Tom versus Aquaman Adventure Comics number 269, or after the Manta Ray saved us, we then aid him.

Welcome back for Aquaman and Adventure Comics number 269 to February 1960 issue,

featuring a cover penciled by Kurt Swanings by Sheldon Moldov,

with the issue being edited by Mort Wisinger.

And our Aquaman story is The Kid from Atlantis featuring art by Ramona Frayden, and it's written by Robert Bernstein. And I got to begin with the big action splash panel and the caption that goes with it. This made me laugh out loud. Some people on earth have a fear of water, hydrophobia, or a fear of crowds, agoraphobia, or a fear of narrow

places, claustrophobia. But one day Aquaman meets a terrified youth from the strange world of

Atlantis who has an incurable fear of fish, a phobia for which our world has no name.

What we do, it's, uh, I had to look it up because I read that and thought there has to be

a name for fear of fish. It's ichthyophobia. Maybe they didn't have it in 1960. I like that.

I like to imagine that the caption is Aquaman's thoughts as he's narrating his own adventures.

And he just doesn't know that ichthyophobia is the

fear of fish. But hey, it's the origin of Aqualad. First time we see him. Very exciting.

We begin Aquaman following his sea patrol to a strange capsule floating on the surface of the ocean.

There's a swordfish. There's Topo. Obviously, the Sea Patrol saw it, went and got Aquaman. He shows up,

and it's very suspicious what's going on. It's like a glass enclosure with the young boy inside of it.

He opens the case, and the fresh air starts to awaken the boy, as the boy awakens. He starts to

flip out. He's yelling for the fish to go away. They're going to kill him. The swordfish is

confused. Topo is confused. Aquaman's confused. He's trying to explain that these fish aren't going to harm him.

He's Akman. If you're a superhero, he's a member of the Justice League of America, you've got to be

frustrated at the number of times you have to explain who you are

and what you do. The number of times Aquaman has to say, I'm Aquaman and I control fish, is entirely

too high for the sort of profile he should have. He's explaining to the boy that the fish

...