Tales to Astonish #82

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: May 3, 1966
Cover: August 1966
12 cents
Plotted by Smilin’ Stan (who then went on vacation!)
Scripted by Rascally Roy (who wishes he had!)
Begun by Gallant Gene (who caught the flu after finishing the first two pages!)
Finished by King Kirby (who drew the last ten pages, then asked who Sub-Mariner was!)
Inked by Darlin’ Dick (who else?)
12 pages

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Never will Prince Namor surrender! Never shall your eyes view the true Sovereign of Atlantis humbled! Not all your vaunted power will give you the final triumph!

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and my mother, this blog’s most loyal reader, always liked Namor in her youth. So this is for her.

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The digital reprints leave off the letterer credit, and I don’t own the original of this comic. And my reprint in Marvel Masterworks has the same misprint as the digital version. But the GCD tells me there should be one more line in the credits, which reads:

Adorable Arthur (Who??)

Where were we? Red Skull is alive and has been working with Them, and AIM and Them may be the same organization. AIM/Them had created the Cosmic Cube, which Red Skull used to make himself a god, but was still defeated by Captain America. AIM is a defense contractor trying to worm its way into SHIELD and convince the government to remove Col. Fury. But Fury suspects what they are up to.

The Secret Empire is after the Orion Missile, and has hired Boomerang to the task. He has kidnapped the General’s daughter, Betty Ross, as the first step in his plan.

To save Namor from the Behemoth, Dorma agreed to marry Krang, and they ran off together. Unaware of her noble intentions, a furious Namor pursued them to the surface.

Returning to America from a battle with Ultimo, Iron Man found that his factories had been closed, and that he was running low on power and friends. Happy, Pepper, the Avengers… none were home when he desperately needed them. Happy and Pepper may have been on a date. The Avengers may have been in a hidden kingdom in South America.

Krang attacked Iron Man, then escaped. Namor blamed Iron Man for the escape, and decided to stop pursuing Krang and battle Iron Man instead.

This is the direct continuation of the story from Tales of Suspense #80.

Neither warrior was at their peak for the fight. Iron Man needed more power. Namor needed to rejuvenate in the water. Now, they are both at full power, and ready for Round 2.

We are about a dozen issues into Namor’s new series, and Gene Colan has been the artist since Namor’s return. He’s been the regular artist on Iron Man for almost as long, and has just picked up the art chores on Daredevil after Romita left for Spider-Man. With Ditko gone, Colan’s become one of Marvel’s major go-to artists. He brings a different sensibility to storytelling. And he’s grown as an artist just over the year he’s been working for Marvel, and will continue to grow.

It was fitting than that he illustrated the epic battle between his two heroes in the pages of Iron Man’s title.

But then we get something different when we turn the page.

Another loyal reader Chet had noted in a recent comment how the third page of this issue blew him away in his youth.

As the credits note… Colan got sick and needed a fill-in artist. They didn’t find just some schmuck for the fill-in. They found Jack Kirby himself.

It is quite the jarring transition.

Kirby drew Namor in several issues of Fantastic Four and Iron Man in the pages of Avengers. But he’s never worked on the solo stories for either character. Though he did many Iron Man covers and designed the original Iron Man suit. So he’s not new to either character, but nor is he an artist much associated with either.

We saw a Colan-illustrated clash between these two titans, and were set to see another, as we seemed to be for 2 pages. But no, it’s Jack Kirby. The perfect artist for an all-out brawl between two of our heroes.

Jack Kirby sticks to larger than usual panels, using the format he does for the Tales of Asgard stories. Panels arranged in 2 rows instead of 3, allowing for only 3-4 panels poor page. This may have helped with time if he was under deadline pressure, but it also allows for larger images to depict the action.

Story-wise, there’s not much to report in this issue. It’s just a brawl. But what a brawl.

I don’t have much commentary to add besides saying “look at this” a few times.

Look at this.

And look at this.

That fist in the foreground is trademark Kirby.

Ooh, look at this.

The whole point of this battle was that Namor blamed Iron Man for Krang getting away. Instead of making good his escape, Krang has returned to watch the battle. Which means there’s really no reason to be fighting.

I appreciate the metaphorical eyes Kirby draws. So we see Krang is viewing the battle without going inside his ship. Not the type of thing he’s been doing lately.

The battle leaves Iron Man in a reflective mood. And he begins to wonder if Senator Byrd may be right that the secrets of Iron Man belong to the US government and not to any one man.

He makes a momentous phone call.

We’ll see the outcome of Tony Stark’s phone call soon. Once we’ve checked in with Hulk, the Avengers, Nick Fury, and Dr. Strange. Maybe replace “soon” with “eventually”.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 56/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Sub-Mariner vol. 1.

Characters:

• Prince Namor the First, Sovereign of Atlantis
• Iron Man
• Pepper Potts
• Warlord Krang

Minor characters:

• Logan (police officer)

Story notes:

• Text warns us to read Tales of Suspense #80 first.
• Iron Man realizes Sub-Mariner has replenished his strength by a dip in the Long Island Sound. Iron Man has also regained his strength by switching armors.
• Police surround battle.
• Battle takes them to a section of Stark labs with top priority weapons for SHIELD.
• Iron Man’s strategy is to keep Namor away from the sea.
• Namor attacks with Stark’s own Magno-volt projector, not realizing how destructive it might be. Iron Man manages to destroy device.
• Namor seeks to remove Iron Man’s helmet; Iron Man counters with judo.
• Iron Man grabs Energo-grip to recharge power.
• Officer Logan intends to fire sleep gas.
• Namor picks up Elecro-magnetic stabilizer.
• Namor weakens away from sea, and it may cost him the fight.
• Stark convinced Byrd may be right the the secrets of Iron Man’s armor belong to the US government. Stark calls Senator Byrd.

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