Groovy Chick Month 3: Tula

Today's groovy chick was not merely groovy but pro-actively groovy: Aqualad's first girlfriend, Tula, the Aquachick.

As the go-go checked cover of her first comic put it, "Meet Aqua-Girl! She's wild, wet, and whacky!"

Gosh, that sounds naughty. Particularly the "whack-y" part, which conjures visions of that popular fetish, underwater spanking. Tula: Strap of Atlantis!

Somehow, the whole idea really puts Aqualad in context, doesn't it?

"But, Tula! I'm too afraid to frug! What if I fail?"

"Shut up, you big-headed purple-eyed freak, and do as Tula says!"

WHACK!

"Yes, Tula!"

Tula was a groovy go-go girl; people used to throng to watch her dance with walruses at a frugtastic piscoteque. In fact, she actually worked as a go-go dancer at a submarine dancehall, and, even more astonishing, got Aqualad a job there as a dancer, too. Aqualad can dance? It's a disturbing thought... .

Oh, and please don't just take my word for it: H at Comic Treadmill has the Tula-scoop.

Tad Williams; are there are underwater dance clubs in Sub Diego, not just for the locals, but for wealthy scuba-diving airbreathers to boogie in? Don't you think there would be? Don't you think there should be...?

Before Tula made the scene, Aqualad was just a pessimistic clumsy big-headed purple-eyed freak-boy. Almost over night, Tula's vivacious presence turned him into an incompetent needy big-headed purple-eyed freak-man.


Tula wasn't just a bubbly showgirl. She had spunk, she had backbone, she had gumption. Once, when Aquaman went off searching for Mera's lost comb (again) and Aqualad was off seeking acceptance from and utility with the Teen Titans (still), a dictator took over the throne of Atlantis (again). Who led a rebellion and ousted the tyrant while the hapless Aquajocks were out hunting snipes? Tula, that's who.

Though she was rather rough and tumble, Tula was royalty, at least by adoption. Abandoned as a baby (probably by Atlantean squares unable to withstand even her infant grooviness), she was adopted by one of the royal families of Atlantis and became a Princess of Poseidonis.

How groovy is the idea of an ass-kicking go-go girl princess who walks around with straps, whacking people for being bad (or not bad enough)?

Answer: very groovy.
I think WW, who is extremely competitive, probably had Tula bumped off. When Chemo failed to finish the job, she probably snuck into the undersea hospital with a big "air-breather" bubble helmet on, and, when no one was looking, snapped Tula's neck. Then, when Dr. Ronal came back to check on the patient, Diana was all "Oh, Doctor, head spasms from the chemical reactions must have broken her neck! I've seen it before, when I was a war nurse, fighting Dr. Poison."
You know how Wonder Woman can be.

Another groovy thing about Aquachick; girl had some curves. Except under some later artists, Tula always had a full-ish figure (for comics, at least). She was no stick-with-balloon-breasts, like so many other female characters.

Tula (a.k.a., Aquagirl, a.k.a. Aquachick) is one of those characters I had never encountered pre-Crisis. I first saw her in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths, doing what supporting characters do: dying.

Her death was decidedly non-groovy: she was killed by Chemo, who poisoned the waters around her. This was on Earth-4, of all places.

I mean, really; was Earth-4 worth sacrificing someone as groovy as Aquachick? I think not.

It is in her honor that I store Chemo with my Aquaman-related Heroclix.


And carry a strap.