Gil's Man - Agent Under The Sea!

Tower Comics was a bombastic little addition to the glory we celebrate as the Silver Age of Comics. They produced some very handsome and slick books under the THUNDER Agents banner and a few spin-offs there from like NoMan and Dynamo. Alongside the THUNDER Agents was another title which weirdly seemed not to be connected into the same world which Wally Wood and his associates developed, a book titled UNDERSEA Agent. This was yet another spy-like organization like THUNDER but localized in the oceans of the world. The hero of this series was the appropriately named Davy Jones and his sidekick Skooby. These two in the hands of artists like Bernard Bailey and Paul Reinman saved the world from some assorted threats.

Then came the man named Kane, Gil Kane to be exact. Gil Kane was an artist eager to break out of the comic book ghetto and was looking everywhere for opportunities after years turning out competent work for DC on Green Lantern and The Atom and such. When he got his mitts on UNDERSEA Agent the glory that would be Kane was evident.  An IDW collection from a few years ago gathers together Kane's UNDERSEA Agent stories for us all to enjoy, it's slender but fun, fun, fun.

Kane stepped into the series with the third issue (which sported a Mike Sekowsky cover) drawing a script written by Steve Skeates. It was a humdinger, having Davy and Skooby battling a megalomaniac who wanted to control the world's oceans. Exciting pages in a tried and true story. Read it here.

Then in the next issue, number five the thing blew up. Skooby falls under the influence of a potion which transforms him into a giant monster and runs amok. Davy is able to save the day of course after much ado, but you already knew that. To find out for yourself check this link out.

I was much impressed by Kane's monster in this one, a giant beast to hold its own with his finest creations such as the Abomination (Hulk) and Gog (Spider-Man). But I was much reminded of another giant scaly monster, Superman's best buddie Jimmy Olsen.

Gil Kane drew the next issue's lead story written by Gardner Fox in which Davy and Skooby battle aliens bent on conquering the Earth despite their lack of affinity to its salty oceans. They come well armed  though as evidenced by the mighty robot featured on the cover. My favorite detail in this story featuring Skooby is when the latter literally searches Davy Jones' locker, (his actual locker) and finds a secret which moves the story.  For more see this link again.

While the last issue featured a Wally Wood cover and not a Kane one, it nonetheless gave the swan song for the series as in another Fox and Kane offering,  Davy gets jolted with a pill which increases his density making it possible for him to descend to crazy depths. He does just that ending up in a hidden world named Anto which is brimming with delightful technology and lovely females, one in particular named Elysse. It's a tragic tale  of heartbreak, but as we know these doughty heroes soldier on.

(Unused Gil Kane cover for UNDERSEA Agent #4)

That wrapped the series and soon enough after Tower Comics would fall as well, a fondly remembered but failing entry into that fertile time. Gil Kane would move on to loftier ambitions, some of which I'll be mentioning later.

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