Ripples Through Time - 099

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order. After I read each story I will post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Adventure #175 (April 1952) - Mystery of the Disappearing Island!

John Preston is desperate to find an island that the sole witness who can save his son was reportedly headed to, and Aquaman arrives to help.

Captain Tom Preston rescued the survivors of a pirate attack, but because the attacking ship and the island it was headed to have vanished, Tom was accused of the piracy and sentenced to death. The one witness who could clear Tom's name was kidnapped... and that's where we come into the story, with Tom's father, John Preston, an old friend of Aquaman, looking for the island that disappeared.

This story has a few odd twists. It's possible that Aquaman never would have noticed the suspended island if the pirate himself hadn't led John Preston and Aquaman right to it. True, he was trying to get Preston's reward money, but it was still a dumb move.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman rides a dolphin up to John Preston's ship. He calls his finny friends to help when Captain Dirk threatens Preston from his island, and uses the whales to lighten the island so it surfaces. Sawfish cut a hole in the bottom of Dirk's base, freeing Saunders. Sea eagles carry Aquaman and Saunders to the court to save Tom Preston, while whales resink the island to make sure Dirk can't shot the elder Preston.

Quotefile: Aquaman explains the suspended island, "So all Captain Dirk did was fit the island up with regular submarine ballast tanks! When these are flooded, the island sinks... and from his water-tight compartment inside, Dirk can fill or drain those tanks!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?