Sea Goddess

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Sea Goddess

PL:11

Alternate Identities: Alana Roberts (Golden Age)/June Tanner(Silver Age)(Changed to Junko Tanaka in 1970.)

Identity: Public/Secret

Base of Operations: Pacific Theater (GA)/Okinawa (SA)

First Appearance: BONANZA COMICS June 1942, AMAZING SCIENCE FANTASY March 1959

Gender: Female

Group Affiliations: Allied Justice, Justice International

Abilities

Strength 15 (+2), Dexterity 18 (+4), Constitution 17 (+3), Intelligence 13 (+1), Wisdom 15 (+2), Charisma 14 (+2)

Saves

Toughness +11 (+3 Con, Defensive Roll 8); Fortitude +5 (+3 Con, +2 Base); Reflex +7 (+4 Dex, +3 Base); Will +4 (+2 Wis, +2 Base)

Defense: 21 (+11 Base)

Initiative: +4

Base Attack Bonus: +11

Powers

Water Control 11: Alternate Powers- Blast 11, Create Object 11, Stun 11, Suffocate 11

Immunity 1: Breathe Underwater

Swimming 15

Super-Movement 1: Water Walking

Feats

Attractiveness 2; Environmental Adaptation- Water; Evasion 2

Skills

Search +17 (+1 Int, 16 Ranks); Spot +18 (+2 Wis, 16 Ranks); Acrobatics +20 (+4 Dex, 16 Ranks); Swimming +18 (+2 Str, 16 Ranks); Language- Murian (GA)/ English (SA, speaks Japanese); Survival +18 (+2 Wis, 16 Ranks); Knowledge (The Ocean) +17 (+1 Int, 16 Ranks)

Weaknesses

Vulnerability- Radiation (Moderate, Uncommon)

Background

Alana Roberts was orphaned at the age of 2 by a shipwreck in the Pacific; the sole survivor, she drifted on a piece of floatsam onto the remote island of Muria. The natives, descendants of the long-lost Mu Empire, christened the child the "Sea Goddess", according to an ancient prophecy, and through a mystic rite gave her power over the ocean. Raised by the native Murians, Roberts trained and developed her powers, until the outbreak of war in the Pacific. Japanese forces invaded the island, and the Sea Goddess joined with the Allies to reclaim her homeland from Axis oppression. This catapulted her onto the world stage, where she became part of the Allied Justice team. In the last days of the war, the team were trapped in a mirror dimension by Axis sorcerer Baron Mystico, but were freed decades later (not having aged while in their dimensional prison.)

During Roberts' absence, a woman named June Tanner was raised in Okinawa. Her mother told her that her father had been an American naval officer who was killed in the line of duty (she later learned that her father was a native Okinawan who had gone into hiding after being falsely accused of murder.) June earned money as a pearl diver. On one fateful expedition she came across a radioactive meteorite which had fallen into the sea the previous night. The radiation triggered a mutation which instantly gave her an affinity with the water. It also had the effect of mutating some of the neighboring sea life into a hulking monster, and in battling that creature she became the new Sea Goddess.

Personality

Alana is a mysterious and distant woman. Not only did she grow up in a remote and isolated culture, but among them she was set apart by her powers and her mysterious destiny. Though not unfamiliar with Western culture, she holds on to Murian traditions. She is very stern and determined. For a time she harbored prejudice against the Japanese, but after spending some time with her successor her attitudes have changed.

Jun(e) is a more down-to-Earth woman, who unlike her predecessor has had to grow into a bizarre new role as defender of the seas. She has more of a sense of humor, though not much more. She tries to stay near Okinawa when she can, and is devoted to her mother.

Publishing History

The Sea Goddess was created as a new main feature for BONANZA COMICS when editor Alan Janowitz realized Star Comics was lagging behind in the hero race in two areas: it did not have a female superhero, nor did it have one with an acquatic theme (both of these being done by other major companies). Thinking that a woman writer might be the best to handle a woman character, he turned the assignment over to E. (Elizabeth) Jacobs, the only female scripter on Star's staff at the time. The ever-obscure Bobby Mills provided illustration work (it is rumored that late in the initial run, the Sea Goddess' appearance was based on that of Esther Williams.) Sea Goddess was one of the most popular of Star's heroes, and remained BONANZA's headliner until the magazine was cancelled in 1949.

In 1958, Star's new editor-in-chief Joe Prelutsky decided that Sea Goddess was due for a revival, but she, like other heroes, needed a "modern twist." David Denham was assigned writing duties, and, as a fan of the Japanese monster films GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS and RODAN, suggested the new Sea Goddess be from Japan. Prelutsky liked the idea, but wasn't sure readers would accept an Asian superheroine- and the publishers had stronger doubts. A mild debate ensued within the stable, delaying the launch of the new feature; eventually, Denham agreed to a compromise and made the character half-Japanese, while illustrator Irving Ellison rendered the character with European features and colorists made sure to give her a Caucasian skin tone. The Atomic Age Sea Goddess finally made her debut in 1959, and met strong sales and no real controversy. David Denham departed from the title in 1960 to focus on the new Morpheus, and Cal Winston took over writing duties. During this run the title of the magazine was changed from AMAZING SCIENCE FANTASY to SEA GODDESS, making the character the first since Captain Invincible and Professor Hawk to get her own book at Star. In 1964, both Winston and Ellison departed, burdened by their duties on the new title JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL, and again editorial picked a female creator: writer and artist Margaret Sheridan, who previously had been doing fill-in work on THRILLING and REAL PASSION. Sheridan's run moved away from mutated monsters and technological menaces to explore the sunken continent of Mu and its Fish-Man inhabitants.

In 1970, as part of a sweeping block of changes meant to bring Star Comics into line with the new decade, Prelutsky decided that there was no longer any reason to pad around Sea Goddess' ethnicity and ordered that she become, retroactively, a fully Japanese woman. After many half-solutions to the continuity problem, Sheridan came up with the "secret father" revelation which ran in the November issue for that year. After that point the character, now known as Jun Tanaka, was drawn and colored as a native Okinawan. Sheridan departed the company in 1973 in protest over Prelutsky's firing, and the title passed between a number of creative teams, but the character remained enough of a draw for the book to remain in print until the Star Comics "reboot" in 1983. After some time taken to find a new team, SEA GODDESS was relaunched in April of 1985, and has remained in print since.