Aquaman: The Undersea Trojan Horse / The Vicious Villainy Of Vassa / by Mark

Bob Haney is back with "The Undersea Trojan Horse".

A robotic man-of-war is the HQ for Dr. Lamprey, who has the face of an overripe yam. He's ready for Operation: Robots Unlimited, which starts with a small relay unit. The relay calls in robotic swordfish, which attack the Sea King and his friends. Meanwhile, the good doctor goes to attack Atlantis. Aquaman takes out one of the robots with a hard water ball, and Aqualad rides the other into a coral reef.

Operation: Robots Unlimited continues with the titular Trojan Horse, left for Mera to find. She apparently never read Greek literature, since she opens it up to find more robots that follow her back to Atlantis. The aforementioned relay will detonate the robot fish when they get close to the domed city, so real fish are called in to stop them. It's roboshark vs. real shark! Aquaman recognizes Dr. Lamprey's ship, and Torpedo Rays are brought in to shock it. Of course, the control is in the relay, so they have to find it. Robotic Torpedo Fish join the fray, and the Sea King hits them with a wall of water. Tusky finds the relay and clobbers it, stopping all the robots. Lamprey decides to amscray while Mera still wants the Trojan Horse. Women!

Some things to look for:

  • Aquaman's nickname for Aqualad count: Tadpole (55), Minnow (20), Sardine (2)
  • Aqualad catchphrase attempts: Holy Hungfish, Suffering Shellfish, Soaring Sailfish, Leaping Ladyfish
  • I assume many of Aquaman's fish subjects die in the robot battle

 

Oscar Bensol brings back everyone's favorite bad girl in "The Vicious Villainy of Vassa".

A set of ships arrive near Atlantis and start drilling into the ocean floor near it. Vassa has decided to get into the domed city from the bottom. Meanwhile, the Aquateam is inside Atlantis checking out the new defense warning system--a blinking obelisk tells you if danger is near. Of course, it starts flashing as an apparent earthquake starts--it's Vassa's ships tunneling into the city! Geysers of water stream in, and citizens are ordered to higher ground. Our heroes go to the Aquacave long enough to track down the ships, who use their laser beam drills on them. Aquaman calls in the fish troops who take out one of the ships.

Back in Atlantis, Mera decides to go find her Sea King. He finds more ships and the battle is back on. Mera is captured by Vassa using some sort of vortex, and Tusky pantomimes the problem to Aquaman--he's captured too. He manages to reverse the vortex, which disables Vassa's ship. Two other ships chasing Tusky manage to run into each other, and a hard water ball sends another toward Aquaman! Mera gets to the controls to divert the ship. Vassa shoots the laser at Aquaman--he sends the ship into a reef, then sneaks onto the ship and forces Vassa to release Mera. Manta Rays are brought in to plug the holes created by the ships and stop the flooding in Atlantis. Vassa is taken to Atlantis for her punishment, starting with pumping the water back out. Tusky winks maniacally at the camera as we say goodbye.

Some things to look for:

  • Aquaman's nickname for Aqualad count: Tadpole (56), Minnow (21)
  • Aqualad catchphrase attempts: Bossy(?) Barracuda, Holy Haddock, Leaping Lungfish
  • Wow--that's a GREAT early warning system for Atlantis...
  • Even though they are inside Atlantis, which has no water, Tusky manages to swim in the air

Remember, you can play along by watching the show on iTunesAmazon Instant Video, or VUDU. You can also buy the DVD on Amazon.