Adventure 478 – Aquaman, Starman and Plastic Man end
Aquaman gets the cover for his final, really final, story in Adventure 478 (Dec 80), by Jean-Marc DeMatteis and Dick Giordano.
Black Manta has gathered an army of homeless and disaffected people, and told them lies to make the Atlanteans seem like evil monsters. Aquaman and Cal manage to escape, and Aquaman swims right by Manta and his men, who probably could have at least tried to stop him, but don’t. They just…don’t.
Pretty dumb move, as Aquaman convinces Vulko and the Atlanean troops to open the gates. Must have done some really fast convincing, as it happens almost immediately. But it works, and Manta’s men desert him.
Mera captures Manta in a hard water bubble, and Cal Durham shows up as well, just as everything goes boom.
The story continues in Action Comics, as Aquaman’s series moves over there.
Starman’s tale concludes a bit more than the Aquaman one does, but not by much. Paul Levitz and Steve Ditko do bring Mn’torr’s story to an end though. He is sentenced to death for saving Prince Gavyn, and as Starman showed up to try to save him, he faces the same sentence.
Not content to die, Starman fights back against the monsters that are meant to kill them, saving Mn’torr once again.
Meanwhile, Jediah Rikane and Lady Merria return to Throneworld, only to learn that Empress Clryssa is on her death bed.
Mn’torr insists that, no matter how much Starman wants him to survive, his time is at an end, and dissolves in a really cool, very Ditko way, bequeathing Starman his staff of power.
As promised, the story does get resolved in an issue of DC Comics Presents, though not exactly “soon.” More like eight months.
Plastic Man’s story really does end. And begin for that matter, as it’s complete in this issue, by Marty Pasko, with Joe Staton art.
Plas and Woozy Winks deal with thieves who resemble Groucho Marx and Harpo, and I do like the layout of this page, integrating the building into the panel lay-out.
Plastic Man’s series continues as a back-up in Super Friends, which it would fit in with pretty well.