| "Aquaman's Secret Powers" | |
| |
| General Information | |
| Series: | Aquaman |
| Issue Number: | 14 |
| First Published: | April, 1964 |
| Previous Issue: | Aquaman #13 |
| Next Issue: | Aquaman #15 |
Synopsis[]
"Aquaman's Secret Powers"[]
Out on patrol, Aquaman & Aqualad encounter an old man, lashed to a raft, adrift on the high seas. The Aquatic Aces rush the man to a nearby island, but he is too far gone. Exposure and starvation have taken their toll. The old man is, nonetheless, grateful to Aquaman. Dousing Aquaman with the powder from a medicine pouch, the old man whispers, with his dying breath, that he has given Aquaman four amazing new abilities. Once in use, each power will last for six hours. At which point, Aquaman will return to normal, able to activate the next fantastic new ability. On patrol the next day, Aquaman is given the chance to use his first new ability. An injured sailor is desperately in need of an operation, to save his life, or he will die in the next ten minutes. Aquaman undergoes a startling transformation. His legs begin to elongate. In short order, his entire body becomes elastic, as he stretches out miles across the ocean. Aquaman leaves the sailor in the care of surgeons on the mainland. Stretched out, Aquaman finds that he is unable to contract his form until the six hours have passed. Moments after the time has elapsed, and he has returned to normal, Aquaman spies a cargo ship impacting an underwater reef. The damage to the ship is excessive. It immediately begins to sink. Aquaman boards the vessel, taking hold of the anchor chain, while a second chain is fastened to the rear of the ship. With both chains in his grasp, Aquaman initiates his second transformation, rapidly inflating to the size of a zeppelin... and then beyond. Dwarfing the ship, Aquaman's buoyant body provides the lift necessary to raise the ship from the ocean's surface. He then floats the ship to the nearest shipyard for repairs. Aquaman spends the remainder of the six hour time limit, floating over the sea, getting caught up in a hurricane. The storm has raised a huge tidal wave, bearing down on a small fishing village. Floating high above the scene, Aquaman is helpless to intercede until he can return to normal.
With only moments left to act, the second power finally wears off. Upon hitting the water, Aquaman immediately initiates the third transformation. This time he becomes an enormous living wall, serving as a barrier between the village and the wave. Aqualad points out that, in this form, Aquaman is also blocking all shipping lanes. There's nothing to be done about it, though, for the next six hours. Back to normal, but spent from the toll back-to-back transformations have taken on his body, Aquaman attempts to get some rest on a nearby island. It's not to be. A helicopter lands. It's desperate pilot tells Aquaman that High Bridge is collapsing, and that emergency services need to divert the traffic from that area. Aquaman instructs the pilot to take him to High Bridge, located in the mountains, far from shore. Dropped off at the base of the bridge, Aquaman initiates the final transformation, becoming a ten thousand ton colossus. Using his massive strength, Aquaman steadies High Bridge long enough for people to get across it. Then, he wedges the loose end of the bridge deep into the solid rock of the mountain. Aquaman, though, is left with a dilemma. In this form he moves too slowly to make it back to the ocean before his hour out-of-water time limit expires. He'll die if he doesn't find a closer source of water. A waterfall looms before him, but still too far for him to reach it in time. With only minutes left, Aquaman topples a mountain, it's peak high enough that it will hit the waterfall as it collapses. Redirected, the water rushes down the fallen mountain, cascading over Aquaman's giant, prone form. Aquaman decides to remain beneath the replenishing waters until his final power wears off.
"The Tyrant Ruler of Atlantis"[]
Aquaman And Aqualad greet Mera, not far from the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. Aquaman has offered Mera a tour of the fabled kingdom. En route, they are caught in the eruption of an underwater volcano. Aquaman suffers a severe blow to the head, while keeping Mera from injury. Mera uses her absolute control over water to form a hard water tunnel, one that reaches all the way to Atlantis. She, and Aqualad, rush Aquaman there, for medical assistance. At first resistant to the healing seaweed poultice, Aquaman revives suddenly, believing himself to be the King of Atlantis. Not wishing to cause further psychological trauma, the Atlanteans decide to humor Aquaman, in the hopes that he will, eventually, fully recover. Aquaman, however, proves to be a volatile ruler. Angered at the lack of a throne for his "queen", Mera, Aquaman orders the Atlanteans to immediately provide one. Aquaman then summons a quartet of swordfish, ordering them to duel in gladiatorial games for the amusement of his "queen". Mera is appalled, but allows the spectacle to continue, not wishing to upset Aquaman in his fragile mental state. Aqualad issues a telepathic command of his own, commanding the swordfish to depart. Aquaman rails at the fleeing fish, before summoning octopi, which he orders to wrestle in a no holds barred match. Seeing enough, Aqualad breaks the octopi up, and confronts the "king", admonishing him for his cruelty, while trying to jar Aquaman back to normal. Furious at the boy's impertinence, Aquaman attacks Aqualad. Mera has to pull him off Aqualad, before Aquaman kills him. Mera grabs Aquaman in a hard water hand. At the behest of the Atlanteans, she takes Aquaman to a heavy density lake, leaving him trapped there until such time as he regains his mental faculties, or dies. Aquaman summons more octopi to pull him free of the grasping bog. Their strength is not enough, though. Releasing Aquaman suddenly, his head whips back & impacts hard with the surrounding sea floor. Aquaman's senses return to him, but with no memory of his time in Atlantis. A seaquake threatens to bring a nearby mountain down on top of the heavy water pit trapping Aquaman. Summoning sawfish to dislodge a large boulder from the mountain, it topples down into the heavy density lake, just missing Aquaman. The mass of the boulder displaces enough water for Aquaman to escape. Aquaman returns to Atlantis, where many explanations are made.