SHARK

Real Name: Verrill Shark

Identity/Class: Human technology user (World War II to late 1940s)

Occupation: Criminal; former Axis agent

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Agent Axis, Hyena (Henry Mortonson), Nazis, several henchmen and crewmates (including Bennie, Mike, Joe, Johnson, others)

Enemies: All-Winners Squad (Bucky/Fred Davis, Captain America/William Nasland, Human Torch/Jim Hammond, Miss America/Madeline Joyce, Whizzer/Bob Frank), Sheila Barrow, Betty Dean, Deep-Sea Dan (Dan Barrow), Invaders (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Human Torch/Jim Hammond, Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie), Lt. Jacques, Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Hammerhead"

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 (Summer, 1947)

Powers/Abilities: Verrill Shark had no known superhuman abilities, though his head was weirdly shaped for a human, and his mouth was filled with pointed teeth--it is unknown if he had his teeth altered. He was usually armed with a handgun.

After his first arrest, he heavily leaned into the shark-theme, first using a shark-themed boat with shark-themed weaponry. He later used a stolen Nazi battle-suit with an added shark emblem and shark helmet. The battle-suit was a prototype that gave its wearer superhuman strength and durability, along with the ability to survive and move at high speeds underwater.

Height: 5'5" (by approximation)
Weight: 150 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:
(Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Dan Barrow testified against Shark in a criminal case.

   At some point, Shark and his crew stole depth-bombs from the Navy.

(Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 - BTS) - Shark had Dan's daughter Sheila kidnapped and blew up Dan's salvage vessel Don Juan with the stolen depth-bombs while some of Dan's men were looting gold bullion from the sunken Spanish ship Marta Carla.

(Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1) - On his own vessel, Shark gloated to some members of his crew about killing Dan with the depth-bombs. He was going to force Sheila to sign over the salvage rights to the Marta Carla, unaware Namor and Betty Dean, were on his trail. Shark had Sheila tied up and told his men to get some hot irons from the engine room to torture her. Betty confronted Shark and his men with a gun, but she was knocked out and tied up as well. Shark then gave the order to start with the looting of the Marta Carla immediately. Namor was already at the salvage site, but was chained up by Shark's men and tossed overboard, which didn't do much against him. Underwater, Namor quickly took down Shark's divers and then went after Shark himself, who was surprised to see him so quickly again after he was tossed overboard. Unafraid of Shark's gun, Namor threw Shark like a projectile against his own men and then chocked Shark until he told him that Sheila was in his cabin. Namor was surprised to find Betty with Sheila. During their escape, one of Shark's men used dynamite against them, and the blast threw Shark, the women and Namor overboard. Namor saved Shark from drowning and took him to Betty's ship, where he was arrested by the U.S. coast guard, who had heard the explosion on Shark's vessel.

(Invaders Annual#1 (fb) - BTS) - Nazis broke Shark out of prison and hired him to steal the Sub-Mariner's trunks, so they could get their hands on the waterproof, pressure-resistant Atlantean materials they were made of.

(Invaders Annual#1 - BTS) <1942> - When word got out that Agent Axis, the Hyena and the Shark were active again on the East Coast, Major Rawlings and Colonel Farrow hired the Invaders (Captain America, Human Torch and Namor) in the name of the police and F.B.I. to capture them again.

   Shark threatened to destroy a British freighter and shot a gimmicked, shark-themed torpedo at it shortly after the Sub-Mariner arrived on the scene. Namor caught the torpedo and was going to turn it around when the torpedo hit him with thousands of volts of electricity, rendering him unconscious.

   While the Sub-Mariner was unconscious, the Shark removed his trunks and had his henchmen chain him on his shark-themed boat.

(Invaders Annual#1) - When the Sub-Mariner revived, the Shark revealed mockingly that the British freighter was never his target. He revealed the Nazis had hired him to get his hands on the Sub-Mariner's trunks, that Hyena and Agent Axis had already succeeded in their mission, and that Namor's colleagues had inexplicably vanished. The Shark kept droning on about the Third Reich's plan to have their scientists analyze the trunk's materials to create suits for an army of Nazi divers that could attack coastal cities from U-boats far off shore. When the Sub-Mariner mocked one of Shark's henchmen, the oaf doused the hero with a bucket of water he was carrying, not realizing it would give the Sub-Mariner the strength to break free from the chains. The Sub-Mariner tossed the two henchmen overboard, but Shark had already armed himself with a gun and shot at the Sub-Mariner, hoping to hit a soft spot on his body, but the Sub-Mariner suddenly vanished into thin air.

   Later Agent Axis, Hyena and Shark were aboard Shark's boat, on their way to rendezvous with a German U-boat to hand over Captain America's shield (stolen by Agent Axis), Namor's trunks (stolen by Shark) and a vial of the Human Torch's android blood (stolen by the Hyena). They were attacked by the returning Invaders. Namor flew in and knocked out Shark, who was maneuvering the boat, with a single punch that threw him overboard. Namor fished him out of the water and dropped him on his boat, and then Namor pulled Shark's boat to the shore with the three defeated Nazi agents inside while a U.S. destroyer dealt with the German U-Boat.

(Sub-Mariner - Marvels Snapshot#1 (fb) - BTS) <1945> - Shortly before the Invaders stormed Berlin, Verrill Shark stole a prototype battle-suit from the Nazis.

(Sub-Mariner - Marvels Snapshot#1) <Spring 1946> - Shark and two henchmen shot a guard in the leg and, using the battle-suit, broke into the office of the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey to rob the tens of thousands of dollars they had made. Namor, who was at the park with Betty Dean, heard the shot and found the trio at the office. He immediately recognized Shark's voice, and while Betty took care of the injured guard, Namor attacked the three criminals. After knocking out the two henchmen, Namor punched the battle-suit's chestplate, revealing a swastika beneath the shark image. Namor flipped out and punched the armored Shark through the office wall and a power pole, which blew the power out in the park. Their brutal fight damaged several rides. The All-Winners Squad arrived to help Namor by stopping him from causing more damage. Miss America carried the armored Shark outside and tossed him into the ocean, hoping he would not put up much of a fight in the water. But Namor knew that water was the Shark's element in that suit, and he followed him. He caught up with the Shark and pulled him out of the water, tossing him through the park's sign. The Human Torch tried to stop Namor from killing Shark, but Namor pushed him aside and ripped open the battle-suit; but before he could go for the kill, Whizzer pulled Shark out of the suit and handed him over to the police, who arrested the criminal.

Comments: Created by Bill Everett.

In Invaders Annual I#1, it was noted that Sub-Mariner's previous encounter with Shark was not chronicled until Sub-Mariner Comics#23 (Summer 1947) due to wartime priorities. It did take place before Invaders Annual I#1, though it is unrevealed when.

While he seemed like a pretty normal criminal in Sub-Mariner Comics#23, he was all about branding in his other two appearances.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Shark should not be confused with:

Shark's boat

While employed by the Nazis, Shark used a shark-themed boat, which could shoot a shark-themed torpedo. The torpedo could release thousands of volts of electricity upon contact. It is unrevealed if this torpedo, which was apparently remote-controlled, even had explosives inside.

--Invaders Annual#1

Sheila Barrow

Sheila was the daughter of salvage operator Dan Barrow. She was kidnapped by Mike and Joe, two of Shark's henchmen, who brought her to Clancy's place. Namor followed them and saved her as soon as they were gone. He took her to Betty Dean's ship and called Betty. They learned from Sheila that the kidnapping probably had something to do with her father receiving the salvage rights for the Marta Carla. While Namor took off to swim to the salvage site to investigate, Mike and Joe, who had seen Namor save Sheila, boarded Betty's ship and kidnapped Sheila again after locking up Betty inside her own cabin. Betty followed them to Shark's vessel. Shark ordered to have Sheila, the heiress of Dan's operation, bound and later tortured to force her to sign over the salvage rights to the Marta Carla after her father had seemingly died in an explosion caused by Shark. Betty came to Sheila's aid, but was knocked out and placed in Shark's cabin beside Sheila.

   A short time later, Namor saved both women from Shark's cabin, but they were thrown overboard by an explosion alongside Shark when one of Shark's henchmen used dynamite against them. Sheila, Betty, Namor and Shark made it to Betty's ship, where Sheila told the arriving coast guard that Shark's revenge plot against her father was in retaliation for Dan testifying against him in the past. She was glad to learn that her father had survived the explosion on his ship.

--Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1

Deep-Sea Dan

(Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, salvage operator Dan Barrow (aka. Deep-See Dan) testified against Shark in a criminal case.

   One day, he received the salvage right for the Marta Carla, a Spanish ship that sunk with a cargo of gold bullion.

(Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 - BTS) - Shark sought his revenge against Dan by kidnapping Dan's daughter Sheila and taking the salvage rights for the Marta Carla from him.

   While some of Dan's men were looting gold from the Marta Carla, Shark had Dan's ship the Don Juan blown up with depth-bombs. The ship quickly sank, but Dan survived and was picked up by the coast guard.

--Sub-Mariner Comics#23 ([Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 (fb)], [23/1]

images (without ads)
Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1, p10, pan6 (main)
Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1, p8, pan1 (head shot)
Invaders Annual#1, p21, pan5 (Nazi agent body shot)
Invaders Annual#1, p22, pan1 (Nazi agent head shot)
Sub-Mariner - Marvels Snapshot#1, p10, pan5 (in armor, shark emblem)
Sub-Mariner - Marvels Snapshot#1, p19, pan4 (in armor, underwater)
Invaders Annual#1, p30, pan4 (Shark's boat, side)
Invaders Annual#1, p31, pan2 (Shark's boat, front)
Invaders Annual#1, p21, pan1 (Shark torpedo)
Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1, p1 (Sheila Barrow)

Appearances:
Sub-Mariner Comics#23/1 (Summer, 1947) - Bill Everett (writer/artist/letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Invaders Annual#1 (1977) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor)
   Story 1 & 5: Frank Robbins (pencils), Frank Springer (inks)
   Story 4: Lee Elias (pencils), Frank Springer (inks)
Sub-Mariner - Marvels Snapshot#1 (May, 2020) - Alan Brennert (writer), Jerry Ordway (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 10/08/2020
Last updated: 10/08/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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