Monday 27 April 2015

Three of a Kind - For Men Only

I'd like to start this entry with a big "Thank You" to Chris (aka UWNemo) from Aquafans.org (The Forum for Underwater Lovers). He very kindly supplied the scans of the first two pieces in this post and has also sent me others which I will feature in due course. Thanks Chris!

I'm not sure about the first cover but the other two are definitely the work of Art of Diving favourite Mort Kunstler. (Click on the images for larger scans).

October 1968.



December 1968. I hope these two manage to keep some of that gold so that the poor girl can buy herself a bikini at the very least!



November 1966. Sometimes on diving holidays I've been tempted to swim over to another boat during the night and hide all the wetsuits but I think this lot are going a bit too far!


 

Thursday 9 April 2015

The Archie of Diving - Underwater Find

Like the previous entry on The Vivero Letter, this post also features treasure-hunting. This time it's our old friends the Archie gang who are doing the hunting, in a story from Betty and Veronica #344 (1986).

After Archie reads an article about underwater treasure, local soda shop owner Pop Tate mentions that there used to be an old settlement where Lake Riverdale is now, and that there were rumours of a European count and his treasure. Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica decide to explore the lake.

(click for larger images)



It's nice to see the gang remembering their training by having Jughead remain in the boat as surface cover.

Taking the "treasure" to Veronica's father, his archaeologist friend quickly realises it's identical to a table lamp owned by Mr Lodge. The disappointed gang head to Pop Tate's who decides it would look good in his office and exchanges it for super-sundaes all round!

The story was written by Jim Ruth with art by Dan DeCarlo (pencils) and his son Jim (inks).
 

Two of a Kind - The Vivero Letter

The Vivero letter is a 1968 novel by Desmond Bagley, a popular writer active from the 60s until the early 80s. He wrote a range of adventure stories and cold war thrillers, several of which have been adapted for the screen. The film version of The Vivero Letter was made in 1998 and is also known as Forgotten City.

The plot concerns a hunt for treasure in Mexico with the diving taking place in a cenote. Reading this book was one of the things that planted the seeds of me wanting to dive.

The first edition cover was by Gino D'Achille who is perhaps best know for his fantasy work. Apologies for the quality of the scan.



 Next is a cover from one of the many paperback editions.



As a bonus, here's another paperback with a photographic cover.