JOAN the MERMAID

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Possible human mutate? (1950s era)

Occupation: None

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: Her adoptive parents

Aliases: Joan (as called by her adoptive parents)

Base of Operations: Mobile in the sea; (originally) her parents seaside home (see comments)

First Appearance: Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3 (March, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Joan was an aquatic humanoid, possessing a fish-like tail instead of legs, and a human torso.

She was amphibious and could breathe conventionally while on the surface, and apparently had gills to extract oxygen while underwater -- while on land, she was confined to a wheelchair.

Height: Unrevealed (5'6"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History:
(Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3 (fb) - BTS) - Unspecified years earlier, a married couple discovered an infant mermaid on the beach -- as they were childless, the two decided to raise the little mermaid as their own daughter, so they took her to their seaside home. They named her "Joan," and never revealed to her the circumstance of how they found her.

   Although events of the intervening years were unrevealed, Joan eventually neared adulthood -- since she was unable to walk on land because of her fish-like tail, she was given a wheelchair and a blanket to conceal her "legs," so no one would ever learn her true nature. Her parents loved her very much and gave her everything she desired, and the only thing they ever asked of Joan was that she never go down to the beach.

(Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3) - But one night, Joan experienced a spell of "sleepwalking" -- feeling as if the sea were summoning her, she went down to the beach in her wheelchair and began to roll into the waves; her parents caught their seemingly-entranced daughter before she completely submerged, then carried her back to their house and put her to bed.

   A few hours later, Joan awoke from a blissful sleep and once again felt that the sea was calling to her. She got out of bed and into her wheelchair, but her parents stopped her before she left the house. The tearful Joan regretted being such a burden to her parents, and wondered why she couldn't be like other girls; but her parents comforted her and reassured her that they loved her, then told her that they'd all be moving inland in the morning, far away from the ocean, so Joan's sleep would no longer be troubled.

   But the next morning, as her parents were packing for the move, they noticed Joan was missing; as they ran to the beach, they saw that their daughter was again rolling her wheelchair into the ocean, until she disappeared completely beneath the waves. They wept over Joan's departure, for they had hoped that their love for her would bind her to them forever, but they realized that the mermaid was at last back where she belonged.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Dick Ayers.

In regards to the unspecified ocean: It was never revealed which coastline--Atlantic or Pacific--Joan's parents resided.

This 4-page story--The Sea Waits for Me!--was done with a surprise-ending, and Joan's true nature wasn't revealed until the final story panel; this same basic plot would be reused a few years later with Linda Brown.

Joan appeared to be topless while swimming under the sea -- I'm surprised that the recently-enacted Comics Code let that slip by.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.





CLARIFICATIONS:
Joan the mermaid has no known connection to:

Joan's adoptive parents

They (names unrevealed) were a married couple who lived in a house by the seashore. Years earlier, they discovered an infant mermaid on the beach -- as they were childless, they decided to take in the little mermaid and raise her as their own daughter. They named her "Joan," and never revealed to her the circumstance of how they found her.

They loved Joan very much, and provided her with a wheelchair so she could move about on land.

But as she neared adulthood, Joan sensed that she had to return to the sea; although her parents tried to stop her, she nonetheless rolled her wheelchair into the waves and swam away.

Although they were saddened by Joan's departure, they realized that the mermaid had returned to where she belonged.

--Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3

images: (without ads)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p1, pan1 (main image - Joan, sitting in wheelchair by seashore)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p4, pan3 (headshot - Joan; her father calling for her [background, silhouette])
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p4, pan2 (Joan [profile] rolling her wheelchair into sea)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p4, pan7 (mermaid Joan, swimming in sea)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p2, pan5 (Joan's mother and father, pulling Joan from the sea)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p4, pan1 (Joan's parents)
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3, p4, pan6 (Joan's parents)

Appearances:
Journey into Unknown Worlds I#43/3 (March, 1956) - unidentified writer, Dick Ayers (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 11/06/2026
Last updated: 11/06/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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