Tag: sub-mariner comics

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.