Writer – Bob Haney
Artist – Russ Heath

In “A Bottleful of Sea Devils,” the first of three stories in this issue, it finds the intrepid divers helping out the Navy with a top-secret device which can halt any engine within its range. Yet, before the test is even finished, a mysterious diver grabs the weapon and manages to take off in his submersible craft before the Devils can get to him. So they set off to search for the culprit when they come across a storefront on the beach and in the window within a bottle rests a tiny little ship exactly like the one that made off with the Navy’s latest invention. The Devils head inside only to be confronted by the knave who shrinks them down to microscopic size thanks to a ray of his own devising and the lot of them find themselves in a battle for their lives within that very bottle they first noticed upon arriving. A second tale called “Battle Diary” showcases the Sea Devils’ ingenuity to aid in the war effort while a third called “Star of the Sea” sets itself apart from the science-fiction angle of the first and the more practical, real-life-tinged story of the succeeding chronicle. It finds the team at the Sea Circus and doing routines for the crowds with a friend, a seal named Pappy who is far smarter than most will give him credit for. After the performance, they set off with Pappy in a special container so that should something happen to them as they make their way down the coast, nothing will happen to him. That being said, they also run into a storm so fierce that the container holding Pappy is lost overboard and while frantic, the team has to wait until things calm down before they can set off to search for their very special friend. Soon enough, they find the container, Pappy and a whole lot of trouble and by the end of it all, they may have saved their friend from the immediate dangers of the deep blue sea, but he in return would save them more than once. This was a very fun issue with a bit of something for everyone courtesy of writer Bob Haney and artist Russ Heath. The lead-in was well-written and featured the type of story one might expect from a book such as this and it did not disappoint. While it might have been a little silly, especially considering that the villain was some sort of elf or alien, which was never explained, and given everything else that happened some might think the book was geared a little younger in age but it remains delightful no matter how old the reader. The following two stories were just as good, the second an entertaining interlude and the last something anyone with a pet would be able to associate with. Overall, a very solid product and a great second issue.

4 out of 5