Ripples Through Time - 126

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 #202 (July 1954) - Menace of the Freak Fish!

After the US Navy tests a bomb, sea creatures entering the area of the test mutate into hybrid monsters that ignore Aquaman's commands.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman rides his sea cow through the story. He warns fish out of the area when the bomb is tested, but allows them back in after the explosion. An octopus with electric tentacles attacks, but Aquaman can't command it and has horseshoe crabs subdue it. A whale that squirts ink link a squid attacks a ship. Aquaman battles a shark with a sawfish's beak. Three other mutant fish attack: An 8-foot sailfish with the daggers of the scallop, a 20-foot manta with the teeth of a sea urchin, and a pipefish with the pincers of a giant crab. When Aquaman gets the word, all the hybrid break apart. The whole thing was a ruse to keep ships out of the area of the test bomb until the contents of the bomb had dispersed enough in the water to prevent any foreign enemy from discovering the bomb's secret.

Aquaman has no problem whatsoever in tricking people, and many of his adventures involve him pulling fast ones on large audiences of the general public. Aquaman is constantly manipulating the media and fooling reporters.

I enjoyed seeing the various hybrid monsters. It had to have been fun to come up with some of those combinations, many of which aren't obvious. The octopus with electric tentacles is just great. I want a pet one.

Quotefile: Navy scientist to Aquaman, in front of reporters, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you, Aquaman! That bomb affected the water in such a way as to give certain fish the properties of other fish!"

Have you read this story? What do you think?