Adventure Comics #442

H is For Holocaust

Terrorists, via helicopter, board the cargo ship "Orlando", in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Orlando is forced to change course. Before the terrorists can completely lock down the ship's crew, a radio operator manages to transmit a mayday signal, alerting NATO command to the hijacking. General Horgan, of NATO, contacts Aquaman, to inform him that he needs to evacuate an Atlantean farm, northwest of Ascension Island. As the Orlando is carrying a nuclear payload, Horgan has opted to destroy it, lest it's contents be used to manufacture an atomic bomb. As Horgan has already launched the missile, Aquaman has a mere 28 minutes to evacuate the farmlands. Ordering Mera to place the entire area under a hard water shield, while she and Vulko lead the evacuation efforts, Aquaman races to intercept the missile. Riding his seahorse, Storm, Aquaman quickly closes the distance between himself and the missile. Surfacing, Aquaman then telepathically orders sea eagles to carry him high into the sky, where he then leaps down onto the missile. With only seconds to spare, Aquaman redirects the missile's guidance controls, causing it to just miss the Orlando.

Horgan is furious at Aquaman's obvious interference, but impressed enough to allow the Sea King one hour, to resolve the crisis, before launching another missile. Aquaman telepathically summons a veritable army of marine life to aid him in taking the Orlando. On approach, however, Aquaman finds that the missile detonation did damage the Orlando's hull. The ship is leaking radioactive material into the sea. The fish will not be able to go near the vessel. Changing tactics, Aquaman summons an armada of flying fish to carry him over the Orlando, allowing Aquaman to safely board the ship. Using guerilla tactics, Aquaman separates the terrorist group into smaller cliques, then stealthily strikes from the shadows. In this way, very quickly, Aquaman is able to subdue his foes, while at the same time keeping the crew of the Orlando safe from harm. With the terrorists defeated and the Orlando secure, Aquaman radios Horgan, informing the NATO commander that the crisis is over. Furious that Horgan jeopardized Atlanteans with the missile attack on the Orlando, Aquaman elects to take a helicopter ride back to NATO command to have words with the general.

Gnome Man's Land

Wished away to the Land of Magic, the Vigilante finds himself in the middle of a battlefield, in between two opposing armies.Upon spying the Vigilante, the two forces stop their charge against one another. Having never seen a human being before, the opposing gnome commanders, out of curiosity, approach the Vigilante. Interrupting their speculation, the Vigilante inquires about the nature of their war. The two commanders reveal that they are fighting over the proper phrasing of an idea, each believing that the other has it backwards. At the very mention of the war's cause, hostilities resume between the two armies. The Vigilante tries to lasso one of the gnome soldiers, but it shrinks loose of the rope. The Vigilante draws on another and shoots, but this one dodges his bullets by stretching away. When the two gnome armies meet, they begin to shout and make faces at one another, much to the incredulity of the Vigilante. The gnome war is apparently won when one side has scared the other into surrender. For actually using weapons on the battlefield, the gnomes arrest the Vigilante, and throw him in jail. In the lockup, the Vigilante discovers that, amazingly, he, too, suddenly, possesses the gnome's shape changing abilities. Stretching himself through the keyhole, the Vigilante escapes. Transforming himself into a giant house fly, with his own head, the Vigilante terrifies the gnome armies into ending the war. The Vigilante teaches the gnomes to sing their opposing ideology together, thus ending the conflict between them, once and for all. Stretching through a crack in the world, the Vigilante returns home.

Notes:

• The Aquaman story is reprinted in Aquaman: Death of a Prince TPB.
• Unpublished Seven Soldiers of Victory story finally printed after nearly 30 years.
• The Seven Soldiers of Victory story is broken up into six parts that appears in Adventure Comics #438 - #443.