Aquaman #50, April 1970
Cover-dated the month the Beatles broke up, this is another in a long run of magnificent cover images by the incomparable Nick Cardy. The man’s a genius. Regular penciller/inker on Aquaman, Teen Titans and Bat Lash for much of the 60s, he went on to be DC’s main cover artist in the 70s. There weren’t many titles between 1970 and 1975 that weren’t graced by at least one Cardy cover.
This particular issue is of extra note — not just because it has a back-up Deadman feature by Neal Adams, but also because the letters page has a missive from a young lady who would go on to edit the Legion of Super-Heroes (she was the power behind the throne for the all-time classic Great Darkness Saga), as well as many other comics for DC, before heading across the road to Marvel to get the Epic line underway: Laurie Sutton.
You can tell she had editorial designs even at that early stage, eh? But, no, they never did produce an Aquaman Annual — well, not until much, much later anyway…
©2009 DC Comics
Keep Wet is an amazing sign-off.
Was she related to Tom Sutton?
Not that I’m aware.
I could never figure out why there wasn’t a Green Lantern annual back then, but when I sat down and worked it out, it became obvious. DC kept adding annuals to their line right up until they were publishing one per month, and then they stopped, apparently feeling that more than one 25-cent book per month wouldn’t sell.
The following year, of course, the whole line went up to 25-cents.
[...] Allan Harvey’s blog discovers the secret identity of Laurie Sutton’s one true love. AQUAMAN!!! [...]