Fire & Water #229 – Aquaman/Sub-Mariner Team-Up?

It's a Podcast Team-Up! Shag and Rob welcome Paul Spataro from the BACK TO THE BINS podcast to discuss "The Creature That Devoured Detroit", from AQUAMAN #56 (1971) by Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, and Dick Giordano! Then be sure to check out Part 2 over on the BACK TO THE BINS podcast next week, where Paul welcomes Shag and Rob to discuss "From The Void It Came", from SUB-MARINER #72 (1974) by Skeates, Dan Adkins, and Vince Colletta, the unofficial sequel to the Aquaman story! Confused? Listen to the show and all will be explained!

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Opening theme, "That Time is Now," by Michael Kohler. Closing theme by The Bad Mama Jammas.

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14 responses to “Fire & Water #229 – Aquaman/Sub-Mariner Team-Up?

  1. Fun episode guys! This is a great idea for a Podcast crossover. I love BTTB, and it’s always a pleasure to hear more Paul.

    I think the first unofficial crossover was in JLA #75 (Nov. 1969) where Denny O’Neil had the JLA fight evil duplicates called The Destructors who could also be seen as the Avengers…if you squint REALLY hard. Roy Thomas was far more opaque in his JLA analogs, the Squadron Sinister in Avengers #70 that same month.

    Chris

  2. Shagg, where in Michigan are you from? I spent 8 years in the motor City suburbs after MSU in the early 1980s. Where was the comic shop you worked in?

  3. I can confirm this issue had spinner rack appeal, as I picked it up off the rack in midMichigan in the shadow of Detroit. But I put it back on the spinner rack as I was a Marvel fanboy like Paul!

  4. I love an oddball crossover and team-up, so this was a fun listen.

    Let me also add my love of Jim Aparo’s artwork. His work was always great, not just “good”, “great!” Sorry he’s gone. A re-read of his work is definitely overdue.

  5. Yep, I’m definitely with Paul on Aparo’s art: I also identify him with both Batman and Aquaman (and the Spectre for that matter) more than any other artist.

  6. Um, Detroit does not border upon Lake Erie. On Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River, yes… but not Lake Erie… that is actually much farther downstream. More like Toledo, Sandusky and Cleveland. True Michiganders will know this!

  7. By the way, just doing a rough count of Lone Star Comics’ listings of the various Aquaman ongoing series, i.e., not counting minis, specials or the runs in More Fun, Showcase and his several runs in Adventure, there’s a little over 300 issues. Pretty respectable, actually, and personally I don’t see why at least the post-Crisis ongoing series didn’t just retain the same numbering instead of going back to #1 like, what, four times?

  8. I like Crusader’s suit. A unique combination of elements that are viable and set him apart from the usual Champions NPC we’d get in this scenario. A bit of a waste, actually.

    Agree with Rob that ’60s Aparo was a bit too cartoony, and his ’70s emulation of Neal Adams elevated him to an all-timer. An excellent hybrid of animated expression and realistic grit perfectly suited for the Batman of this period (arguably more so than Adams himself.)

  9. Good discussion. I look forward to the follow-up. Steve Skeates utilizes a technique here often used by Bob Haney. The hero of the story refers to an “old friend” never seen in any previous story. The internet being what it is, and comics fandom being what it is, has someone compiled a list of Batman’s “old friends” firm Brave and the Bold?
    As you described the aspect of the Crusader, I was reminded of David Knight Starman. Introduced, given a back-story, and killed in his first appearance. Who wants to write the Aquaman story “Talking With Don?”

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