Dean, Elizabeth

Elizabeth "Betty" Prentiss, Nee Dean, was an American Police Officer in during '40s and '50s.

## Elizabeth Dean-Prentiss

### Aliases

Betty Dean, Officer Dean, Betty Prentiss, Mrs. Prentiss

### Relatives

Unnamed parents, Namorita (foster daughter, dead), Blake Prentiss (husband, dead), Frank Ray (brother), Jimmy, Lloyd (brother), Baby (sister)

### Affiliation

Ally of Namor and Namorita, Hydro-Men, NYPD

### Occupation

Adventurer; reporter (formerly) and police officer

## Biographical information

### Place of birth

New York, United States of America, Earth, Sol system, Space Sector 2814

### Date of death

Sacrificed herself to save Namor from a shot by Dr. Dorcas

### Place of death

Hydrobase, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Sol system, Space Sector 2814

## Physical description

### Eye color

Blue, Hair: Grey-haired,Blond (in youth) (formerly),Dyed Black,Dyed Brown

## History

### Early Life

Betty Dean was one of five siblings, whose father was a police officer. Growing up as a child, Betty was an avid swimmer and had aspirations to join the police force following in her father's footsteps. Her brothers Lloyd, Jimmy, and Frank went on to join the military, her sister Baby -- the black sheep of the family -- ended up marrying Chuck "Slug" McCarthy and fled the country after Slug for murdering a man.

She attended New York University, where an employment aptitude test suggested that her career was to be a grammar teacher. She still pursued her desire to become a police officer, with her mothers full support. She graduated from the New York City police academy at age 27 and was a full fledged police woman by 1937.

### Police Woman

When Emperor Thakorr sent the Sub-Mariner to terrorize the surface world in the 1939, the young prince set to make New York City the staging ground of his conquest of the surface. After a number of attacks, Betty Dean was assigned to trick the Sub-Mariner who was observed coming to the aid of women in peril. Betty then pretended to be drowning, and the Sub-Mariner came to her rescue. When she spotted an U-boat from Nazi Germany, she tried to convince Namor to cease hostilities against the United States and attack their mutual enemy the Nazis. Namor, compelled by her argument complied. After Namor defeated these invaders, Betty convinced him to join the war effort. This first encounter began a long association between Namor and Betty Dean as both allies and enemies over the years.

When Namor returned to New York and was incarcerated by the authorities, Betty convinced her superiors to let Namor to assist in stopping mobster Mills Gilligan, which led to Namor being considered a hero. However, this was short lived as Namor was put to trail for the earlier murder of the police officer. While Betty pleaded his case due to his assistance of mankind, legal officials had his food drugged to try and insure his death in the electric chair. Found guilty, Namor was sentenced to death in the chair. However, the chair restored his powers and Namor broke free and accused Betty of betraying him before escaping and vowing to renew his hostilities against humanity.

When Namor returned to New York to renew his hostilities, Betty warned Namor that if he did not stop his attack on the city the authorities would send the Human Torch after him. When Namor refused to stand down, Betty herself sought the aid of the Torch to stop Namor, although she attempted to convince the hero that Namor was not truly evil but to no avail. The battle eventually ended with the Sub-Mariner and Human Torch in a stalemate, which ended when Betty Dean convinced the two combatants to stand down if Namor agreed to leave New York. Namor accepted the agreement and soon left, considering the Torch a worthy adversary.

In **September** of 1940 Betty witnessed as Namor allowed a Nazi U-boat hiding out in New York harbor escape and was disheartened to learn that Namor was reconsidering his position on the Nazis. However, after Namor realized the Nazis ruthless ways, he went back to Betty and advised her that he would renew his opposition to the Third Reich. Shortly after this, when Namor sought the assistance of the Human Torch, he went to Betty to find him, only to learn he was on a mission elsewhere.

Over the passing months, the Sub-Mariner captured surface dwellers Luther Robinson and Lynne Harris and forced them to live in Antarctic Atlantis. When Luther managed to get a distress call out to the surface world, Betty Dean gathered her Legion of Loyalists to rescue them. Escaping Namor's domain, Betty, Luther and Lynne were captured by Nazi agents and ironically freed by Namor. Betty once more convinced Namor to focus his energies on fighting the Nazis and agreed. Betty and the others then assisted Namor in building more Aero-Subs to attack a Nazi fleet, trouncing them in a sound victory.

In the spring of 1941, Betty began investigating the disappearance of American scientist Philo Zogolowski and his robot Electro. With the aid of the Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, Toro, the Ferret, and the Angel they exposed a Nazi plot with the aid of Dr. Manyac to create an army of robotic Green Flames as part of Operation: Blockbuster, a plot to invade the United States. Later, when Namor sought to get a supply of Radium to cure his people of a disease, Betty informed him that a supply was recently stolen by Nazi agents, prompting Namor to recover it. Betty later got Namor's aid to expose fight ruthless boxer Killer Casey on behalf of her neighbor Danny Dougherty who was crippled by the boxer. Betty returned the favor by accompanying Namor to investigate strange plane crashes outside of New York. There she used her feminine charm to infiltrate a Nazi cell and help expose it. Vacationing with Luther and Lynn in Florida, they discovered some strange goings on in the area and once more summoned Namor's assistance. Namor exposed a Nazi alliance between the Lavorites and their leader Queen Jarna, supposed aliens from Venus.

Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Army, Betty left her job as a police woman to become a reporter.

### Reporter

One of Betty's earliest recorded jobs as a reporter was the witness the transport of a Radium-X supply from Africa to the United States for study. Escorting the transport ship was the Sub-Mariner. Soon the ship was attacked by a Nazi agent calling himself the Teutonic Knight. The Knight succeeded in stealing the Radium-X, defeating the Sub-Mariner before Betty's eyes.

### 1942

At the beginning of 1942 as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was returning to the UK following a state visit, Betty was one of the members of the press allowed to cover the story. The ship was targeted by rogue Atlantean and Axis agent U-Man. However, Namor and his allies the Invaders came to Betty and Churchill's rescue, saving both lives.

Following America's entry into World War II, her brothers were sent to Wake Island to battle the Imperial Japanese Army and were captured. Betty convinced Namor to assist in rescuing her brothers. Later in the year, Betty was named in the will of eccentric millionaire and prankster Reuben Hartnett whom she previously assisted in a previous case. Bringing Namor along with her to the will reading they exposed Mr. Smythe, Hartnett's lawyer posing as Hartnett's ghost to insure he obtained his former employers fortune. When the military was seeking to learn the source creating giant sea monsters, they had Betty Dean call Namor to assist revealing a Nazi plot creating the monsters to destroy American ships. As the year came to a close, Betty went undercover working for whale poacher Captain Cutter. Her mission was complicated when Namor stumbled upon it, but with the heroes assistance they succeeded in shutting down his operation.

Better interactions with Namor became more sparse, but she assisted him in exposing Herr Brunder who was attempting to sabotage a USO show, and helped discover a Nazi U-boat hidden under a showboat. When Betty was sent to London to cover the story of Namor transporting the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London to Fort Knox for safe keeping, Betty was refused to be allowed aboard his ship. She was soon captured by the minions of the Bloody Baron who sought to steal the jewels. Namor rescued Betty and they both escaped the Bloody Baron's clutches.

Betty's constant association with the Sub-Mariner soon landed her in danger when Nazis kidnapped her in order to force Namor to do their bidding. However the Sub-Mariner overcame the situation and rescued Betty. Later when Nazis were managing to sink American ships in secret, she would use her connections to contact Namor and discover the source. While in San Francisco, a date with Namor turned into an adventure in which Betty assisted Namor in catching Dr. Suki's plot to escape his relocation camp to help mark targets for his superiors who would send bombers to blow them up. Betty later took up a volunteer job looking after orphaned children in China. There he life was threatened by Imperial Japanese forces but she and her young charges were saved thanks to the Sub-Mariner.

When Betty began reporting about a series of tornadoes in the area, she deduces that the tornadoes apparently had minds of their owns. The FBI were not willing to believe this until both Betty and Namor investigating revealing the tornadoes as being the creations of Japanese agent Yellow Fang and his modified blimp. Back on the west coast, Betty wrote an expose on a Nazi plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge. Once more earning the ire of Nazi operatives, Betty was once more kidnapped and rescued from danger by the Sub-Mariner. When Namor, the Human Torch and Captain America were being considered for a secret mission to take down the newly formed Hydra. They questioned Betty about Namor's loyalties. Betty explained to them that while Namor had no love for surface dwellers but understood that the Nazis were the greater evil. Betty was depicted here in a US Navy uniform, however there is no evidence showing that she was ever a member of the navy. Shortly after this, Betty planned a date with Namor and ultimately stood him up. When she finally caught up with him, Namor had completely forgot about their date as he stumbled upon a Nazi spy cell in the process of waiting for her.

Later, the city of Detroit was becoming the subject of what appeared to be air raids. However, she and Namor discovered that Japanese spies hiding across the Canadian border were using a massive cannon to launch their bombs at their target and disassembled the operation. After that, Betty aided Namor in exposing a group of mobsters who were exploiting gasoline rations by causing a racket out of defrauding coupons using during a time of military rationing. When rival newspaper the Star was able to get the stories well before any of the other papers. Betty disguised herself and got a job as a press secretary for one of their reporters. Her investigation, with the aid of the Sub-Mariner exposed the newspaper as a front for Nazi sabotage. When covering the trail of a Red Cross ship heading to Africa, Betty was captured by Baron von Wetzel. Betty was able to kick a bucket of water on Namor revitalizing his strength and allowing the pair to escape. When a groups of American sailors suddenly spontaneously burst into flames. Learning that they were all given a sweater by a beautiful woman, Betty accompanied the Sub-Mariner to the club where the woman was last spotted. Exposing that the coated with white metal sodium which burst into flames when wet. When Namor confronted the girl her men attacked him and Betty was dragged away as a prisoner but she was ultimately saved by the Sub-Mariner.

While out duck hunting in the Great Lakes Region, Betty discovered Nazi spies led by Herr Swastika who was attempting to sink American freighters and destroy water filtration plans. Although Betty and Namor were captured the two managed to break free and brought the two to justice.

Later while out covering the deaths of law officials from freak lightning storms in New England, Betty is captured by Klug a deformed criminal who is responsible for the deaths, prompting Namor to come to her rescue. Betty then travelled around the United States covering various stories, usually with a nautical theme, and calling on Namor to help in her reports, often ending with Namor once more saving her from peril. First she went to Boston to investigate pirates who were robbing fishing ships off Cape Cod, investigated the so-called Ghost of Yesteryear haunting Sea Island Hotel, a boat race between Bred Trent and Dr. Scarr. Later, Betty is kidnapped by Mr. White who murdered his rival Roy Winters in order to steal his new prototype motorboat engine, necessitating Namor to rescue her once again. Betty next takes Namor with her to a party being thrown by Gaillard Herzog whose scientist husband Dr. Simon Herzog disappeared years earlier. Herzog, having become hideously deformed was secretly hiding in the mansion and carrying on grisly experiments to create horrible deformities in humans. Betty almost became his next victim until she was rescued by Namor.

Betty later investigated the escape of three killers from Rockville Prison, and the disappearance of key military officials at the hands of Nazi agent the Black Demon. While on vacation at the Sea View resort with her reporter friend Ed Jordan, Ed is killed by local racketeers, prompting Namor to investigative and avenge Jordan's death. Betty later helped Namor capture some blackmailers, helped investigate a black market alcohol ring, and helped Namor capture diamond thief Nick Finelli. Later, when Namor was investigating Jack Hillary, an Atlantic City swimming show promoter, Betty helped hide Dotty Benson who had been framed for the murder. With Betty and Dotty's help, Namor was able to capture the real killer. When Betty learned of a group of modern day pirates robbing and stealing yachts, she contacted Namor giving him the lead he needed to capture Zako and his band of pirates. Later when she learned about Captain Rutger's claims of finding the location of secret pirate gold at Sea Cove, she brought the doubtful Namor along with her. When Rutger was murdered, the pair exposed Ed, his step-son, as the killer.

### Post WWII

With the war over, Betty found some distance between her and Namor, but she managed to get herself getting involved in some of his cases, often finding herself a target. Herself life was first imperilled when she became a target by death mask maker Franz Egraus, and was saved at the last moment by the Sub-Mariner. She later helped Namor look into the murder of sailors at a rooming house exposing the owners Jack and Martha Prentice as the killers, part of an insurance scheme. When young Tommy Wilkins was framed for murder, Betty tried to protect the boy and helped Namor capture the real killer and clear Tommy's name. Betty also covered the story on Namor's capture of Lynch Mason's mob and their benefactor the mind-reading Wizard of Crime, and an attempt by Larry Batten to drive heiress Lucille Kennedy insane. Betty also reported on mysterious sports injuries and deaths that led Namor to capture hypnotist and sports gambler Sardu the Mystic.

After snapping a photograph of the late Mickey Wilson's yacht, Betty Dean became a target of criminals seeking its location to recover his stolen loot. She was saved by Pete Logan, whom she begins to become attracted too. With the help of Pete and Namor, Betty recovered the stolen loot and captured the crooks, but was disappointed to learn that Pete Logan was really Mickey Wilson's son who sought to obtain his father's stolen loot for himself. Betty next assisted Namor in exposing corruption in the government of a small riverside town, missed out on Namor's capture of Moudini the Marvel while she was busy interviewing a bearded lady at a freak show, and helped Namor nab master criminal Baron Aaroni. Later she helped Namor gather clues to a series of mysterious murders where models in California were being killed by seemingly giant spiders. With these clues, Namor tracked down the killer, insane inventor Tom Hendricks. Later, information Betty provides to Namor helps him nab the murderer of Lucien Dennis.

Betty was later responsible for, but not directly involved, in bringing Namor to events that led to various battles. The first was taking Namor to an auction of a bronze and jade statue that held the key to liberating the island of Tareda from its evil dictator and replacing him with a democracy. The second was when Betty brought Namor out to a banquet being help by city doctors, Betty was witness to murders perpetrated by the Headless Man, whom Namor brought to justice. She also assisted Namor in investigating the Ace Gang and the "Green-Out" robberies of Amkenon. Betty also tipped Namor off to a series of strange suicides of wealthy men that led to the defeat of mad scientist Dr. Feerce who attempted to threaten the world with an Electro-Bomb.

Betty spent much of 1947 continuing her work as a newspaper reporter, often inviting Namor to events that led to one adventure or another. Early in the year she invited Namor along with her to attend a yacht party being thrown by wealthy theater producer Walter Clark. The party was inspired by *Alice in Wonderland*, which Clark was producing at that time. The party goers were terrorized by a man disguised as the Mad Hatter who had seemingly made the lead actress grow in high. Mad Hatter soon blackmailed Clark and murdered him, but he Sub-Mariner captured him and revealed the Hatter to be Walter's nephew Roy who sought to claim his uncles fortune. Following a series of ship robberies carried out by the Corsair, Betty's editor reassigned her as Society Editor to get into the party as a cover in order to get the scoop on a potential robbery by the Corsair. Betty called in Namor to watch over the party, and when the Corsair and his men attacked the ship, Namor stopped them cold.

Betty next began writing an article on salvage operations, inviting Namor to join her. However, Betty was almost suffocated by a deckhand named Gallery who she discovered the S.S. Albatross sunken at the bottom of the ocean, which contained a fortune in ivory. Betty and Namor worked together to stop Gallery from murdering everyone who knew about the ivory. Soon after, Betty invited Namor to join her to a theatrical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's *The Raven*. This outing turned out to be a murder mystery when someone murdered Professor Ramsey and stole a valuable manuscript of Poe's work. Betty saved Namor from the killer, who turned out to be Ramsey's student Waldo Evan. Following this, Betty was sent to Ireland on assignment to write a newspaper article about legendary Killmore Castle. Bringing Namor with her, she learned that the castle was supposedly guarded by three dragons. With the aid of a pair of American tourists, they entered the castle where Namor prevented the maid and butler from driving their master insane and claim the house for himself. Betty also helped Namor research the background of Senior Valdevez, who was supposedly an ambassador from a South American country come to America to collect a jewel necklace, a gift from the United States, and bring it to his come country. Through their research, they learned that he was really international jewel thief Jade Nelson, whom Namor brought to justice.

Later, when Namor brought his cousin Namora to the surface world, Betty allowed Namora to stay at her home. Soon after, Betty began to be harassed by millionaire Vincent King who wanted Betty to marry him, and threatened to have her lose her job. Seeking relief from the pest, Betty asked Namor to tell him to back off. Instead, Namor was framed for Victor's murder by contortionist Leonard Lajo, but Namor eventually cleared his own name. When Betty attempted to assist Namor with his old foe the Shark from sabotaging a salvage operation to steal the gold it was trying to recover, Betty found herself captured by the Shark and his men, however she was eventually saved by Namor and the Shark brought to justice. Later, Betty and Namor stumbled upon a criminal racket that cost the lives of various society women who could not repay their gambling debts. She then accompanied Namor and Namora to Florida to investigate the disappearance of many young attractive women. They followed the trail to the movie set of Sari Tartar a former actress whose horribly burned face ended her career. Now a director Sari forced the trio to do her bidding and tortured them along with the other missing girls, until Namor was able to free them and bring Sari to justice.

As the decade marched closer to the end, Betty's interaction with the Sub-Mariner began to decrease drastically, especially with the addition to Namora to aid in his post-war crime fighting, however they managed to stay in touch and Betty still regularly assisted Namor in his various adventures. Betty asked the Sub-Mariner and Namora to watch over a boat race around Viking Island, where the two Atlanteans prevented the Viking from sabotaging the event. Later, Betty assisted Namor and Namora in stopping the Tinfish from murdering his brother an inheriting his family fortune so he could try and use it to resurrect the Nazi Party. Betty was later aboard a vessel which was sunk by the pirate known as Blackbeard who was attempting to steal a load of diamonds on board. Rescued by Namora, Betty assisted her and the Sub-Mariner in apprehending Blackbeard and his crew. Next, Betty was hired along with the Sub-Mariner and Namora by the government to help escort a shipment of gold bullion heading for South America. The trio succeeded in preventing hijackers from stealing the valuable cargo.

Later, Betty Dean was approached at her office by young Jane Starr, whose brother got into trouble by assisting car thieves only to be framed for the murder of a police office. Betty puts Jane in touch with the Sub-Mariner and Namora, who assist in clearing Jackie Starr's name. Betty was later hired by the Sub-Mariner to photograph oil thieves in the act of using an oil boring device stolen from an inventor to steal oil. Some time later, Betty Dean was asked to invite the Sub-Mariner to be the guest of honor at a publishers testimonial. When Betty and Namora failed to convince Namor to wear a tuxedo to the event they went to speak with the publishers organizing the event. Everyone agreed to wear swim trunks in order to make Namor feel comfortable, but everyone was soon surprised when Namor finally arrive dressed in a tux, his conscience having convinced him to do the right thing. Betty Dean later asked Namor and Namora to investigate a series of unsolved thefts at the mansion of Hiram King. The pair helped Betty get a scoop on the story when they uncovered that the thefts were carried out by King's step-daughter to pay off her gambling debts to Snake Wilson. After this, Betty began doing charity work for St. John's Orphanage in New York. During this time she and Namora convinced Namor to take the children on a trip to visit the Statue of Liberty.

One night, Betty Dean was confronted by Professor Elistis Diggenwell who demanded to the see the Sub-Mariner. Betty helped Diggenwell track down Namor, but realized the exercise was a waste of time as Diggenwell tried to prove his theory that Namor's ability to swim was impossible as they defied the laws of science. Diggenwell got tossed in a river for his trouble. In one of her more prankish moments, Betty later convinced Namor to be a judge in a beauty pageant, which Namor soon realized -- to his horror -- was for babies, as opposed to young women as he had hoped. Soon, as her romantic feelings for Namor began to wane, Betty became interested in marine biologist John Harris. However, Harris was so absorbed in his work he would not notice or give Betty the time of day. She contrived a mermaid hoax with the help of the Sub-Mariner and Namora which succeeded in getting Harris to finally notice her and take Betty out on a date. However, it would appear that they did not work out together as Betty had not dated him since.

By 1949, Betty's involvement in Namor's life had reached an all time low. While on an expedition along the Orinoco River in Venezuela, Betty and her expedition were captured by the cannibalistic Carib tribe. She was later rescued by the Sub-Mariner and Namora. While having some downtime with Namor, Betty was told an Atlantean myth about Tolan and the sinking of Atlantis.

Betty next took a vacation with Namora aboard a cruise ship. She took the time to finish writing her true crime novel, particularly a chapter on the mysterious disappearance of criminal Harry Seller. As coincidence would have it, Seller had been struck with amnesia and had assumed a new identity of Captain Forest, the very captain of their ship. The ship was taken over by Seller's old partner Mike Roden who subdued Betty and Namora and restored Seller's memories with a blow to the head. The pair robbed the ship and tried to flee from the arriving Sub-Mariner, but Seller was left behind suffering another blow to the head restoring his Forest identity. The Sub-Mariner and Namora captured Roden and his gang, and Betty was able to get the story to finish her novel.

Shortly thereafter, Namor returned to the ocean to refocus himself on his people and Namora went north, leaving Betty to resume her life without them.

### 1950s

In 1953 a series of mysterious ship sinkings prompted the Navy to contact Betty Dean so she could seek the assistance of the Sub-Mariner. Namor agreed to help and revealed the sinkings were the caused by robotic aliens claiming to come from the planet Venus, and defeated them. Betty then became active in Namor's life again, accompanying him on many adventures. After a vacation with Betty in Europe, their plane back to the United States was shot down by communist agents posing as aliens who were attempting to hold hostages in bizarre plot to force the United States to give up its atomic research. Namor escaped captivity and led the Navy to the island and rescued the hostages and Betty. Betty Dean later convinced Namor accompany her to Brazil to investigate sightings of a massive lizard dubbed King Crocodile, helping the beats creature get him to a preserve in Florida.

Due to his constant interference in communist plots, Russian operative Zuko attempted to eliminate the Sub-Mariner, kidnapping Betty Dean as part of his plot. Attacking Namor aboard his stealth submarine, Zuko was defeated by Namor and Betty was rescued. By this time Betty had grown increasingly jealous of the amount of time Namor spent with his cousin and when the two left on a secret task, she followed after them, unaware they were looking for pearls to make into a necklace as a surprise for Betty. Putting on diving gear and following after them in the ocean, Betty was attacked by octopi, necessitating her rescue. When explanations were made all around, Namora and Namor assured Betty that she had nothing to be jealous of.

Around this time Byrrah began attempting to usurp Namor's authority in Atlantis, convincing Emperor Thakorr to resume hostilities against the surface world. When Byrrah launched an attack against South America, Namor was blamed. The authorities called on Betty Dean to assist in their capture of Namor due to her past history of him. Not wishing a war between his people and the surface world, believing it was one his people couldn't win, Namor surrendered and convinced the authorities to let him thwart the invasion. Taking control of the invasion fleet, Namor led them into a trap forcing them to retreat. For his reprieved betrayal Namor was exiled from Atlantis by Emperor Thakorr. Returning to the surface world, Namor accepted an invitation from Professor Zunbar who wished the Sub-Mariner's help in his experiments. When Namor went missing Betty called the authorities, and arrived just in time to see Namor foil Professor Zunbar's mad experiments.

When the world's surface water was stolen by the Lunarians of the so-called Second Moon, the world's governments blamed Namor. When Betty Dean informed Namor of this, he was furious and willing to let the surface world suffer from dehydration. Betty was next visited by Namora who came seeking the Sub-Mariner because Atlantis was also at risk of extinction. Betty explained what happened to Namor, and Namora returned to Atlantis where his mother Princess Fen communicated the danger convincing Namor to return the water to Earth. When Byrrah sent a robot duplicate of the Sub-Mariner to terrorize New York, Betty was convinced that Namor returned to his old ways. When she confronted the real Namor, he didn't understand what she was talking about and left in a fury. She was later kidnapped by the robotic impostor and was soon saved by Namor who destroyed the robot.

In 1955, Betty mostly acted as an informant to the Sub-Mariner whenever there was danger and became less involved in the resulting conflicts. She warned Namor of the Fatalists a group of men selling a death-ray device to other nations who claimed to be from Pluto and later asked Namor's help when the Nautilus was attacking ships at sea. However, due to the fact that Betty was becoming older and Namor's slowed aging, the two eventually drifted away and did not see each other for many decades.

### Modern

#### Nita's Guardian

When Namor was reunited with Namorita, he soon decided that his young cousin (bereft of parents and an undersea homeland) needed a proper guardian at this important age of growth. Despite Nita's protest, Namor left her to Betty and reassured her that Betty was a shining beacon of warmth, kindness and strength. Under Betty's guidance, Nita attended high school and college. The two became very close and Nita eventually considered Betty to be her second mother.

#### Death

Later, Dr. Herman Frayne (Dr. Hydro) decided to conquer Atlantis so he began hijacking airplanes and forcing them to land on Hydrobase. Once there, the passengers were taken into a chamber, where Hydro exposed them to the Terrigen derivative, mutating them into amphibians (of which there was no known cure at the time). One of the hijacked a planes carried Namorita and Betty. Namorita was unaffected by the gas, but Betty was transformed into one of the amphibious Hydro-Men.
Hydro attacked Atlantis but he was defeated and killed. Unfortunately, the Atlanteans were rendered comatose by a nerve gas during the fight. While Namor tried to find a cure for the Atlanteans, the villains Tiger Shark, Attuma, and Dr. Dorcas launched an assault on Hydrobase and imprisoned Namor in a dehydration chamber. Dr. Doom came to the rescue (at this time he was an ally with Namor) and teamed-up with the newly amphibious Betty. During the rescue, Dorcas attempted to kill Namor, but Betty jumped in front of the blast and was herself killed.

## Attributes

### Abilities

Highly athletic, excellent swimmer, and a skilled detective.