Ripples Through Time - 100

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 #176 (May 1952) - The Ex-King of the Sea!

While stopping pirate Pete Desmond, Aquaman is walloped on the head and loses the ability to talk to fish.

We last saw a story along this theme in Adventure #134, but in that story the sea creatures attacked Aquaman. In this one he's simply forgotten how to talk to them. We've also seen the "amnesia caused by a bump on the head" before, in Adventure #127, but that was full-blown amnesia, and not simply forgetting how to talk to fish. However, the solution to both amnesia cases was the same: another bump on the head.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman rides up to the piracy on a sea cow. He attempts to order whales to capture Desmond after he's been hit, but cannot remember how to communicate with them. Aquaman uses food to get a whale to appear to heed his commands, but a wave washes the food away. Then he paints a baby cuttlefish on the propeller of Desmond's ship, causing a large octopus to think it's threatened and smash the propeller. After getting hit on the head again, Aquaman instinctively calls for help, and his finny friends rush to his assistance for the last two panels of the story.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is knocked out by Desmond to start the tale, then hit on the head again to end it.

Quotefile: Aquaman, "T-they heard me - and understood me! That blow on the head jogged my memory back -- and with it, the language of the deep! Now those crooks haven't a chance!"

HUZZAH! I've made it through the first 100 stories! While I'm still technically in the Golden Age tales, we're in that wavering period between the true Golden Age and the Silver Age. The stories are getting easier to find if you want to hunt them down to read along. And as I continue I will be skipping some tales that feature Aquaman... because I'm only reporting on Aquaman's solo stories, not other character's stories in which he appears. Before I reach story number 200, Aquaman will also join the brand new Justice League. I won't be covering those stories on this go 'round, but I hope to come back to them after I finish with the solo tales. That is, I hope to have finished collecting them by the time I finish my Ripples Through Time on Aquaman solo tales.

Have you read this story? What do you think?