Secret Origins #7

Issue Details

Synopsis

ROBIN THE BOY WONDER When the owner of a traveling circus, named Mr. Haly, is confronted by thugs, they ask Mr. Haly to pay a "fine", but He refuses to pay and as a result, his bestselling attraction, the Flying Graysons, are killed "accidentally" while performing that night. The Graysons' young son, Dick, overhears an incriminating conversation between Blade, the killer, and his employer Boss Zucco. Dick plans to call the police, but Batman, who has attended the show as the millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, takes in Dick Grayson, instead of immediately pursuing the thugs. Batman trains Dick, already an excellent acrobat, how to become a crime-fighter. When a period of training is over, Dick is given a red, green, and yellow costume and adopts the identity of Robin, the Boy Wonder.   Dick debuts as Batman's sidekick, and the Dynamic Duo hunt down the extortion gang, and their leader, Boss Zucco. Zucco's new plan is to demolish a skyscraper construction site (the Canin Building), but Robin and Batman defeat the gang in a dangerous battle on the high girders, during which Robin uses a sling to knock one thug off a steel beam and kicks a second gunman off another girder. Zucco is recorded by Robin in the act of pushing Blade to his death and this evidence is given to the police, leading to Zucco's conviction for murder. In the end, Robin vows to be Batman's partner against crime. THE SUBMARINE STRIKES An unarmed ship carrying refugees and hospital workers is torpedoed by a submarine, U-112, which surfaces to open fire on the last of the escaping lifeboats. Aquaman arrives and tows this boat away from the scene at an incredible speed. He then leaps aboard the sub and beats up one crewman, but the rest escape inside the hatches as the sub dives below the ocean.   Aquaman and some porpoises speed the lifeboat to the nearest land, where the Captain asks him where he's from and how he does these miracles. Aquaman tells him that his father, a famous underwater explorer, found an ancient sunken city, built himself a watertight home within one of the palaces, and lived there, studying the records and devices of the ancient race. Here, he found wonders that the upper world had never known. Aquaman names neither of his parents in this telling, noting only that his mother died when he was a baby. He also mentions that his father used a hundred scientific secrets to enable him to draw oxygen from the water to develop his speed, strength, and mental powers. His father then died.   Having told his tale, Aquaman leaves to hunt for U-112 and finds it docked at its base, a little-known island near the sea lanes, with the captain already ashore, reporting to his superior officer. Aquaman punches his fist through the steel hull, and the sub sinks right there at the pier. There is no sign of any escaping crewmen. On the pier, the captain and his boss run away to hide in the base arsenal, and, as Aquaman is about to batter down the door, the sub-captain's boss manages to drop a hammer onto his head, knocking him senseless. Then, they load him up with weights and drop him into the ocean.   At first, the extreme pressure at this depth prevents him from bursting his bonds, but he exploits a bulb-like undersea plant, which gives off a bright greenish fluid. This acts as a signal for Aquaman's porpoise friends, who propel him into shallower water, where the lightened pressure enables him to burst free. Aquaman knifes through the water like a flashing silver scimitar back to the enemy base, where he punches out the U-112's captain and chases the captain's boss into the arsenal. He throws a hand grenade at Aquaman, who catches and returns it; the grenade detonates the munitions supply, and the high official is killed.