Showcase (1956) 79

Showcase 79 is the bridge we’ll use to travel to National Dolphin Day today.

Jay Scott Pike created the waterborne waif in 1968 for Showcase comics in issue 79. Not until 1986 in Secret Origins (1986) 50, did her origin appear. According to Steve Bove and Richard Bruning, Dolphin was swept from a cruise ship deck at a very young age. Her subsequent survival is courtesy of aliens who abduct and experiment on her. She is transformed into an aquatic being with webbed fingers and toes, gills and white hair.

Showcase (1956) 79

In addition, Dolphin is granted superhuman strength allowing her to adapt to the pressures of the deep. Her aging process is also slowed.

Dolphin escaped her captivity and is later domesticated by a crew of an oceanology ship. They are the ones who dub her Dolphin.

Over time she has been integrated with the DC Universe, most notably with Animal Man (1988) during Grant Morrison’s run on the title.

National Dolphin Day is listed as part of the American Veterinary Medical Association Pet Health Awareness Events. Those wishing to acknowledge the day on social media may do so:  #NationalDolphinDay.