Consider the frog. At home on land and in the water, she is a little green hero to all who like to hop and eat flies. So, too, are today’s collection of supers from around the world of pop culture. Welcome to Ten Things: Ten Amphibious Supers!
Whooshman-Bicarbonate Films, in conjunction with An Amateur Comics Historian and Sebastian The Crab, who lives… you know where, Presents:
TEN THINGS: TEN AMPHIBIOUS SUPERS!
10) DANE DORRANCE
The leader of the Sea Devils, a team of undersea adventurers, Dane Dorrance and his team operated at the beginning of the modern heroic era. Even though they lack superpowers, they worked alongside the superheroes, eventually fading into the background. Dane himself was a member of the Forgotten Heroes, alongside fellow two-fisted adventurers Cave Carson and Rip Hunter, but has continued his undersea explorations, eventually becoming a colleague of Aquaman.
9) IRON FIST
An Atlantean princess circa the 11th Century, Gale was the designated Iron Fist of her era, working alongside a very young Thor in a team of Avengers patterned on the one his father had founded centuries earlier. During that time, she adventured with the team, striking up a romantic relationship with the incumbent Black Panther, a woman named Iya Nehanda. Little is known of this Iron Fist, though presumably, she has the standard chi-manipulation abilities, in addition to the ability to exist underwater like all Atlanteans.
8) TULA
On Earth-22, the world of Kingdom Come, Tula is the daughter of Aquaman, also known as Garth of Atlantis. She and other children of the former Teen Titans joined Batman’s Silent Cavalry during the cataclysmic events of the story, surviving the nuclear explosion that killed most of the heroes of her world. Tula and her friends later came back in time as a team called The Titans, confronting the New Earth team of the same name, many of whom were their own parents.
The identity of her mother is unknown, but it’s nice to see that she was cool with Garth naming their daughter after his dead teenage sweetheart.
7) UNDERTOW
Another Marvel Comics Atlantean, as evidenced by the cerulean skin tone, Undertow (real name unrevealed) is a hydrokinetic, apparently some sort of mutant. A member of SURF, which seems like an acronym, but isn’t. Undertow and his pals Eel and Sharkskin are each boilerplate Rob Liefeld designs, with the added bonus of looking like Steve Urkel.
6) TSUNAMI
The crown princess of an undersea empire that is totally NOT Atlantis, Princess Makelesi Tuhura is amphibious, as are all her people. What makes Tsunami stand out is her ability to fly and supersonic speeds, using her seaborne might and mystically imbued hydrokinesis to fight evil. A member of the super team Thunder Force, as well as a larger team called The All-Stars, Tsunami is one of the most recognizable heroes of her world.
5) AQUALAD
You might not have realized that the DC Universe/HBO Max series Titans even HAD a version of Garth, and I don’t blame you. For one, there are like twelve ACTIVE members of the team, all of whom go through some bizarre “EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG!” nonsense before they are revealed to actually be just like the Geoff Johns version of the team, and team members Hawk, Robin, and Wonder Girl all died during the show’s run. Aqualad, on the other hand, was already dead when the show debuted, with his murder being the thing that broke up the original Titans before episode 1.
4) TORPEDOMAN
One of the heroes of Four Star Publications (later reprinted by Ajax/Farrell), Don Wallace is the legendary Torpedoman, also rendered as Torpedo Man. His underwater antics were sporadic, but he is noteworthy for being one of the heroes whose “secret headquarters” is in the Statue of Liberty, one of the most observed places in the Western hemisphere.
3) AQUAWOMAN
Circa 2016, when relations between Atlantis and the surface world were souring, Mera of Xebel, the wife of Atlantis’ king, decided to wear his colors and nom de guerre as Aquawoman, attempting to calm diplomatic tensions. The name change proved to be temporary, but when things completely collapsed, Aquaman was believed dead, and Batman invited Mera to take Arthur’s spot in the Justice League until his status could be determined.
2) U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. AGENT
Navy lieutenant (and daydream believer) Davy Jones is stationed at an underwater scientific facility codenamed Atlantis, working for the alphabet agency U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. (United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis). A colleague of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Undersea Agent canonically had a daughter, Theresa, who either inherited his technology or gained mutant powers to become a new Undersea Agent.
1) SHARK RIDER
Actually, the second Shark Rider sighted in the untold history of the Spirits of Vengeance, this unnamed Māori warrior operated out of New Zealand, using the “memeform” of an archetypical warrior astride what I’m pretty sure is a whale shark. She’s another lost hero of Earth-616 history, one of many who disappeared without a trace, only remembered by the various Riders who followed her, be they Ghost, Phantom, or Bear.
Once again, this week’s topic, Ten Amphibious Supers, is all me, but feel free to follow along on social media to suggest a topic of your own! There’s always more Ten Things madness on my Twitter or check out the full Ten Things Nerdery archive here! As with any set of like items, these aren’t meant to be hard and fast or absolutely complete, if only because Aquaman was a Super Friend on TV for something like 25 years. Either way, the comments section is below for just such an emergency, but, as always: Please, no wagering!
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Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.