Brave And The Bold Vol. 1 #126

“WHAT LURKS BELOW BUOY 13.” While out trolling for crime near international waters, Batman stumbles upon an international incident: an Atlantean-built satellite that can be used to detect submarines and ships at sea is collected by a whale trawler and both the United States and the Soviet Union want to get ahold of it!

Batman is on a routine stakeout for gunrunners in the mid-Atlantic, when the fishing boat he chartered, the Mary Ann, is nearly capsized by a surfacing submarine. The Mary Ann’s upheaval pitches her captain into the sea. Batman dives to rescue the man, and, while below, just catches sight of an underwater satellite before it is brought aboard the submarine. Returning to the Mary Ann, Batman is startled by the appearance of a US Navy destroyer, dropping depth charges. The Mary Ann is destroyed. Batman and the the captain of the Mary Ann are fished out of the ocean by the destroyer’s crew. Once on board, Batman receives notice from Washington D.C. to report to the Pentagon for debriefing. The satellite has the means to pinpoint the exact location of every American submarine deployed in the oceans of the world. Fearing it will tip the balance of power in the Soviet Union’s favor, the Department of Defense is desperate to keep the satellite from falling into Soviet hands. Batman is recruited to help with locating and taking possession of the satellite. At that moment, onboard a foreign, whaling factory ship, the satellite is being dismantled and studied by the Russians. The whaling ship makes contact with the submarine, but US Naval forces are closing in on their position. Fearing an international incident that could lead to war is about to occur, Batman dives beneath the waves, swimming for the aquacave.

Meeting with Aquaman, Batman learns that the satellite is actually of Atlantean origin. Batman pleads with Aquaman to intervene, but the Sea King has no interest in the affairs of surface dwellers. It is only after Batman has convinced Aquaman that any surface war would likely threaten Atlantis as well, that the Sea King is stirred to action. Aquaman and Batman board an Atlantean craft and race to retrieve the satellite. Intercepting the whaling factory ship, they find the US forces have already taking possession of the satellite. Aquaman and Batman attack the Navy divers, and after a pitched battle, forcibly take the satellite away from them. Aquaman sends word to Washington, D.C. and Moscow that the satellite is Atlantean in origin, not a weapon designed by the other side. Neither government is comfortable with Aquaman holding onto the satellite. Each of their navies are sent out to scour the oceans in search of Aquaman, and ultimately, to take the satellite, lest it fall into their enemies hands. To end the conflict, the United Nations determines that the satellite must be given over to all countries. Aquaman agrees, and turns the satellite over to Baron Mannheim, the representative from the United Nations. Baron Mannheim, however, is really an international criminal, an ex-Nazi living in South America. With the satellite in his possession, Mannheim has become a threat to world peace.

Mannheim disconnects the satellite’s tracking beacon, to keep the dueling navies from locating it. A special circuit in the satellite, however, warns whenever it has been removed from water. Wherever Mannheim is, the satellite has not left the sea. Pouring over Mannheim’s Interpol file, Batman determines that the satellite is, likely, being held in Lake Kanganchero. Batman travels to Lake Kanganchero via Navy carrier. Mannheim dives into Lake Kanganchero. Grabbing the satellite, he swims to wear the lake empties, over a series of waterfalls, into a river. Batman and a Naval Commander arrive at Mannheim’s hunting lodge, immediately coming under fire from a Nazi radioman. The Naval Commander guns down the radioman, then races with Batman back to their helicopter. Meanwhile, at a sprawling fish cannery, a group of Nazi sailors set sail on a thirty year old German submarine, heading for the river mouth to rendezvous with Baron Mannheim. With the satellite in the German’s possession, Mannheim will be able to locate and target any American or Russian submarine for destruction. With just the sinking of one vessel, each side will blame the other, touching off a war. In this way will Germany have it’s revenge against the two super powers that defeated it in World War II. Batman intercepts Mannheim, in the river, before he can reach the German submarine. The two men struggle in a life or death battle beneath the surface. Nazi frogmen exit the German Submarine to assist Mannheim. Just as they’re threatening to overwhelm Batman, Aquaman arrives to turn the tide. Satellite in hand, Mannheim swims for the submarine’s hatch, but Aquaman rams the vessel, riding atop an immense whale. The aged hull gives way under the whale’s assault. Mannheil and the crew of the submarine perish in the cold, unforgiving sea. Aquaman reclaims the satellite, this time refusing ever to turn it over to any surface government again.