Sea Devils
Entry updated 9 December 2024. Tagged: Character, Comics, Publication.
A DC Comics team of Superheroes, created by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath in 1960. After appearances in Showcase, they were given their own comic which lasted from 1961 to 1967. These underwater adventurers (see Under the Sea), skilled skin-divers, were Dane Dorrance, Biff Bailey, Judy Walton, and Nicky Walton; an occasional ally is the intelligent amphibian Man-Fish. While many of their exploits were supernatural, such as an encounter with the sea god Neptune (see Gods and Demons; Mythology), they also predictably battled against undersea Aliens, Supervillains, and Monsters. In contrast to other similar DC teams of the era, such as Challengers of the Unknown and those headed by Rip Hunter, Time Master, their adventures were sometimes strange and surreal; in one story, they meet a merman who is actually a fish, transformed by a malevolent force into a half-human, and after being briefly changed into half-human, half-fish themselves, they defeat the menace and enable the merman to resume his normal life as a fish, accompanied by his beloved fish companion. The Sea Devils' endurance after the departure of other Challengers clones like Rip Hunter and Cave Carson testifies to humanity's ongoing fascination with the undersea world.
After their comic was cancelled, Dorrance was along with other neglected DC heroes one member of the Forgotten Heroes and, sometimes creatively reimagined, the Sea Devils have figured in other DC comics, usually as allies of Aquaman. They have never appeared in other media. [GW]
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