JARNA
Real Name: Jarna
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Venusian Lavarites) advanced
technology user (WWII
era)
Occupation: Queen, inventor, would-be conqueror
Group Membership: Lavarite Tribe
Affiliations: Adolf
Hitler, Nazi Navy and army, spies, collaborators (Joseph)
Enemies: Namor the Sub-Mariner (Namor
McKenzie), U.S.A. (Air Force, Navy), Betty Dean, Lynne Harris, Luther Robbins
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Angel-puss", "precious", "morning-glory", "blonde bombshell","little mermaid" (from Namor)
Base of Operations: Planet Venus (Earth's solar
system)
First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics#25/2
(November, 1941)
Powers/Abilities: Jarna could breath underwater as
well on surface and apparently was at ease in the undersea environment
even at the bottom of the sea. Her physical performance seemed
comparable to the average of a female human being with exceptional
swimming skills.
Jarna was also an inventor, with proficiency in mechanic and electronic engineering. She was able to design assault shock guns, getting the idea from the electric eels of Earth. As inventor, engineer and tester, she used those guns with good skills.
Apart from speaking the language of the Lavarites, a
language different from any other on Earth, Jarna spoke a perfect
English to the extent that she also knew some expressions of sailors' slang and ancient myths. She
also spoke German.
In her role of leader, she had good
diplomatic skills, good enough to meet Adolf Hitler in person and bind
an alliance with him. Moreover, she was able to project strategies into
the middle term, already planning the Lavarites' warfare against Hitler,
after Germany would have invaded the American land.
Height: 5'6" (by
approximation: she was a head shorter than Namor)
Weight: 115 lbs. (by approximation: lithe)
Eyes: Light blue-grey
Hair: Blonde
History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics#26/2
(fb) - BTS) - Jarna lived on planet Venus and was the Queen of the
Lavarites, a tribe which male members were about 8-12 inches-tall. Their
technology level enabled her to travel to Earth, to discover what
possibilities of conquer existed for her people.
She arrived on Earth when Adolf Hitler was already the uncontested leader of Germany. Studying the political situation on Earth, she devised a plan for conquering the United States of America.
She convinced Adolf Hitler of her loyalty, planning the
invasion through an undersea citadel near the U.S. East Coast, but she
didn't reveal to him her final goal: After Germany had conquered the U.S.A.
Jarna's army would betray Hitler.
The construction of the undersea base begun,
unknown to the rest ofworld and also to the Atlanteans.
Observing the marine fauna, Jarna took example from
the electric eels and designed an electric shock gun. The shock guns
were given to the Nazi sentinel soldiers, who defended the
underwater base from the attacks of the sharks and other submarine threats.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#25/2) - Jarna went back to Earth again with her Lavarites, traveling on Rocket-ships. They set up their base underwater and begun sabotage missions and setting up the invasion.
Although nocturnal, the
missions of the Lavarite army did not pass completely undetected. A
writer wrote a fictional novel where a an invasion from Venus was led
by a Queen, and her soldiers reached Earth by a space rocket.
Actually, a Lavarite space rocket was
hidden in the ocean, not far from the eastern coast of Florida, a
coastal region where Betty Dean, Luther Robbins and Lynne Harris were
spending their holidays. These three,
who were Namor's friends in those days, had noticed something
strange. They failed to involve the police, so they convinced Namor to
investigate.
As
surface base, Jarna used a house not far from the space rocket,
where also lived a Nazi spy and some fifth columnists who posed as his
butlers.
The first night that Namor investigated, he spotted the one-foot tall Lavarites, their rocket, and Jarna. The Queen was meeting her subjects after they had fulfilled a mission, after which she reached the surface. On the beach, she was surprised to meet the Sub-Mariner, who faked his surprise, too, trying to seem a tourist. In a game of deception, Jarna could not refuse to be escorted by Namor to her house. After this, Jarna had Namor leave, but nonetheless she and the Nazis used the maximum caution.
When, hours later, Namor sneaked into the house, Joseph and the Nazi assaulted him. Jarna tried to flee, but the Prince was too strong for the three humans, and he grabbed the alien. The little Lavarites, using some metallic cables, entangled and contained the Sub-Mariner. Jarna had already figured how to deal with the witness, so she convinced the Nazis to follow her plan, and so she had the intruder transported to the beach. Ruthlessly, she carried the entangled Namor to the bottom of the sea, where she waited the time sufficient to drown a human being. She dropped the seeming corpse and went to her people.
Unbeknownst to Jarna, the Sub-Mariner was alive and
kicking. He easily broke the cables and then followed her to the Lavarite
army hideout where he destroyed the underwater cave and captured Jarna.
Captive, before Namor, Lynne and the others, Queen
Jarna confessed a part of her plan of conquer, which enabled her to be
freed under the promise to leave Earth.
Few hours later, an enormous Lavarite space rocket
jumped out the ocean and pointed to the stars...
(Marvel Mystery Comics#26/2 (fb) - BTS) -
...but Jarna was not inside.
Actually Jarna continued to follow her plan. She was
determined to help the German Army to invade and conquer the USA, because the second step consisted in turning against
Hitler.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#26/2) - Unfortunately for Jarna, when Namor took the way home hours later, he swam near the cave where the Lavarites dwelled,
and he spotted her. Jarna feared for her life when Namor's wrathful hands
strangled her. She convinced the Prince of Atlantis to spare her life,
confessing the other part of the war plan: a blitz attack to the East
Coast, springing from the secret base in the ocean depths.
So, Jarna led Namor kilometers
away to a wide pit into the ocean floor, and beneath whether was located the
Nazi base: A citadel entirely built underwater, where engineers and
technicians worked in special diver suits. Submarines transported the
oxygen that the workers needed, and guards armed with special electric
shock guns protected the workers from the sharks.
In an excess of pride, Jarna let slip out that the plan was hers, again enraging Namor. This time, however, she succeeded in escaping his grip, and Namor was spotted and shot by some guards, although he avoided the electric bolts and overcame the soldiers. However, Jarna then zapped him from behind with an electric gun set up at non-lethal voltage, and Namor fell unconscious.
Later, the Nazis asked Jarna to help them query the prisoner. When they opened the underwater cell, they found that Namor had broken a wall and had escaped. Moreover, with his tremendous strength, the Sub-Mariner was demolishing their buildings, as well as the ones that contained air and Nazis. Jarna went mad when she saw that Namor enjoyed drowning the Nazi soldiers. She grabbed another electric gun and aimed to Namor, but this time the swimming speed of the Sub-Mariner was faster. Jarna was taken into a cell.
She could do nothing while Namor assaulted the
submarine fleet and gave the alarm to the U.S. Navy. The underwater
fleet was destroyed, as were Jarna's plans.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#26/2 / Marvel Mystery Comics#27/2 (fb) - BTS) - After the victory, the Sub-Mariner freed Jarna, who fled south.
Comments: Created by Bill Everett.
By the time Jarna stayed on Earth, she even learned some sea-related myths and classical myths. When she was sure that Namor was drowned dead she dropped his body commenting "...See you in Davy Jones' locker!". Later, she mocked him, nicknaming him "...Brute..." and "...Hercules...". Namor didn't spare colorful names for her: "angel-puss", "precious", "morning-glory", "blonde bombshell","little mermaid."
A single shock from an electric gun, at low power,
was able to knock out the Sub-Mariner. It could seem a very impressive
weapon, but, in those days, even bullets could seriously harm Namor. He
was strong, but not as durable.
As happened for the Kronans
that stumbled into Thor (Journey into Mystery#83), Marvel Comics one day
could ret-con that the Lavarite Tribe and Queen Jarna came from another
planet and that Venus was only a step of their journey through space (I
don't hope so, bad, useless ret-cons be damned!) ... or a good
writer could invent a plausible explanation for life on Venus.
As seen in Marvel Mystery Comics#2 (December, 1939), page
11, on
land bullets bounce of Namor's skin, yet in other Timely
stories (not all, but a lot he his seen dodging or hiding from bullets
on land). In the Nazi invasion of Atlantis in Sub-Mariner Comics#1, he
was even
knocked unconscious underwater from a bullet (with bullets
traveling slower in water
than in air). I have seen a boulder hit his head and not knock him out,
but a
blackjack or gun or other object and he is out like a light, so it
seems to me
that Namor's durability in Timely comics comes and goes.
As for life on Venus (especially Human or Humanoid (human-looking), the obvious
answer is Atlantean, Muan or Inhuman colony living underground. This also works for
Human-looking life on every planet in the Sol system.
John Holstein
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Queen Jarna should not be confused with:
and has no known connections to:
(Marvel Mystic Comics#25/2)
- Joseph was one of the butlers of the house where Jarna hid "on dry
land" in Florida. He was in the service of the German spy.
When Namor skulked into the house where Jarna "lived," Joseph was among the enemies that waited for him. The other butler gave the order, and they assaulted the undersear. They tangled with him for a short time, but Namor swung them easily apart when he saw the Nazi with a handgun.
Both the butlers obeyed Jarna when she gave instructions about the prisoner.
They drove to the beach and left Namor to Jarna's
cares, after which they went back home.
(Marvel Mystic Comics#26/2 (fb)
- BTS) - Namor told Luther to report about the Nazi
spy to the authorities
--Marvel Mystic Comics#25/2
Note: Joseph and the other butler spoke English without an obvious accent, so they probably were American Nazi sympathizers, as opposed to the Nazi accomplice who had a strong German accent.
images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystic
Comics#25/2, p6, pan4 (main image, Jarna talking to
the Lavarites)
Marvel Mystic
Comics#25/2, p7, pan5 (Jarna, portrait shot)
Marvel Mystic
Comics#26/2, p5, pan8 (Jarna using a shock gun)
Marvel Mystic
Comics#25/2, p10, pan6 (from left to right: the
unnamed butler, Namor, Joseph and Jarna)
Appearances:
Marvel Mystic
Comics#25/2 (November,
1941) - Bill Everett (writer, art and lettering)
Marvel Mystic
Comics#26/2 (December,
1941) - Bill Everett (writer,
art and lettering)
First posted: 03/21/2023
Last updated: 03/26/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and ©
1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this
stuff, you should check out the real thing!
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