Aquaman #53
Published and © by DC, September-October 1970
Title: “Is California Sinking?”
Synopsis: Agents of O.G.R.E. recruit a California millionaire as part of a plot to buy a nuclear bomb to destroy Atlantis.
Writer: Steve Skeates
Artist: Jim Aparo
Review: This Aquaman outing is a decidedly mixed bag. The good: An enticing Nick Cardy cover promises an intriguing Aquaman outing. And the interior art by Jim Aparo is nearly as good. The bad: The story is only tangentially related to the cover, despite a framing sequence that attempts to maintain that conceit. The confusing: Some mystic claptrap about Atlantis rising. And who or what is O.G.R.E.? (This reviewer had to look it up. It’s the Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement. Oh, those silly Bronze Age acronyms.) This one is plenty of fun. But good? Ultimately, not so much.
Grade: B-
Second opinion: Included on Alan Brightmore’s “Individual Comics That You Should Not Be Without” list, from “A Consumer’s Guide to D.C. Comics, Part 2,” Comics Unlimited #51, October-November 1979. … “Aquaman #53 could only be an improvement (over the previous story arc), but not by much.” – William Schoell, “Superhuman: The Bronze Age of Comics Volume 1,” 2016 … “An interesting tale of organized crime and crooked politics.” – Dale Coe, Worlds Collide #7, 1983
Cool factor: The California millionaire is named Eliot Harlanson. Heh.
Not-so-cool factor: The ol’ bait-and-switch trick with the cover is particularly brutal with this one.
Character quotable: “No! Help me! You can’t let me die! I’m too rich to die!” – Eliot Harlanson, privilegd
Editor’s note: This review was written June 11, 2025.
