What Was Aquaman's First Comic Cover? 0

[sfcityduck]

Let's face it Aquaman is probably the lamest "major" comic hero of all time.  I think we all know that he was featured on ZERO comic book covers of the Golden Age.  Green Arrow got covers on More Fun (so did Jonny Quick), but Aquaman nada.  Heck, Vigilante and Shining Knight appeared on many more covers than Aquaman.  Even Robotman had more covers.  Aquaman was so lame he was not invited to join the JSA or the Seven Soldiers of Victory. 

Which begs the question:  What was Aquaman's first comic cover of the Silver Age?  The conventional answer is BB 28, the first big break of Aquaman's career when he somehow was miraculously picked to be part of the JLA.  (Probably because he can talk to fish!)

But, that's not the correct answer.  I believe that Aquaman's first comic cover was in a non-U.S. Silver Age comic which predates BB 28.  

C'mon Aquaman fans:  Anyone own it? 

Anyone even know what it is?

This comic should be an Aquaman grail.  

(cue the Jeopardy music)

 

[sfcityduck]

And here's the hints:

Edited May 5, 2022 by sfcityduck

[flashlites]

On 5/4/2022 at 11:12 PM, sfcityduck said:

And here's the hints:

Is that a DC reprint 'Hundred' comic from Australia? 

[flashlites]

On 5/5/2022 at 7:14 AM, flashlites said:

Is that a DC reprint 'Hundred' comic from Australia? 

That's my best guess anyway.

[flashlites]

From what I can see it looks like one of those. I've see a few over the years. They were B/W reprints done in the 50's and 60's with color covers and square bound I believe. Supposedly 100 pages, hence the name. They were printed and distributed in Australia. I've never held one but only seen pictures here on the board.

[sfcityduck]

Good guess.  You are right about Australia. There are two candidates, both from 1956.  Over on the GA board they got the first:  Color Giant 1

Is this what you were thinking of?

Edited May 5, 2022 by sfcityduck

[KirbyJack]

That’s pretty cool.

[fast eddie]

I wish I could talk to fish,,,,,it would sure make my time by the lake more productive,,,,,,,"Hey guys,,,hold on while I finish my beer please",,,,, "OK,,,,I'm ready now,,,go ahead and bite!!!"     Maybe Aquaman is just underappreciated,,Hah!

[themagicrobot]

So Australia wins and in second place I present these hardback annuals originally on sale in the UK in 1958 and 1959.

[sfcityduck]

 

On 5/5/2022 at 5:14 AM, flashlites said:

Is that a DC reprint 'Hundred' comic from Australia? 

You win one of the no-prizes!  It is called Color Giant 1 and you're on the spot that it is an Australian comic (from 1956):

To make sense of one of the second hint image, here's Color Giant 2 (also an Aquaman cover, not in the running for first because it came out in 1957):

Still waiting to see if anyone gets the other contender.

[flashlites]

Very nice! Great history lesson there too. Love seeing these, they are truly rare!  

[sfcityduck]

On 5/5/2022 at 11:04 AM, themagicrobot said:

So Australia wins and in second place I present these hardback annuals originally on sale in the UK in 1958 and 1959.

 

Cool info!  Austrailia had a lot of Aquaman covers prior to his first cover in the U.S.  I chalk that up to surfing and the fact its a big Island making him a bigger selling point over there than in the U.S.

I can't explain why the UK has Aquaman covers. 

Even in other countries where I've seen many Green Arrow and Speedy covers in 1950s comics, such as Sweden, I've seen no Aquaman.

 

[sfcityduck]

On 5/5/2022 at 11:26 AM, flashlites said:

Very nice! Great history lesson there too. Love seeing these, they are truly rare!  

I'm not thinking that they are that rare.  I've seen them around.  

[sfcityduck]

On 5/5/2022 at 5:14 AM, flashlites said:

Is that a DC reprint 'Hundred' comic from Australia? 

Sheet!  I double checked  "Hundred Comic Monthly" to see if it had Aquaman covers?  Guess what, it did!  You win an even bigger no-prize.  Now I got three contenders for the first Aquaman cover (problem is month of publication info is not clear for all contenders).  Here's the third contender (dated Oct. 1956):

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by sfcityduck

[flashlites]

On 5/5/2022 at 1:29 PM, sfcityduck said:

I'm not thinking that they are that rare.  I've seen them around.  

I have a friend here on the boards that looks for these, has many of them. He tells me they are kinda hard to come by especially in decent condition, and he lives in Australia. Maybe not rare then just hard to come by  Very cool though!

[Terry E. Gibbs]

On 5/6/2022 at 4:29 AM, sfcityduck said:

I'm not thinking that they are that rare.  I've seen them around.  

You will see 100+ AF 15s for sale for each one of those. Check Australian Ebay for last 3 months zip.

[Terry E. Gibbs]

I want to know why Congo Bill was always in these issues. Seriously.

The very early "All Star" had Tiger Girl and Kaanga, Tiger Girl was great GGA. Very early "Five Score" has some truly great DC 50s sci-fi from Julie's books, and Aquaman and Green Arrow from their Adventure runs are well represented including Kirby's GA run.

[sfcityduck]

On 5/5/2022 at 4:49 PM, Terry E. Gibbs said:

You will see 100+ AF 15s for sale for each one of those. Check Australian Ebay for last 3 months zip.

AF 15 isn't rare.  But, yeah, I'd expect 1956 Australian to be a lot rarer than early 1960s U.S.

[Terry E. Gibbs]

Spent near 6 years checking very day and never seen some. First GL SC22 has popped up three times here and once in US. SC4 no.

[Hepcat]

On 5/5/2022 at 12:01 AM, sfcityduck said:

Let's face it Aquaman is probably the lamest "major" comic hero of all time. 

 

I disagree.

 

My vote for the lamest goes to Captain America. I'm not a fan of that jingoistic all-American shtick of his.

 

 

Edited April 16 by Hepcat