4th Namor the Sub-Mariner Advent Calendar

[Reviresco]

After missing a few years, we are back for a fourth year of sharing some Namor cheer for each of the 24 days until Christmas!

Celebrating Namor's 80th year, the theme for this year's calendar will be:

Favorite Covers!

Or more precisely, my favorite Namor covers. ;p



If you'd like a more commercial Christmas thread, visit Namor75 Celebration Advent Calendar Thread, where there was lots of Namor themed items posted one could collect.

Namor75-The-Advent-Calendar


Or visit The Second Annual Namor the Sub-Mariner Advent Calendar Thread, where the theme was:

The Heroism of Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, aka All the Times Namor Has Saved Those Ungrateful Airbreathers.
Second Annual Namor the Sub-Mariner Advent Calendar


The Third Annual Namor the Sub-Mariner Advent Calendar Thread had a great theme -- Subby Slugfests! -- but was a victim of my Christmas overload and wasn't completed. Hopefully I'll be able to revisit it next year.

[Reviresco]

24 Days to Christmas







Sub-Mariner (1968) #57
by Bill Everett
Cover Date January 1973

Of course, we start with a gorgeous cover by Namor's creator, Bill Everett. This was drawn (and inked, and perhaps even colored) late in Everett's career, but clearly, while at the height of his powers. This has always been one of my favorite covers because it has classic elements, delivers a story that grabs my attention, and the art is so polished, and yet so full of motion. Everett packs every corner of this cover with amazing details, that show his love of the ocean, of mythology, and of his favorite iconic character.

And a quote from Blake Bell, author of the monograph of Bill Everett, Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics who chose this cover as one of his top ten Everett favorites.

The rendering is tight on all three figures, and the scene contains signature 1940s motifs – mad action between the hero and antagonist, whilst the female figure awaits the outcome in bondage. The blacks in the background help accentuate the two main figures but don’t intrude on the overall chaos. You also have to love that Everett has the Sub-Mariner holding off, with his right hand, the sword of the War-God, but also the “snout” of the swordfish with his left. Covers in the 1940s always packed in numerous flourishes for the eye to remain entrenched in the image.

http://wednesdaysheroes.com/top-10-bill-everett-covers/

[Doombot]

Awww yeeeah!

[Phoenixx9]

Yay to Reviresco! Thanks for the 2019 Advent Calendar. Goodness to follow.

[Oberon]

Thank you. Namor is always one of my favorite characters.

[Reviresco]

Awww yeeeah!

Yay to Reviresco! Thanks for the 2019 Advent Calendar. Goodness to follow.

Thank you. Namor is always one of my favorite characters.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the thread, and I'll do my best to keep up and finish it this year.

[Dermie]

Who is the woman on this cover? I don't see any ankle wings so it shouldn't be Namora or Namorita, but it does seem to be someone capable of breathing underwater (or surviving without air). The outfit makes me think of Venus though.

[Reviresco]

20 Days to Christmas











Avengers Invaders #3
by Alex Ross
Cover Date September 2008

Of course, there would be a Alex Ross cover in this Advent Calendar. Luckily there was quite a few to pick from, since Ross does like the Invaders, but this was the only one that featured only Namor AND two versions of him! Ross captured the young, Golden Age Namor down to his red hair, while older, heavier Namor is wearing the 70s black suit, with shiny metal bracers and belt. Both, however, have giant, glowing gorgeous ankle wings, blurred with their movement. Even though they aren't in the water, Ross chose to make the sky and ocean in bright shades of blue, reflecting and with reflections. It's a glorious, bright, bold cover.

Plus, an added layer of this cover, it's actually an homage to a Bill Everett piece that appeared in old Steranko calendar!

From this interview, it's clear Alex Ross appreciates Namor, historically and as a character. I'd love to see him do covers for a Namor series, much like he's done for the current series of Hulk and Cap.

SYFY WIRE: You’ve got the keys to the Marvel or DC kingdoms to make any superhero film you want. Which one is it?

ROSS: Namor! That’s kind of where Marvel is headed after they get Doctor Strange up to speed. Namor is such a primary character, it’s going to take some special thought and attention. You’ve got to get someone that looks like an elf. Like Jamie Campbell Bower, the guy who played Arthur in the Starz Camelot series. Since he’s so young he’d still be right for the part when they finally get around to it in five years. All I care about as a fan is to see them translate from what worked on the page for decades.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/exclus...ms-namor-movie

[Doombot]

20 Days to Christmas











Avengers Invaders #3
by Alex Ross
Cover Date September 2008

Of course, there would be a Alex Ross cover in this Advent Calendar. Luckily there was quite a few to pick from, since Ross does like the Invaders, but this was the only one that featured only Namor AND two versions of him! Ross captured the young, Golden Age Namor down to his red hair, while older, heavier Namor is wearing the 70s black suit, with shiny metal bracers and belt. Both, however, have giant, glowing gorgeous ankle wings, blurred with their movement. Even though they aren't in the water, Ross chose to make the sky and ocean in bright shades of blue, reflecting and with reflections. It's a glorious, bright, bold cover.

Plus, an added layer of this cover, it's actually an homage to a Bill Everett piece that appeared in old Steranko calendar!

From this interview, it's clear Alex Ross appreciates Namor, historically and as a character. I'd love to see him do covers for a Namor series, much like he's done for the current series of Hulk and Cap.



https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/exclus...ms-namor-movie

This is an all time favourite for me. I absolutely love this version of Namor, particularly the Golden Age Namor. The fact that it's a homage to the amazing Everett piece, which I didn't see until after the Ross version, makes this even more special. This is one where I wish there was a poster print made.

[Iron Maiden]

You are right, they should make a poster of that wonderful Alex Ross cover. He has his own store on his website but unfortunately not as much Marvel as DC. I picked up his new book Marvelocity at his booth at C2E2 but he didn't attend the convention the day I was there. I don't think he did any signings there at all.

[Reviresco]

Who is the woman on this cover? I don't see any ankle wings so it shouldn't be Namora or Namorita, but it does seem to be someone capable of breathing underwater (or surviving without air). The outfit makes me think of Venus though.

It IS Venus ... sort of. When this was written, Everett clearly intended it to be the goddess / Atlas era character. As Victoria "Vicki" Nutley Starr, she was a professor for Namorita, and IIRC, she tapped Namor as her champion when Ares tried to kidnap her or something like that. She had a magic 'girdle' that was involved somehow. She's the same Venus in Agents of Atlas, so of course, her 'godhood' was retconned and she's apparently just a siren.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Ahhh! Marie's art! I was secretly hoping she would make it to the countdown, but wasn't sure which cover you'd go for. I feel like she is one of the few women artists who really gave Namor a defining look during her time on his books and her art really grabbed my attention when I first got into Namor. This cover is beautiful.

[ImperiusWrecked]

I LOVE that Bianchi art so much. Thanks for doing this thread Rev!!! You're amazing

[Iron Maiden]

I'm glad you are doing this again. It almost makes me want to revive my 12 Days of Santa Doom from a few years back

[Reviresco]

22 Days to Christmas










Marvel Fanfare #43
by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell
Cover Date April 1989

How could I resist a time tossed Namor with his Pirate Queen, Patience Drew, drawn by Mike Mignola and inked by P. Craig Russell?! I've always loved the amazing book and magazine illustrators of the turn of the century, and this cover, and the subject matter, harkens back to those great artists, like N.C. Wyeth's Treasure Island and Howard Pyle's Pirates. And look at those ankle wings! Both Mignola and P. Craig Russell have an affinity for clean inked lines, with texture and shading created by line, instead of gradients, like Bianchi. The cover works just as well, if not better, without color -- though the red sashes are eye catching.

Mignola's first pencils were on a previous Namor story he also did with Bill Mantlo called A Fable. According to an interview, he and Mantlo were working on a third collaboration featuring Namor, but instead, some elements went into their Alpha Flight issues. And of course, other elements ended up in the Hellboy story The Third Wish, where Hellboy encountered mermaids. That would have made for an amazing cover ... but not one that has the sheer fun of fantastic adventures that this one does.