UNDERSEA Agent #2 (April 1966)
Overall grade (not worth evaluating the individual stories, here): D
This second issue, delayed by a month for some reason, disappoints in nearly all respects. Though it's still headed by the writer/artist team of D.J. Arneson and Ray Bailey (this will be Arneson's last issue as head writer), it manages to lose site of nearly everything that made the first issue special. Editorial interference might have been a factor though, as the changes in this issue bare an uncanny resemblance to changes we've seen occur over in the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents title.
Change #1: Davy Jones' PowersWe can forgive Arneson and Bailey for completely forgetting about all the ultra-cool devices Jones was given in the first issue to help him in his quest against Dr. Fang, including a super invulnerable diving suit (never mentioned here), a built in air filter (he wears an oxygen tank in the final story while diving) and concussion bullets that would have come in handy in the lead story when he remarks while fighting a stampede of giant octopuses that, "bullets pass right through them!" But the truly sad and seemingly desperate part comes when, much as one of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad was randomly given super powers in the previous issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in a desperate appeal to the target demographic reading the comic, Jones randomly gains the ability to control magnetism in the second to final story in this issue. Worse yet, he's given a belt that looks EXACTLY like Dynamo's with which to control it.
This title didn't need another tired cliche of a super-powered hero in order to make it interesting.
Change #2: The VillainMuch as T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was built around resisting the all powerful Warlord, only to have him get defeated in the second issue, the even more powerful Dr. Fang, who sent our heroes home humiliated as of last issue because he was always thinking one step ahead of them, dies in the most clumsy of ways in this issue, completely without climax, and only after his underwater city is completely and inexplicably destroyed as well. Seriously. The entire story was one mad-dash series of eleven pages seemingly written with the intent of bumping Fang off as quickly as possible. There's nothing earned nor satisfying about this defeat, but the heroes are quick to remark in the panel immediately following that, "That's certainly the end of Doctor Fang!" No foreboding "I wonder" from Lt. Jones in response, either.
The quick and random death of Dr. Fang:
Okay, so between giving super powers to non-super powered protagonists and eliminating villains previously set up to remain as permanent fixtures, this all feels like a desperate attempt to make all Tower properties feel more like traditional superheroes. That still doesn't explain #3...
Change #3: Knock The Female Lead Down a Few PegsRenata Del Mar was, hands down, my favorite character in the first issue, just as Alice Robbins was my favorite character in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents when she first debuted in the second issue. Both were strong, gutsy, and played active/pivotal roles in their adventures the first time around:
Renata in action:
Alice in action:
But, in this month's issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Alice was now relegated to being a contemptable over-domineering shrew who constantly chided Dynamo but utterly failed to play any part in his life as a superhero. And, throughout this volume, while Renata avoids becoming a shrew, she is now relegated to being a non-entity, playing a forgettable and utterly unimportant supporting role in the first and fifth stories, completely left out of the second and third stories, and forced to play helpless damsel in distress in the fourth story. Heck, she needs to be comforted by the close, just because some dude kidnapped her and planned to force her to marry him.
This Renata doesn't seem to have any personality beyond being a stereotypical helpless female. Even the backstory about her father is forgotten. It would have been a fitting time to remember it while watching Dr. Fang sink to the bottom of the sea, doncha' think?
Beyond these core changes, there are other inconsistencies, including there being absolutely no mention in this story of Skooby having been promoted to an UNDERSEA Agent-trainee. In fact, he's more useless, immature, and foolish in this issue than he ever was in the first one, even needing Jones to explain the purpose of UNDERSEA to him when Skooby had been a part of the organization long before Jones came aboard just last issue.
Oh, and remember Kort?
Arneson and Bailey don't either.
Then, there's also the quality of the stories themselves, which get progressively worse as the issue goes on.
"The Return of Dr. Fang" is just a quick excuse to bump the villain off.
"The Secret of the Flying Saucers" is a completely arbitrary tale in which Jones, Skooby, and a random elderly fisherman he comes upon investigate the secret of aliens using under-water bases to refuel their ships. The three stumble upon a bunch of aliens and get in a fight with them just as an earthquake randomly happens, somehow conveniently killing all the aliens, at which our characters fail to bat a single eye. Then we get this random conclusion:
I'm sorry. When did UNDERSEA start drafting random drunken winos just for having born witness to something? In fact, so far Jones is the ONLY UNDERSEA Agent, so they've been holding back, not recruiting the best of the best, so that this guy could get to be #2 on the totem pole?
Don't worry. They completely forget about him after this story.
Just as they completely forgot about Renata while writing this story.
"Double Jeopardy" introduces T.H.E.M., possible the stupidist evil organization yet (standing for "The Hosts of Evil Motives"), a criminal organization devoted to all things evil. I am not exaggerating on this one ("They will exist as long as evil exists...Forever!" claims a captured T.H.E.M. agent). Jones exposes an undercover T.H.E.M. agent in the most illogical of ways, though (of course) it's passed off as being obvious logic.
No Renata in this story.
No random drunken wino sailor agent in this story.
"The Richest Man in the World" attempts to introduce a new would-be world conqueror to take the place of Dr. Fang, but it's just a fat guy who steals a lot of gold and calls himself King Midas. Hard to tell whether he dies or gets captured at the end of this one, but I don't think even Arneson or Bailey cared. The only real point of this story was to give Jones super powers. Woot?
"Buried Beneath the Sea" is a non-Bailey story penciled by Mike Sekowsky. Basically, Skooby takes off on an idiotic adventure, makes a total ass of himself, and gives Jones a first opportunity to test his newfound magnetic powers. Utterly bad.
Fortunately, Bailey gives us a few more glimpses of cool underwater future stuff across this issue:
But this was a terrible, terrible issue, not just in its execution, but also in all that it lost/forgot/abandoned from the first one. If I recall correctly, the next four issues will be spent wildly searching for new ideas, premises, and supporting cast, never comfortably settling upon an identity. Some of those changes were at least fun and wild. Nothing about this issue had that kind of crazy experimental energy. It all felt disgustingly safe and generic.
Important Detail: At the beginning of the final story, after Davy Jones has gained his new powers, Professor Weston observes that:
This is the first (and, I believe, only) reference made in either title acknowledging a shared continuity between them.
