AQUAMAN
(CBS, September 9, 1967-January 6, 1968)
Filmation Associates, Ducovny Productions, National
Periodical Publications
MAIN CAST:
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Aquaman's Golden Age origin. |
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Tom Curry meets Atlanna. |
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Aquaman vs. Black Manta. |
In 1962 Aquaman finally received his own self-titled series. It was
during this period that Aquaman’s mother had died and Tom eventually remarried
a human woman. Together, they had a son named Orm. Orm grew up jealous of
Arthur and turned to petty theft, eventually contracting amnesia and becoming his
arch-nemesis Ocean Master:
a high-tech pirate who attacked ships and caused natural disasters. Other foes
introduced were The Fisherman
(Aquaman #21, 1965), a high-tech international criminal with a
pressure suit, collapsible fishing rod, and gimmick lures; Black Manta (Aquaman #35, 1967), a mysterious armored figure whose suit
allows him to exist in the water, fly, and fire eye beams amongst a myriad of
weaponry; and the terrorist organization known as O.G.R.E.
(Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement, Aquaman #26, 1976).
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Aqualad and Tusky rescue Mera. |
Aquaman wasn’t just making enemies, though. Along the
way he befriended Aqualad (Adventure Comics #269, 1960); another Atlantean outcast and
orphan that Aquaman took under his wing and mentored. In Aquaman #11 (1963), Aquaman was introduced to his future wife,
Mera; queen of an alternate dimension called Dimension Aqua. In
addition to having similar powers to Aquaman (sans the telepathy), she could
create hard water objects and control certain amounts of water.
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Aquaman and Aqualad on Storm and Imp. |
In 1966, Filmation Associates had
produced their first television program: The
New Adventures of Superman. With that show’s success, they acquired the
rights to further DC Comics (then-National
Periodical Publications) superheroes. They created a show based around Aquaman,
bringing him (Marvin Miller), Aqualad (Jerry Dexter) and Mera (Diana Maddox) to
life along with an assortment of his foes. Unlike Superman, Aquman was played more towards the campy tone of the live
Batman series that
inspired CBS’ foray into superheroes. Helping
that tone was the inclusion of the giant seahorses named Storm and Imp, which
Aquaman and Aqualad rode, and the comic-relief pet walrus named Tusky
(seahorses appeared nameless in the comics; both Imp and Tusky were voiced by
Knight, who also provided episode narration). Aqualad also took a cue from Robin’s playbook with the
constant exclamation of “Holy halibut!”
As with Superman,
Filmation produced two 6-minute episodes for each half hour. The remaining time
was filled by an alternating segment featuring different “guest” characters for
a series of three episodes each. The first segment involved the Justice League
of America, which starred Aquaman alongside Superman (Bud Collyer, carrying the
role over from The New Adventures of Superman),
the Atom (Pat Harrington, Jr.), the Flash (Cliff Owens), Green Lantern (Gerald
Mohr) and Hawkman (Vic Perrin). The line-up was largely based on the original
team line-up from their debut throughout most of the 60s. Missing were Batman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter,
whose rights were not included in the deal.
Another team segment involved the Teen Titans. Created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, The
Titans began when Robin had to team-up with Aqualad and Flash’s sidekick, Kid
Flash (Tommy Cook), to defeat the weather-controlling villain Mister Twister
in The Brave and the Bold #54, 1964. In
issue #60,
they were joined by Wonder Woman’s younger sister, Wonder Girl (Julie Bennett),
who shared the same abilities, and adopted the Titans name. They received their own series in 1966
where they were aided and eventually joined by Green Arrow’s
sidekick, Speedy (Harrington), who used trick arrows just like his mentor.
Initially, the team helped teenagers but expanded their focus as their series
went on. Each of these sidekicks were inspired by the success of Robin, with DC
deciding to duplicate that formula by giving their other heroes their own
partners.
The remaining segments focused on the exploits of the
League members away from the team. The Atom was an update to the Golden Age character
of the same name. Developed by editor Julius Schwartz along
with Gardner Fox and Gil Kane in Showcase #34 (1961), Ray Palmer was a scientist who developed a
means to atomically compress matter in order to fight overpopulation. He used
the process on himself in order to save his students on an expedition, and
began his miniaturized crime-fighting career.
Another Golden Age update, the Flash was developed by
John Broome, Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino for Showcase #4, 1956. He was forensic scientist Barry Allen until
a freak lightning strike sent him careening into a shelf full of chemicals.
That caused him to gain super speed and he became the protector of Central City, naming himself
after his hero, the original Flash Jay Garrick. Flash
shared his adventures with Kid Flash, who was the nephew of his girlfriend (and
later wife) Iris West and
gained his powers in a similar fashion.
The next Golden Age revival came in the form of Green
Lantern. Schwartz, Broome and Kane introduced stunt pilot Hal Jordan in Showcase #22, 1959 who came across a downed alien’s ship. That
alien, Abin Sur, used his
dying breath to bestow his ring upon Jordan, turning him into a Green Lantern
and a member of the Green
Lantern Corps. As Green Lantern, Jordan could use his willpower to create
anything from his ring that he could imagine, fly and survive in space. His
bosses were the Guardians
of the Universe (Paul Frees); emotionless beings who resided on the Corps
home planet of Oa. Joining him was
his best friend and mechanic, Kairo (based on Thomas Kalmaku from the
comics, also Frees).
Lastly were the cosmic exploits of Hawkman. Changed
from his Golden Age
form as a reincarnated Egyptian Prince, Schwartz along with Fox and Joe Kubert
reimagined him as an alien policeman from the planet Thanagar. His costume, composed of Nth metal, allowed him to defy
gravity and mentally control his wings. Despite access to an array of fictional
weaponry, his weapon of choice was an Nth metal mace. He debuted in The Brave and the Bold #34 (1961)
and came to Earth with his wife, Shayera, aka Hawkgirl, in pursuit of
a criminal and stayed to fight crime. They adopted the names Carter and Shiera
and became curators of a museum in Midway City before both
eventually joined the Justice League. Unlike the other updated characters,
Hawkman’s appearance was largely unchanged.
Aquaman debuted on September 9, 1967 on CBS.
It was aired alongside Superman in a
block entitled The Superman/Aquaman Hour
of Adventure. As with Superman, actual employees of DC worked
on the show; including the writing-editing team of Haney and George Kashdan, who
worked on nearly all the “guest” segments, and Aquaman creator Weisinger, who
handled the ones involving Superman. The music was composed by John Marion. Like the comics
that dominated the Silver Age, many of the stories dealt with some kind of
alien invaders and extreme science-fiction elements.
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Aquaman using his mental powers. |
The continued success of Filmation’s DC programs led
to additional programs entering development. Among them was the transmutable
hero Metamorpho, the
malleable Plastic Man,
WWII-era ace pilots The
Blackhawks, the super-powered misfit team of The Doom Patrol, the
animalistic B’Wana Beast
and the robotic Metal Men, as
well as a series centered around the Flash and Wonder Woman. However, CBS
secured the animation rights to Batman and tasked Filmation with making a show
for him instead. As a result of its last-minute status, Filmation abandoned
most of their plans in order to reassign as many people as they could into the
Batman series. No further Aquaman segments
were produced, and it was broken off into its own series of reruns for the
following season to allow The Adventures of Batman to be paired with Superman in The
Batman/Superman Hour.
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DVD cover. |
In 1985, Warner
Home Video released eight Aquaman episodes
to VHS
as part of their “Super
Powers” video collection that was re-released in 1996. In 2007, The Adventures of Aquaman: the Complete
Collection was released to
DVD and included only the Aquaman segments of the series. The “guest” segments
were released in 2008 as DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures. In 2014, DC Super Heroes was re-released as two
separate volumes with the six features broken up between them.
After the show ran its course, Aquaman would go on to
join Superman and the rest of the Justice League in Hanna-Barbera’s Super
Friends franchise. The next time the Teen Titans would be seen was in
an anti-drug commercial that aired in 1984, also produced by Hanna-Barbera.
This commercial featured the only animated appearance of the line-up from Marv Wolfman and George PĂ©rez’s The New Teen Titans comprised
of Wonder Girl, Starfire,
Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Kid Flash
and Protector,
replacing Robin here and in the related tie-in
comics as his rights were tied up in a Nabisco
deal while these specials were sponsored by Keebler.
They would gain their
own series in 2003 on Cartoon
Network. Aquaman and Aqualad would return to defend the sea in flashbacks
during Aquaman’s appearances on the campy throwback series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, utilizing a similar design to the Filmation show.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Menace of the Black Manta / Between Two Armies / The Rampaging
Reptile-Men” (9/9/67) – Black Manta attempts to sink a luxury liner. / The
Justice League has to bring peace to the Rock and Crystal people from Mercury
before they destroy Earth. / Reptile beings attack a hydropower relay station
for Atlantis.
“The Return of Nepto / Target Earth / The Fiery Invaders” (9/16/67) – A
revived Viking sea-tyrant attacks Atlantis. / The Justice League has to save
Earth from Rom-Nex’s gravity device. / A sun being wants to dry out Earth’s
oceans.
“The Sea Raiders / Bad Day on Black Mountain / War of the Water Worlds”
(9/23/67) – Alien big game hunters prowl the oceans. / Mastermind lures the
Justice League into a trap in order to get them out of the way. / A plant being
captures Mera in a sub-aquatic world.
“The Volcanic Monster / Invasion of the Beetle-Men / The Crimson
Monster From the Pink Pool” (9/30/67) – A lava giant opens up a volcano. / Atom
must protect a nuclear plant from alien insects. / An acid-spitting monster
attacks Atlantis.
“The Ice Dragon / The Plant Master / The Deadly Drillers” (10/7/67) – Aquaman
fights a dragon who can freeze things. / Atom has to defeat plants granted
sentience by a criminal scientist. / Mole men attack Atlantis in drilling
submarines.
“Vassa – Queen of the Mermen / The House of Doom / The Microscopic
Monsters” (10/14/67) – Vassa attacks Atlantis with robot bull whales. / Atom
goes up against a scientist and an alien warlord. / Black Manta steals
Aquaman’s plankton enlarging ray.
“The Onslaught of the Octomen / The Monster Machine / Treacherous is
the Torpedo Man” (10/21/67) – Aquaman is captured by an advanced race of
octopus-like beings. / The Teen Titans have to protect Earth from multi-armed
robots. / Torpedo Man lures Aquaman to an unstable pirate ship wreck.
“The Satanic Saturnians / The Space Beast Round-Up / The Brain, the
Brace and the Bold” (10/28/67) – Fish beings from Saturn attack Earth. / The
Teen Titans have to recapture the prey dropped by alien hunters. / Mutant
scientist The Brain uses his intellect against Aquaman.
“Where Lurks the Fisherman! / Operation Rescue / The Trio of Terror”
(11/4/67) – The Fisherman sets a trap for Aquamna. / The Teen Titans have to
save a scientist and his son from an alien mountain tribe. / Black Manta, Vassa
and The Brain join forces against Aquaman.
“Mephisto’s Marine Marauders / The Chemo-Creature / The Torp, the
Magneto and the Claw” (11/11/67) – Marauders attack an oxygen exchange plant
and then Atlantis. / Flash goes up against a mutated ant. / Torpedo Man joins
with Magneto and Claw in a plot against Atlantis.
“Goliaths of the Deep-Sea Gorge / Take a Giant Step / The Sinister Sea
Scamp” (11/18/67) – A giant attacks a mermaid society. / A scientist sends a
robot after Flash and Kid Flash. / A raider uses a device to bring a poisonous
phosphorus boulder to life.
“The Devil Fish / To Catch a Blue Bolt / The Sea Scavengers”
(11/25/67) – Black Manta captures the Navy’s new undersea craft. / Flash and
Kid Flash have to protect Earth from an equally-fast alien. / Pirates use a
giant submarine robot in their crimes.
“In Captain Cuda’s Clutches / Peril from Pluto / The Mirror-Man from
Planet Imago” (12/2/67) – A pirate raids a bed of crystals. / Hawkman must
protect Earth from a threat on Pluto. / Reflecto gives The Brain a perfect
double of Aquaman to use against Atlantis.
“The Sea Sorcerer / A Visit to Venus / The Sea-Snares of Captain Sky”
– (12/9/67) – Aquaman fights an evil warlock. / Hawkman is lured into a trap in
order to rescue a manned space probe. / A sky pirate attacks Aquaman.
“The Undersea Trojan Horse / The Twenty Third Dimension / The Vicious
Villainy of Vassa” (12/16/67) – Mera causes an artificial seahorse to attack
Atlantis. / Pranksters from Jupiter use teleportation rays on Hawkman. / Vassa
returns to attack Atlantis with a fleet of laser-drill ships.
“Programmed for Destruction / Evil is as Evil Does / The War of the
Quatix and the Bimphars” (12/23/67) – The Brain creates a device that will make
Atlanteans float helplessly to the surface. / The Guardians send Green Lantern
after Evil Star. / NASA sends Aquaman and his friends to explore an ocean
planet.
“The Stickmen of Stygia / The Vanishing World / Three Wishes to
Trouble” (12/30/67) – Mera and Aqualad’s prank helps them defeat cyclopsian
beings. / Green Lantern is distracted from an escape from a penal planet. / A
sea genie grants Aqualad’s wishes leading to trouble.
“The Silver Sphere / Sirena, Empress of Evil / To Catch a Fisherman”
(1/6/68) – A mysterious growth becomes the source of conflict. / An evil queen
attacks the planet Oa. / Fisherman’s trap for Aquaman backfires on him.
Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.
Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.
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