ALETHEA

Real Name: Alethea

Identity/Class: Mermaid (1950s era)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Unidentified sailor

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An underwater city

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#4/4 (July, 1959)

Powers/Abilities: Alethea was an aquatic humanoid, possessing a fish-like tail instead of legs, and a human torso. She was able to breathe both water and air, but it is unrevealed if she possessed any other abilities (see comments).

Height: 5' 7" (by approximation)
Weight: 130 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Tales to Astonish I#4/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Alethea and her fellow mer-people is unrevealed, but they dwelt in an underwater city, somewhere near the Caribbean Sea.

(Tales to Astonish I#4/4) - One day, Alethea swam to the ocean's surface and frolicked in the waves, where she was sighted by a lone sailor. The sailor navigated his boat over to her, and Alethea introduced herself to him--as the two talked, they developed feelings of love for each other. But when the sun began to set, Alethea insisted that she had to return home, then swam away.

   The next morning, the infatuated sailor--not wanting to spend the rest of his life alone--returned to the same area and circled his boat for hours, hoping for Alethea to return. Suddenly, the mermaid's graceful form appeared on the water's surface, for she had also been hoping to see the sailor again.

   The sailor professed his love to Alethea, and when he learned that she felt the same for him, he told her that they'd never again have to be apart. But the mermaid sadly pointed out that they lived in different worlds--he, on the world's surface, and she, beneath the waves. The sailor told Alethea that he'd follow her into the sea if he had to, but she pleaded with him not to do so, because he would drown.

   Realizing that they could never be together, the heart-broken Alethea dove back below the waters and swam away, for she feared the sailor's love for her would mean his death; but regardless, the anguished sailor tore off his shirt and dove in after her.

   The sailor swam deeper and deeper into the sea to follow Alethea--he found that he could still breathe, because water was now even more natural to him than the air above it, for he had become a merman! (see comments)

   As Alethea and her transformed lover swam to their underwater city, the former-sailor realized that he had come home... (see comments)

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Carl Burgos.

This 4-page story--I Love a Mermaid!--was told from the sailor's narrative perspective; although he never specifically stated that he transformed into a merman, I'm just assuming he did--his legs were never depicted, but you'd think that if he always had that fish-tail, he would have been noticed while he was on the surface.

So how did he transform into a merman? Based on the narration in the last caption, I'd speculate that the mer-people of that underwater city unknowingly had the ability to become regular humans when they were out of the water, and thus their tails transformed into legs. I'd further speculate that the sailor's parents were once residents of the city, and after discovering this ability, they emigrated to the surface-world before the sailor was born; but they died before they could reveal the truth of his undersea heritage to him, which would explain why the sailor was drawn to the sea. And assuming all this is true, then perhaps Alethea also had that same transformation ability.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Alethea has no known connections to:

The unidentified sailor has no known connections to:

The underwater city has no known connections to:

unidentified sailor

A lonely bachelor, his past was unrevealed (see comments). For years, something inexplicably seemed to draw him to the sea, and he spent every moment he could sailing in his small boat, compelled to search for something... but he knew not for what.

One day, he set sail from a small Venezuelan port off the Caribbean Sea; a couple hours out from port, he started to feel a strange sensation, as though something important were about to happen, something that would be a part of his destiny. Then all at once, he sighted a mermaid frolicking in the waves! He sailed over to the mermaid, and she introduced herself as Alethea. He spent hours talking with Alethea, and he soon fell in love with her. But when the sun began to set, Alethea insisted that she had to return home--as the mermaid swam away, the sailor was determined to find her again. He returned to port and told other sailors about what happened to him, but they only laughed and mocked him.

The next morning, despite the jeers and taunts of the other sailors, he sailed away from port, vowing to find Alethea again. He returned to the same area and circled for hours, waiting and hoping for the mermaid's return. Then he saw Alethea's graceful form surfacing in the noon sun. He professed his love to her, and was elated to learn that she felt the same for him. But then Alethea sadly pointed out that they lived in different worlds--he, on the world's surface, and she, beneath the sea--so they could never be together. Although the sailor swore he'd follow her into the sea if he had to, Alethea warned him he would drown, and she swam away before their love destroyed him.

The desperate and lovelorn sailor tore off his shirt and dove in after the beautiful mermaid, but as he swan deeper into the sea to follow Alethea, he found he could still breathe, because the water seemed more natural to him than the air above it, for he had transformed into a merman! (see image in next sub-profile)

As he swam beside Alethea, the two reached a fabulous underwater city, and the former-sailor finally knew what had drawn him to the sea all those many years:  He had finally come home (see comments).

--Tales to Astonish I#4/4

underwater city

Apparently located in a large underwater cavern in the Caribbean Sea, it was populated by an unspecified number of mermaids (including Alethea) and mermen--after the unidentified sailor followed Alethea into the ocean, its population increased by one.
 
--Tales to Astonish I#4/4

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p2, pan1 (Main Image - Alethea)
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p2, pan4 (Headshot - Alethea; unidentified sailor (background)) 
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p2, pan3 (Alethea introduces herself to unidentified sailor)
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p4, pan5 (Alethea underwater, being pursued by unidentified sailor)
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p1, pan3 (unidentified sailor first sees Alethea)
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p4, pan2 (aboard his boat, unidentified sailor speaks with Alethea) 
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p4, pan4 (after professing his love for her, unidentified sailor tells Alethea that he'll follow her into the sea) 
Tales to Astonish I#4/4, p4, pan6 (unidentified sailor (now a merman) swims with Alethea to underwater city) 

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#4/4 (July, 1959) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Carl Burgos (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters) 

First Posted: 03/29/2021
Last updated: 03/29/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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