Marvel proudly presents an Epic Collection pairing Namor, the Sub-Mariner's complete early Silver Age appearances with his Tales to Astonish solo series for the very first time. An icon of comics' Golden Age, the Sub-Mariner hadn't seen newsstands in nearly a decade when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced him in 1962. His anarchic energy instantly made every appearance an exploit unlike any before. Bold and brash, the Sub-Mariner fought Marvel's heroes, teamed up with Doctor Doom and attacked the surface world just as readily as he might save it. His appearances were so popular, he quickly graduated to his own series, questing for the Trident of Neptune that would prove his status as rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. Vol. 1: Fantastic Four (1961) 4, 6, 9, 14, 27, 33; Fantastic Four Annual (1963) 1; Strange Tales (1951) 107, 125; Avengers (1963) 3-4; X-Men (1963) 6; Daredevil (1964) 7, Tales to Astonish (1959) 70-76
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
When Marvel brought back the Sub-Mariner into their early shared comic universe, he wasn’t the first and he’d be far from the last. But while the Human Torch, albeit with a new background and certainly not the same character, and Captain America were still heroes, it was never really clear in these early issues what side of the fence Namor was sitting on. And this made him all the more delicious as a character. Hero? Villain? A combination of both? An Anti-Hero? In any case, Namor was almost immediately a sympathetic antagonist.
Fantastic Four #4, 6, 9 ~ Jack Kirby & Stan Lee as their beginning of a truly epic and iconic collaboration. There’s a raw creativity in these early issues of the this flagship title. And Namor gets introduced to a whole new audience at this grueling remarkable time. This also introduces an on-going relationship with Doctor Doom that would endure, off and on, for years and years (see: Super-Villains Unite: The Complete Super-Villain Team-Up for more on this)(5/5).
Strange Tales #107 ~ This story not only lacks most of the members of the Fantastic Four, at least in action, focusing instead on the Human Torch, it also lacks the presence of Kirby - and it shows. It is almost ludicrous how the Torch is so much more powerful and capable in this solo adventure. It’s still a fun tale, but it has more in common with a Tall Tale than one with a semblance of logic (of course many superhero tales lack any resemblance to logic)(2/5).
Fantastic Four #14 & Annual #1 ~ After the fiasco that Doctor Doom suffered from trying to ally himself with Namor, you’d think some one like Puppet Master wouldn’t bother with an attempted allegiance. But he tries, manipulating Namor into doing his bidding. It is about as successful as the shenanigans with Doctor Doom. Then we have the epic of Namor finding his lost people and attempting to conquer the surface world for the first time. Classic examples of Kirby doing his thing (5/5).
Avengers #3-4 ~ Namor actually plays a small, but enormously pivotal role in these two issues. Tracking down the Hulk is the primary concern in the first one, while Captain America’s reintroduction is the main focus for the second. The ink art on the first story also pulls down the art quality considerably. In any case, these issues forms a truly classic and momentous story of the Avengers (5/5). One big trouble with this story, when taken into account with the retroactive continuity of the 1970s introduction of the Invaders, is why don’t Namor and Captain America recognize one another. Cap does muse that Namor seems familiar, so let’s chalk that up to his still recovering from being in suspended animation for the last 20 years, while Namor likely recognizes the costume but doesn’t think for a single instant that this is his old companion and ally.
Fantastic Four #27 ~ This story features Namor and Reed Richards finally having their (juvenile) feud over the affections of Sue Storm come to blows, and just on the cusp of Reed’s proposal to her. It’s non-stop love triangle shenanigans as only Kirby & Lee could cook up, and Doctor Strange is along for the ride as Sue makes her final, fateful decision (5/5). (Note: this story also occurs after Susan gains the ability to create invisible force fields, but as included here in this volume, with that issue skipped over, it is given not even a hint of explanation.)
X-Men #6 ~ Another contribution from Kirby and it’s a nice switch from the usual Fantastic Four vs Sub-Mariner fight (4/5).
Strange Tales #125 ~ And right back to the FF, as Ben and Johnny fly off to handle Namor and mess up Reed’s master plan to placate the Sub-Mariner (2/5).
Fantastic Four #33 ~ Namor is practically fully defeated by Attuma, but the Fantastic Four come to his aide. This clearly illustrates the character’s strength, persistence, and perseverance (something that doesn’t come across as often with Namor) (5/5)
Daredevil #7 ~ Conceptually, this is a fascinating story. But it doesn’t provide a good, strong moral as the narrative unfolds (3/5). And I think part of that is that it serves as a kind of introduction to …
Namor stories from Tales to Astonish #70-76 ~ This first arc for Namor in his solo series, helps tie up all the loose threads that have been dangling enticingly throughout all his appearances in other magazines since he was reintroduced. Nicely done with art that shows a lot of promise from Gene Colan working under the nom de plume Adam Austin (4/5).
Namor the Sub-Mariner is a character dating back all the way to Marvel Comics #1, the first ever comic book published by Timely Comics (before Marvel was Marvel). Writer-artist Bill Everett crafted a character with a noble-sounding name ("Namor" is Roman backwards) who was a man with a haughty air about him that knew he was better than most around him. Namor lorded the oceans as its protector, but also served as an often antagonist for heroes like the original Human Torch (Jim Hammond) and opened up his introduction by flooding New York City. Namor would continue to star in many of the Golden Age stories under his own title of Sub-Mariner where Everett would continue to build the mythos. He would briefly serve on superhero teams like the All-Winners Squad and later retroactively changed to the Invaders to account for his World War II years. The character would diminish in those years, with a brief revival attempted in the Atlas Comics years in the mid-1950s, but for the most part disappeared from the superhero lexicon.
It would be Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who would resurrect the character in the pages of Fantastic Four, the series that truly launched the Marvel era of comics. Appearing as early as Fantastic Four #4, the Sub-Mariner was an early villain for the team joining the likes of Doctor Doom (who himself debuted the following issue) as a highly recurring character in the title. Lee & Kirby stayed true to the Everett version of the character, with Namor having an air of arrogance and anger to him. Easily provoked into battle, Namor served primarily as a villain in the early years, but would later become anti-hero and even ally to the team. Namor was also characterized as being quite overly fond of Sue Storm, which really served as a thread through which Lee & Kirby restrained the character from a full descent into villainy. There were some changes as well - Namor here is clearly much more authoritarian and leans even more into the idea of nobility and heraldry with the heavy emphasis on a neo-Shakespearean form of speaking. His now-famous battle cry of "Imperius Rex!" was also originated in this period as well, with him first uttering the cry in Tales to Astonish #70.
This collection mostly collects those early Silver Age appearances of the Sub-Mariner starting with Fantastic Four #4. Much of the first half of this volume are his early appearances in Fantastic Four which includes his discovery as an amnesiac by Johnny Storm to Namor trying to finance a Fantastic Four film. These stories are a lot of fun, but also readily found in other collections like in Fantastic Four Epic Collection, Vol. 1: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine and Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 1.
This volume also features his appearances in Avengers and X-Men where Namor famously recovers the frozen body of Captain America and teams up with fellow mutant villain Magneto, respectively. Despite Namor's status as a much lesser known hero in the Marvel pantheon, it's very clear how important of a building block this character was in the early Marvel history. Another personal favorite issue of mine is Daredevil #7, an issue most famous for being the first appearance of Daredevil's red suit, but really should be known for the time when the King of Atlantis sparred with a street vigilante and then needed representation from a blind lawyer. It's a blast of an issue, heightened by the fact that it was a rare superhero comic drawn by the only and only Wally Wood.
The second half of this volume collects Namor's appearances in Tales to Astonish, a title that he shared with the Hulk for a brief period of time starting with issue #70. The stories in Tales to Astonish further fleshed our Namor's history as the Atlantean king and primarily revolved around various politics and coups that occurred amongst his subjects. General Krang is the most oft recurring antagonist for Namor (first introduced in Fantastic Four Annual #1 - also featured in this volume) who leads various attempts at overthrowing Namor from the throne. These stories are an interesting supplement to the character who so often features in other titles, but allows for Namor to get some development of his own on the side. Gene Colan delivers fantastic artwork here, though some will be confused at the credits since Colan was operating under a nom de plume of "Adam Austin".
Though some readers will be wary to pick up this volume due to high level of overlap between other titles (primarily Fantastic Four), I'd still urge those interested in the Sub-Mariner to find this volume (heavily out of print, currently in 2024) to read some of the Tales to Astonish adventures since it serves as a strong foundation for the direction of the character in the years to follow.
Reprints Fantastic Four (1) #4, 6, 9, 14, 27, 33, Annual #1, Strange Tales (1) #107, 125, Avengers (1) #3-4, Uncanny X-Men (1) #6, Daredevil (1) #7, and Tales to Astonish (1) #70-76 (May 1962-February 1966). When Prince Namor of Atlantis disappeared after World War II, the surface world questioned if they had seen the last of the Sub-Mariner. Johnny Storm finds Namor living with amnesia in New York City and the Sub-Mariner is reborn…but is he friend or foe? With his eyes set on Sue Storm and restoring his kingdom of Atlantis, Namor does not trust the surface world and finds himself on a dangerous balance of a divided heritage.
Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection—Volume 1: Enter the Sub-Mariner is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection. The collection feature art by Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Dick Ayres, and Wallace Wood. Issues in this volume have been collected multiple times.
Sub-Mariner was a World War II hero. Despite having a tedious relationship with the surface world, the stopping of Japan and Germany overrode any forced allegiance to Atlantis or his past. With World War II over and a new age of heroes being born (including a new Human Torch…the original was an ally), Namor was ripe for return to the Marvel ranks…and he quickly brought back another ally.
The collection is a bit all over the place since Namor was a supporting character in his early return. The writing played up his Atlantean heritage and also started the trend of Namor making really poor choices in allies. In the volume, he works with Dr. Doom and Magneto and gets burned by them both times. The collection also introduces the idea that Namor is one of Marvel’s oldest mutants (which became more of a factor in recent years with Namor allying himself with the X-Men).
The last third of this collection has Namor getting his own title (or at least half of a title). The Tales to Astonish issues of the collection appear very similar to many plots of Aquaman and largely deal with Namor battling corruption within Atlantis (largely by his enemy and political rival Krang). The issues read fast due to the fact that Namor shared the title with the Incredible Hulk and Hulk’s part of the issues are not reprinted here. It is a good set-up for “solo” Namor which I do prefer.
Namor is a tricky character to write. He is often unlikable and that can be a challenge when a character leads a book. His high and mighty behavior is transferred to the idea that he is a king and royalty…but more in the lines of a King Arthur vs. a king that sits on his laurels. I really, really enjoy the Namor solo series that started after his run in Tales to Astonish and I hope that the series will finally be reprinted with the help of the Epic Collections…but we’ll see.
This first volume Epic Collection for Namor features the earliest of his silver age appearances throughout various Marvel titles.
The quality of stories here is a mixed bag, though the bulk are Lee/Kirby collaborations. Individually, the stories are entertaining enough, but collectively they get somewhat repetitive, particularly the Fantastic Four stories.
One of the big problems, which has continued over the years, is that Namor is often portrayed very one-dimensionally, with his obsessive hatred of the surface world and his instant love for the Invisible Girl. That's prevalent throughout his early appearances and doesn't really start to break until the post-Kirby tales. Ironically, the guest appearance in the normally bland early years of Daredevil is the first to really start giving the character a little more depth, continuing into his solo stories in Tales to Astonish. Still, though, he remains a fairly predictable character and I couldn't really recommend this volume to other than die-hard Marvel fans.
This book will give you a crash course into what makes Namor tick. Bold, brass, pale to describe him. Arrogant is a better word. His story picks up after his time as a defender. He has forgotten who he was and what his responsibilities were. After reading this book it seems to me that he rails against the surface world for the Transgressions against his people, but he's really angry with himself. He wasn't there for his people. The fault is his and in the latter part of the book. His attitude has adjusted to find a way to coexist with the surface dwellers. Great read! Love Stands pros and Kirby's dynamic art. Nuff Said!
This book was a mixed bag of mostly guest appearances, but also some solo stuff at the end. I enjoyed his guest appearances enough to take the character from someone who I didn't care about to someone who's solo series I wanted to read, and I really enjoyed the solo story he got at the end.