Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2019

[Doombot]

That'd be a great page to have, and I'm a Canuck too

Sadly Byrne's Namor just does nothing for me.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Now I know Thor-El that you don't like the new Namor outfit but I also think that it really has to do with the artist, like what bothers me is the fact that the belt doesn't meet in the middle. lol, but otherwise I do like the armor/pants combo. For instance, I really loved this Namor from the War of the Realms: Strikeforce the war avengers comic. the shorter hair is always good too.
art: kim jacinto & ario anindito



However I'm still firmly on the "Put Namor back in his green scaled speedo" team. Still I wonder how long Marvel will keep this one around, and from the cover of the upcoming Atlantis Attacks mini series Namor seems to be back in the black diving suit.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Yes Namor rips his tongue out literally . It’s fantastic lol

I found the original cover art for this issue thought I’d add it to post:

I love this cover!!! I have this issue myself and this artist is one of my favorites, Marko Djurdjevic, and honestly the mini series should have been given more time!

[Doombot]

Now I know Thor-El that you don't like the new Namor outfit but I also think that it really has to do with the artist, like what bothers me is the fact that the belt doesn't meet in the middle. lol, but otherwise I do like the armor/pants combo. For instance, I really loved this Namor from the War of the Realms: Strikeforce the war avengers comic. the shorter hair is always good too.
art: kim jacinto & ario anindito



However I'm still firmly on the "Put Namor back in his green scaled speedo" team. Still I wonder how long Marvel will keep this one around, and from the cover of the upcoming Atlantis Attacks mini series Namor seems to be back in the black diving suit.

I've tried to draw this suit myself, to get it to look good in my brain, but the suit just fills me with questions. Like, why would Namor need armor? Are the yellow parts sofa padding or fishnets? It looks like extra bits from the Shocker's outfit. How exactly does half a sleeve stay on an arm? His traditional seashell belt buckle is replaced with a symbol that looks like a broccoli stem. And so on lol

Mostly I feel that odd costumes are forced onto Namor because Marvel is secretly embarrassed by the green scaled speedo. Which isn't even supposed to be a speedo, they're trunks. Even I don't like it when artists lean towards the bikini speedo.

Being a King there should be a million variations of costumes Namor should wear, but as always, he'd need a good creative team on an ongoing book to have that.

[Thor-El]

I've tried to draw this suit myself, to get it to look good in my brain, but the suit just fills me with questions. Like, why would Namor need armor? Are the yellow parts sofa padding or fishnets? It looks like extra bits from the Shocker's outfit. How exactly does half a sleeve stay on an arm? His traditional seashell belt buckle is replaced with a symbol that looks like a broccoli stem. And so on lol

Mostly I feel that odd costumes are forced onto Namor because Marvel is secretly embarrassed by the green scaled speedo. Which isn't even supposed to be a speedo, they're trunks. Even I don't like it when artists lean towards the bikini speedo.

Being a King there should be a million variations of costumes Namor should wear, but as always, he'd need a good creative team on an ongoing book to have that.

Yeah, I feel the same way about this atrocity of costume. But I think the shorter trunks or speedo makes the muscles that go in that area visible like the lower abdominals, the Adonis belt and the muscles of the greater trochanter that connect the torso with the legs were bigger trunks cover. That's why bodybuilders use them, they just look better and that's why I use them in my fan art. If the artist is drawing less anatomy or a less muscular Namor like Byrne then by all means go more covered because what's the use. Buscema, Colan, Everett they all used the trunks, Bianchi and Scott Kolins go for shorter trunks or speedos. Artists like to draw anatomy, if an artist has enough pull in the decision of a project and he wants to draw the speedos/trunks Marvel will allow it.

[Doombot]

Bodybuilders use bikini speedos because they are literally trying to show off details of their bodies and it's essentially the closest thing to being naked as they can get. Namor isn't a body builder. Artists in comics have never had an issue drawing anatomy, and that's with many or most characters in full costume.

[Subby1939]

Two famous artists have drawn Namor with no costume . Yes naked . Alex Ross in Marvels and Esad Ribic the depths . This would make the most sense as what need would a deep sea mutant have for cloths anyways . I prefer less as it shows a more powerful being imo.

Ok sharing time :

Adi Granov original

[Doombot]

Two famous artists have drawn Namor with no costume . Yes naked . Alex Ross in Marvels and Esad Ribic the depths . This would make the most sense as what need would a deep sea mutant have for cloths anyways . I prefer less as it shows a more powerful being imo.

Well he does live in a classical civilized society, so going around naked doesn't make a ton of sense either. He's not a seal lol.

[Thor-El]

Bodybuilders use bikini speedos because they are literally trying to show off details of their bodies and it's essentially the closest thing to being naked as they can get. Namor isn't a body builder. Artists in comics have never had an issue drawing anatomy, and that's with many or most characters in full costume.

Is not that the artist has an issue drawing anatomy is that depending on the artist the bigger the trunks the less muscles around the waist area will get drawn. There are artists like Byrne that will draw big trunks and everything will get obscured by the trunks and others like Gil Kane will draw the complete musculature as if clothes were painted. Its just personal taste, I like to see the complete anatomy and the most exposed a hero is the most anatomic information the scene will have. Plus it just looks badass. Just to be clear I do not like to see exaggerated packages or over exposed butts in males.

[Thor-El]

Two famous artists have drawn Namor with no costume . Yes naked . Alex Ross in Marvels and Esad Ribic the depths . This would make the most sense as what need would a deep sea mutant have for cloths anyways . I prefer less as it shows a more powerful being imo.

THIS. The celtics and the 300 come to mind too, the less clothes its also a feeling of savagery and over confidence. For Namor a speedo is fine but I wouldn't like a naked Namor unless its a special story of implied nudity like The Deep or a couple panels as part of an origin like Alex Ross' in Marvels.

sharing time :

Adi Granov original

Wow! Granov is great!

[Doombot]

But the reality is that Namor is not a savage, forgive the term, but is the monarch of a classical civilization. He can behave savagely sometimes, but that's one of his inner demons that he contends with. I understand that physical power is a foundation of Namor's character, and I do like the original trunks and more classic speedo, but they are not necessary to convey power. Would Superman or Thor look more powerful if they were in bikini briefs? Namor was only ever designed in trunks because he's an aquatic hero, not because he's super strong, so Everett gave him late 30s style swimwear.

As an aside, if you really pay attention to Byrne's work you can see he had a real weakness in drawing the pelvis and waist on characters. Somewhere around the belly button his figures tend to become very flat and two dimensional. He also had a habit of giving figures chicken legs. These weaknesses were always more obvious when he drew Namor imo, and I love Byrne.

[Thor-El]

But the reality is that Namor is not a savage, forgive the term, but is the monarch of a classical civilization. He can behave savagely sometimes, but that's one of his inner demons that he contends with. I understand that physical power is a foundation of Namor's character, and I do like the original trunks and more classic speedo, but they are not necessary to convey power. Would Superman or Thor look more powerful if they were in bikini briefs? Namor was only ever designed in trunks because he's an aquatic hero, not because he's super strong, so Everett gave him late 30s style swimwear.

As an aside, if you really pay attention to Byrne's work you can see he had a real weakness in drawing the pelvis and waist on characters. Somewhere around the belly button his figures tend to become very flat and two dimensional. He also had a habit of giving figures chicken legs. These weaknesses were always more obvious when he drew Namor imo, and I love Byrne.

No, Thor and Superman wouldn't look good in bikini briefs but IMO they look bad in armor because it looks as if they are being extra careful not to get hurt. Batman also looks ridiculous in armor because armor is heavy and he fights like a gymnast, a character very much like Daredevil so all the costumes from the movies look totally fake for that type of hero IMO. Namor wearing briefs looks just badass because you know he will be feeling every punch from Iron Man's armor, every heath attack from any of the the Human Torches or rock pounding fist from the Thing or Hulk right there in his skin without protection. That cover of Namor in his briefs wrestling Venom looks more badass than the interior art of Namor in his uniform because of how much more exposed the hero is and if I do a fan-art of that battle I'll use the speedos and show veins popping, sweat pouring, the reddish of the skin as he gets hits and I'll take advantage of all the information you can show when using a musclebound almost naked warrior in an art piece vs a hero in spandex or armor. This is just personal taste and I understand others may not feel like me or care about any of this.

[Electricmastro]

Speaking of drawings, I noticed that Jack Kirby's drawings of Namor in All-Winners Comics #2 (1941), Fantastic Four #4 (1962), and Fantastic Four #102 (1970) seemed to vary quite a bit over time.

[Doombot]

That's a long period of time. Any artist is going to change and grow, especially one as prolific as Kirby.

[Thor-El]

Speaking of drawings, I noticed that Jack Kirby's drawings of Namor in All-Winners Comics #2 (1941), Fantastic Four #4 (1962), and Fantastic Four #102 (1970) seemed to vary quite a bit over time.

This is awesome to see, thank you! Bill Everett's style also varied greatly through the decades.