With all the excitement around
Shark Week, and the movie franchise,
Sharknado, you’d think sharks were just discovered!
Even back in 1975, when Bruce popped up in
Jaws,
sharks were around….and even before that! Both DC and Marvel Comics
(as well as other comic companies) used the shark imagery to menace
their heroes...
The earliest villain who was a shark…was the Shark!
The Shark
Introduced in
Green Lantern #24 (October, 1963) by
John Broome and
Gil Kane,
the Shark was a shark, mutated by radiation into a more human form, and
he caused problems for Green Lantern Hal Jordan of space sector 2814!
He returned in
Green Lantern #28 (his first cover appearance), and then on and off over the years in
Adventure Comics (facing Aquaman and Wonder Woman, separately in
#443 to
#448 and
#459), Superman (in
Action Comics #456) the Justice League of America (
#40 and
#162), returned to fight Green Lantern a few times (
#126,
#174-#176 and
#196 to #
199), took part in the
Crisis on Infinite Earths, and even menaced Black Condor!
Now, mutating a man into a shark….well, that was the basis of the Tiger Shark, a foe of the Sub-Mariner’s!
Tiger Shark
Starting with
Sub-Mariner #5 (September, 1968, by
Roy Thomas and
John Buscema), Todd Arliss
was an Olympic swimmer who had lost his ability to swim after being
injured saving a drowning man…and was transformed in an experiment by
scientist (and foe of Namor’s) Doctor Dorcas, into Tiger Shark! Tiger
Shark came back to continually stalk his prey of Namor, in the Sub-Mariner title (
#6,
#7,
#9,
#16,
#24,
#43 to
#46), the Hulk in
Incredible Hulk #160, and even in
Marvel Team-Up (#14) and
Super-Villain Team-Up (
#1 thru
#3), and menaced Namor’s relatives like Namorita (in the pages of
Ms. Marvel #15 and
#16), as well as later joining up with the
Masters of Evil (with
Avengers #222, not battling the Sub-Mariner). More recently, he battled Wolverine during the
Acts of Vengeance, and joined with Terrax, Baron Mordo and Red Hulk in an alliance against the early Defenders (Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange and the Hulk…their respective foes!).
A few other sharks worth a brief mention….
King Shark first appeared in
Superboy #0 (October, 1994) by
Karl Kesel and
Tom Grummett, (and first cover in
Superboy #9). Nanaue later helped Aquaman during the
Aquaman, Sword of Atlantis run, and joined the
Secret Six...
...and is now a part of the
Suicide Squad along with Deadshot and Harley Quinn in the new 52.
And he’s always hungry!
Killer Shark burst to the surface first in
Blackhawk #50 (March, 1952 by
Reed Crandall), but was mostly an aerial ace fighting Blackhawk (at least in the Quality Comics days), until Blackhawk switched to DC Comics with
Blackhawk #108 (January, 1957), he continued to fight Blackhawk and his squadron (in
Blackhawk #123,
#128,
#130,
#139,
#155,
#170,
#183,
#200,
#204,
#216,
#225,
#228,
#249,
#250,
#269 and
#270), and even Lady Blackhawk (continuing his fight with her in
Birds of Prey #114 thru
#116 and
Batman Confidential #36 thru
#38).
But, with all this shark talk, you think you’d need Bat-shark repellent!
Oddly enough, Batman faced both the Tiger Shark (in
Detective Comics #147 May 1949, art by
Dick Sprang….Dr.
Gaige…this villain decided to take over on the sea, resulting in Batman
and Robin fighting him with the Bat-Submarine! Odd how this cover
reflects how Batman encountered a shark in the 1960s
Batman movie with
Adam West) and the Shark (of the Terrible Trio, along with the Fox and the Vulture, in
Detective Comics #253 in March, 1958 by
Dave Wood and
Sheldon Moldoff).
These
were just ordinary criminals, using the shark name to inspire fear (and they returned later, in
Detective Comics #321, and much later to face Dr. Mid-Nite)…
...but
if you want to feel safe to go back into the water, call Batman!
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