PETER MAHER
Real Name: Peter Maher
Identity/Class: Human mutate (Post-World War 2 era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Elsa Ames, Dr. Simon Bondy
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: Unidentified aunt
Aliases: "The Fishman" (in story title, and as referred to by Dr. Bondy)
Base of Operations: Mobile in the seas
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#41/2 (December, 1955)
Powers/Abilities: Peter Maher was surgically altered to open the rudimentary gill-slits in his neck, making him amphibious and allowing him to extract oxygen from water.
Height: Unrevealed
(5'10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black
History:
(Strange Tales I#41/2 (fb) - BTS) - Peter
Maher was orphaned at an early age, and he was raised by his aunt on the
coast of France.
(Strange Tales I#41/2 (fb)) - Young Peter met the acquaintance of the visiting American Dr. Bondy, and the two became fast friends. Bondy later met Peter's aunt, who told him that she found Peter to be a strange, moody boy who only found peace when he was in or on the sea, and it seemed to be necessary for his happiness... but sometimes it frightened her.
Bondy noticed that as Peter grew to manhood, he seemed restless and always searching for something he could never find. When Peter mentioned to Bondy that he wished he could swim in the depths of the sea without needing a human breathing apparatus, Bondy told him that there probably was a time when mankind was amphibious ("The human embryo still has rudimentary gill-slits...").
Peter later purchased an aqualung, and people saw very little of him afterwards because he spent most of his time exploring the wonders of the deep... and for the very first time, he knew happiness.
One year later, Peter visited Dr. Bondy in America and told him the real point of his visit -- even with the aqualung, he was still limited by the time he could spend in the depths, and those limits had destroyed the peace that he thought he found. Peter then reminded Bondy about his theory of the rudimentary gill-slits, and he asked Bondy if it would be possible to operate and make them functional again. Intrigued by that idea, Bondy told Peter it might be possible to perform surgery on the latent gills and rebuild them, so he researched and discovered a way to successfully perform the procedure. Bondy told Peter the news, but then Peter vanished for six months.
Peter had met and fell deeply in love with Elsa Ames. When Peter asked Elsa to marry him, she refused because (for reasons she couldn't explain) the sea would always come between them. Elsa disappeared after that, and although he searched diligently, Peter could find no trace of her, so he returned to his diving and the solace he found in the sea.
One particularly stormy day, Peter at last found Elsa, and he saw her diving into the sea. Fearing that she'd drown in the rough waters, he dived down with his aqualung to follow her. Expecting to find the worst since she'd been under for longer than she should, Peter was stunned to see Elsa alive... and gill-slits in her throat opening and closing as she breathed underwater! Elsa darted off and Peter knew he could never catch up to her in her natural element. He then understood why Elsa had refused his proposal -- he was of the land, and she was of the sea! Determined not to give up on his true love, Peter vowed that he would continue to search for Elsa... but first he must see his old friend Dr. Bondy again.
Although Bondy tried to dissuade him, Peter insisted that Bondy perform the surgery on him. The operation was a complete success -- the gill-slits in Peter's neck, when closed, could not be seen, but underwater they functioned perfectly, and Peter could breathe as well as any fish!
(Strange Tales I#41/2 (fb) - BTS) - Following Peter's operation, a young girl who had been born with gill-slits on her neck came to Dr. Bondy and had him perform surgery on her to permanently close the gills so she could lead a normal life -- it seems she had met a young man she wanted to marry, but because of her condition, they could never share a life together.
(Strange Tales I#41/2) - Peter's convalescence was swift, and he seemed to have a terrible urge to get back to the sea. As a storm raged, Peter took a boat out and dived into the waters wearing an aqualung; but Bondy had a feeling that the aqualung would be found washed up on shore, because he didn't think Peter would ever return to land.
After Dr. Bondy told the story of Peter Maher to some of his colleagues, he saw the girl he had performed the reverse-surgery upon: Elsa Ames! Seeing the sad look on her face, she reminded Bondy so much of Peter, and he thought it a shame how the two had never met... but now, they never would...
Comments: Created by Bill Everett.
A tragic story of two lovers who were willing to give up everything for each other -- kind of reminiscent of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi".
Of course, the artist on this story, Bill Everett, is best known for creating an earlier "fishman" -- Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner.
A lot of unused potential with Peter Maher, because he's kind of a post-Timely/Atlas, pre-Marvel version of the Sub-Mariner. Since he was around in the 1950s, he could always be used in stories involving characters of that era -- the Monster Hunters, the First Line, Jimmy Woo's Agents of Atlas/"G-Men".
Caleb Alexander theorized that the cause of the Sub-Mariner's frequent rages and emotional upsets was due to an oxygen imbalance in his bloodstream -- perhaps Peter suffered from a similar condition, which would account for his moodiness. Further, perhaps Peter was actually a latent amphibious mutant, which would explain why he was able to recover from Dr. Bondy's surgical procedure so quickly.
Since he lost Elsa, maybe somebody could set Peter up with Linda Brown.
Too bad things didn't work out for Peter and Elsa--maybe they could have double-dated with Kanu and Bala.--Ron Fredricks
Maher isn't the first one to have gills opened in his
own neck. A surgeon who looked like the Centaur Comics hero the Shark
had opened gills in his own neck in order to breathe underwater and
impersonate the Shark.
This faux Shark didn't have webbed hands and feet like the real Shark.
--Gammatotem
Elsa's last name and Bondy's first name were revealed in Marvel Atlas#1's profile for France.
And a big THANK YOU to Dennis Giansante for originally scanning this story for me!
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Peter Maher / "The Fishman" should not be confused with:
Dr. Simon Bondy has no known connection to:
Elsa Ames has no known connection to:
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She (name unrevealed) was apparently Peter Maher's only known relative; she lived on the coast of France, and she took Peter in when he was orphaned. She noticed that the moody Peter only found peace when he was in or on the sea; she eventually expressed her concerns about Peter to Dr. Bondy. Her eventual fate was unrevealed. --Strange Tales I#41/2 |
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An American doctor, Bondy was visiting on the coast of France years ago when he met Peter Maher. Learning of Peter's desire to live in the sea, Bondy eventually developed a surgical procedure to rebuild the rudimentary gill-slits in the human neck, which would allow a person to breathe underwater. Shortly after Bondy performed the surgery on Peter, he performed a similar operation in reverse on Elsa Ames, which permanently closed the gill-slits she had been born with, making her a normal human. --Strange Tales I#41/2 |
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Possibly a mutant, Elsa was born with gill-slits in her neck (which she usually concealed with a neck-scarf) that allowed her to breathe underwater. She eventually met Peter Maher, and the two fell in love, but she felt they could never be together because Peter was a normal human (or so she thought) and she was tied to the sea. She later had Dr. Bondy perform a reverse operation on her that closed her gill-slits; but unbeknownst to her, Bondy had (ironically) already performed a surgery on Peter which gave him gill-slits and allowed him to breathe underwater. With her true love gone, Elsa could only weep for his loss. --Strange Tales I#41/2 |
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images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p5, pan3 (main image - in flashback, Peter Maher uses his gills to breathe underwater; Dr. Bondy's narration)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p3, pan3 (headshot - in flashback, Peter Maher speaks to Dr. Bondy)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p3, pan1 (in flashback, Peter Maher swimming with aqualung)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p3, pan7 (in flashback, Peter Maher in sailboat with Elsa Ames)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p2, pan4 (in flashback, Peter's aunt expresses her concerns about him to Dr. Bondy [background left]; Peter Maher [foreground])
Strange Tales I#41/2, p1, pan3 (Dr. Bondy begins to tells his colleagues about Peter Maher)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p3, pan5 (in flashback, Dr. Bondy researches operation)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p5, pan5 (Dr. Bondy talking about Elsa)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p5, pan1 (in flashback, scuba diving Peter Maher [background] discovers Elsa can breathe underwater)
Strange Tales I#41/2, p5, pan7 (Elsa Ames)
Appearances:
Strange Tales I#41/2 (December, 1955) - Bill Everett (writer/pencils/inks/letters), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 01/12/2007
Last updated: 09/27/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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