Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: March 1, 1941
Cover: Spring 1941
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
20 pages
My goal with this blog is to read through all the superhero comics that make up the Marvel Universe starting with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. But there’s an oddity to that goal: the company had been making superhero comics since 1939. Of course, they stopped making superhero comics in 1949, to very briefly revive the idea in 1953. So 1961 isn’t exactly the beginning, but it sort of is. Most of the superheroes we know will follow in the wake of the Fantastic Four. We’ve already met Hulk, Ant-Man & Wasp, Thor Spider-Man, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Sgt. Fury… and more will come.
But some of our heroes predate 1961. Johnny Storm is not the first Human Torch. There was another and we’ve peeked at his stories. But the FF comics have yet to mention the existence of a previous Torch, so those stories are not crucial to the task at hand. We’ll very soon be meeting one more important character from 1941, but I’ll not jump ahead. The big thing we’re missing so far is the story of Sub-Mariner, who appeared in about 300 comics prior to 1961. Reading all of them would consume a huge amount of effort when I really want to push forward. But the gap is also nagging me.
So I’m going to read a small smattering of them. Try to get a sense of who Namor is and what he’s about. We’ve already read his earliest appearance as well as his first epic battle with Human Torch.
When the Fantastic Four met Namor in Fantastic Four #6, I wrote: “All posts regarding Fantastic Four comics featuring Namor are henceforth dedicated to my mother.” I may as well broaden that dedication to all Namor comics and include the next few we cover.
Now time for a confession. Part of my motivation for delving a little bit deeper into Namor’s story is the realization that I made a mistake. I’ve of course read many, many Marvel comics after the ones we’re reading. But I’m mostly trying to deny myself that foreknowledge, to understand who these characters are on the page in their early days, rather than who I will come to know them to be. But I sometimes slip up.
In Tales of Suspense #43, we met Kala, Queen of the Netherworld. We learn her people are the legendary Atlanteans, from the kingdom of Atlantis that had sunk below the sea, and then kept sinking into the earth. I noted some confusion, as Namor’s people are the Atlanteans. Blunder on my part! Namor’s people are not Atlanteans. In the comics we’ve read, they are never called that. They are called Sub-Mariners. They live underwater and that’s what we know about them.
Now, there are 300 prior Namor stories. Am I sure they’ve never talked about Atlantis? No, I’m not. But in the stories we’ve read, they call themselves Sub-Mariners. And their kingdom is never called Atlantis. (I can’t tell that it has a particular name.)
Namor himself is a prince, son of Princess Fen, who is daughter of the Emperor, also called the Holy One. Dorma is Namor’s cousin.
Namor is an extremely prolific character from 1939-1949, appearing regularly in his self-titled series (32 issues), as well as Marvel Mystery Comics (91 issues), Human Torch (31 issues), All-Winners Comics (21 issues) and Namora (3 issues), along with occasional or semi-regular appearances in Captain America Comics, Kid Komics, Daring Comics, and Blonde Phantom.
He then disappeared–along with all Marvel’s superhero characters–for about 4 years, returning in Young Men #24 and appearing in another 17 comics over the next 2 years, before disappearing again until 1962 and the pages of Fantastic Four.
We look now at the beginning his self-titled series, which ran quarterly for 32 issues from 1941-49.
We’ll read the first story in the issue and note the issue also features three stories we won’t cover: another Sub-Mariner story, a prose story about Sub-Mariner, and an Angel story.
In this comic, Namor battles Nazis. It’s not the first time Namor has done so, and certainly will not be the last. The Nazis were a favorite target of 1940s Marvel superheroes. What’s interesting is that this comic came out in March, 1941. That’s 9 months before Pearl Harbor. America has not yet entered the war, but its superheroes have.
The comic begins with Adolf Hitler himself ordering the attack against Sub-Mariner and his people in their Antarctic kingdom.
We get a pretty excellent maritime battle, in which the Germans send experimental U-Boats, but are met with Namor’s people in weapons and vessels disguised as whales, sharks or icebergs.
This is a significant story for Namor because the Emperor dies in the attack and Namor assumes command of his people. We’ll see in the next story that Namor is now Emperor of the Sub-Mariners. Yet, they still always refer to him as Prince Namor.
It ends with a somewhat sanctimonious political message, that clearly addresses the current global crisis. It seems to be a call to proactive war, or at least proactive military build-up.
Rating: ★★★½, 60/100
I read this story in a comic with a mouthful of a title: Timely’s Greatest Omnibus: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett – The Pre-War Years
Characters:
- Namor/Sub-Mariner
- Adolf Hitler
- Emperor of Sub-Mariners
Minor characters:
- Lucas (a Sub-Mariner)
- U-Boat Captain
- Heinrich (U-Boat officer)
- Mel (a Sub-Mariner)
Story notes:
- Hitler refers to Sub-Mariner as head of undersea people.
- Hitler orders attack on Antarctic regions where Namor’s people live.
- U-Boats (new type) attack Sub-Mariners.
- Emperor urges caution when Namor wants to retaliate.
- Emperor killed in blitzkrieg.
- Namor’s people have ships disguised as whales and sharks.
Next post: PRELUDE: Sub-Mariner Comics #32
Next in order: Fantastic Four Annual 1
Previous: Strange Tales annual 2
