Decades: Marvel in the '40s - The Human Torch vs. The Sub-Mariner

Decades

by Bill Everett, Carl Burgos

Celebrate 80 years of Marvel Comics, decade by decade - beginning with the first two superstars of the Flying Forties! The original Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner get along as well as fire and water, and several of Timely's greatest comics feature the twin titans clashing in fantastic feature-length fisticuffs! A rivalry for the ages is born when Namor, mistreated by the surface world, attacks New York - and the Torch stands in his way! As WWII rages, Namor decides to obtain peace by flooding the planet! Can the Torch and his young sidekick Toro bring Namor back to his senses? They'd better - because the Nazis are on the attack, and the two Golden Age arch-rivals must put their differences aside and unite against a common foe!

COLLECTING: MATERIAL FROM MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS 7-10; HUMAN TORCH COMICS 5B, 8, 10

Genres: Comics

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2019

About the author

William Blake Everett, aka Bill Everett, was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie and Daredevil with writer Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. He was a descendant of the poet William Blake and of Richard Everett, founder of Dedham, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Marian | Estoypensandoenlibros · Rating 3 out of 5]

No está mal.
Para la época es un comic bueno.
Pero lamentablemente en esa época se relataba absolutamente todo, hasta acciones que eran obvias. Por ejemplo: En un cuadro se ve a La antorcha humana dándole un golpe a un villano y arriba se lee: "y La antorcha humana le da un golpe a fulano" y como que eso lo vuelve tedioso porque estaba ya aclarado en la imagen.
Pero eso es propio de la época claro está.
Después la historia esta muy buena porque toca un tema que para esa fecha era importante (la segunda guerra mundial) en el cual La antorcha humana se enfrenta a Hitler.
En general es un comic bueno pero sin demasiados argumentos. No es taaan divertido.
Pero si es necesario leerlo si son amantes de los cómics.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, ANYTIME we get old age comics... particular Golden Age Marvel, which has always been sort of reluctant to reprint pre 1960s because of well reasons... is a lot of fun. Even if some the material is questionalbe.

And yeah, a lot of this stuff is CLEARLY of its time it is so insane that it is hard to take seriously. Though the Namor and Torch getting drawn into fighting each other over that 4-5 year period gets a tad repetitive by the end, the stories are fun. Though I think by favorite of the lot is the massive one that uses ALL the lead features of Marvel Mystery Comics- Human Torch, Angel, Ka-Zar, and Namor in one completely nuts crossover. While it might seem old hat to do that sort of thing NOW back in those days no. This is one of the first, if not the first, case of a major publisher doing this. (I think All-Star Comics/JSA might have come first but I'm not sure.)

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of various golden age stories where the Human Torch and Namor battled each other. It includes their first fight, which is the historic first cross over story in comic history. The characters are fun and the art is nicely restored. These are stronger golden age stories for their emphasis on serialized multipart epics. The push for huge scale and a massive body count. Namor goes to war with the whole world in one of them and nearly wins. In another, the Human Torch is mind controlled by a Nazi and unleashed on America, burning and killing people by the score. These are classic and exciting super hero comics and hold up surprisingly well.