The Fin

The Fin
Daring Mystery Comics #7 –8 (April 1941- January 1942)
Comedy Comics # 9(April 1942)

The sole survivor of a deep-sea submarine disaster, Lieutenant Peter Noble discovers the underwater kingdom of Neptunia and its inhabitants - a race of green skinned bird-fish people. Noble is challenged to hand to hand combat by their ruler, Ikor, and triumphs by shooting his unarmed opponent in the head. After committing a few more acts of violence, Noble is suddenly declared by the Neptunian people to be the reincarnation of their ancient champion, the Fin - which suggests that the bird-fish men were either not very bright or really, really scared.

Escaping back to his sunken sub, Noble cobbles together his rather remarkable costume and declares himself, The Fin. During this adventure Noble comments how astonishing it is that he can understand the wired gibberish language of the Neptunians and withstand the great pressure on the ocean floor. As well, by the end of his introductory outing Noble no longer needs his breathing apparatus to swim underwater and has apparently gained superhuman strength. None of this is ever explained.

In his second adventure Noble manages to reign in his homicidal proclivities, capturing, rather than killing, the vile and sadistic Nazi U-Boat commander Erich Von Wolff, but is back to form in his third, and final, exploit slicing his way through a band of 5th columnists with his newfound magic cutlass, then sinking a flotilla of Nazi submarines and setting fire to the oil slick on the surface in case any survivors managed to escape the wrecks.

Not surprisingly given the aquatic nature of the character, the strip was the brainchild of comics great Bill Everett.