own title, which ran (in it's initial run) for 56 issues.  Over the years, the character has been reimagined numerous times and has been featured on television and in films.

The original Aquaman was Arthur Curry, the son of a lighthouse keeper and an exiled princess of Atlantis.  He can breathe under water and telepathically communicate with various ocean life.  Rigorous training and about a "hundred scientific secret" have helped make him a superhero.  He is married to Mera, a princess from an aquatic dimension; they have a kid called -- what else? -- Aquababy.  Because he's a DC hero, he had to have a young sidekick and his is Aqualad, a.k.a. Garth, an exiled Atlantean boy whom Aquaman took under his wing (flipper?).  Aquaman carries the Trident of Neptune, bestowed by Poseidon to one who is 'the rightful ruler and protector of the sea.'  He faces many villains, including Black Manta and his own half-brother, The Ocean Master.

Now let's get to the story:

A storm at sea. A ship carrying a deadly cargo in crates -- a rare, very lethal, new poison.  Lighting strikes the front of the ship, setting it on fire.  Oh no!  If the fire reached the cartons in the cargo hold, they will burst, releasing the poison into the sea, killing thousand of Aquaman and Aqualad's "finny friends."  This cannot be allowed to happen, so Aquaman orders whales to spray the fire using their blowholes.  this extinguishes the surface fire, but the fire has also entered below deck.  Aquaman then has swordfish saw their way to the cargo hold, then has octopi grab the deadly carton and bring the to him on top of the back of a whale.  The cartons are then lashed to the whales' back using electric eels as ties.  Aqualad pilots the whales to port where the ship (having now put out all the fires) can limp back and get their cargo.

Phew!  Time for a rest.  Aquaman returns to the Aqua-Cave, only to find his lantern fish blinking an S.O.S. from Atlantis.  (This gives us a chance to segue back in time to rehash Aqauman's origin.)

Responding to the distress call, Aquaman is taken captive outside Atlantis by some demonic and intelligent sea creatures.  All of Atlantic has been taken over and turned into a prison camp by these aquatic aliens from another dimension, whose rule is the evil Trino.  The Atlanteans, and now Aquaman, are being forced to build some sort of interdimensional gateway, the purpose of which cannot be good.  But, hark!  A small guppy has managed to sneak through the hatch and Aquaman gives it a message to send throughout the ocean.  Soon a fantastic army of fish are attacking the aliens but they manage to repel them with a powerful invention that turns the ocean currents against them,  The fishy attack fails.  Also, it seems that Troni has stolen master plans from his government for a weapon which he plans to use to conquer the surface world. 

Things don't look good.  Is all lost?  Is the world doomed?  Not by a longshot.  We still have ten pages of panels ahead of us, with all sorts of twists and turns, and a possible deus ex machina or two.  Remember Aqualad?

And there's a big ocean battle with whales smashing into things, octopi hurling hand grenades, and flying fish dropping bombs from above.  (My grandson is a zookeeper and he just wishes he could get his animals to do cool things like that.)

i never cared much for the Dc comics of this era, but there are a lot of people who do.  If you're one of those, you might want to check out the link.

https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/CB/SC_1961_02.pdf