4th Namor the Sub-Mariner Advent Calendar

[Reviresco]

Sad that Deodato left Marvel, I really liked his work on the New Avengers/Illuminati art. Great posts though Rev!

Thanks! I can't believe I kept up ... sort of. ;p

Yes. Hate to see him go, but I'm betting it will be a much better situation for him both financially and creatively.

[Iron Maiden]

Another great cover. I'm with you on the pony tail era for Namor. Did not like that look. On top of that Sue is in that cringe-worthy peek a boo (emphasis on "BOO!") uniform. IMO the DeFalco era of the Fantastic Four, and Namor's part in it, was not a favorite of mine. Reed came back from the (assumed) dead with a pony tail too.

I hate to see these artists leave too and it's got to be a pay rate thing. But the ones I don't get are those that jumped to DC, like Jim Cheung did. He was announced as the artist for Zdarsky's Marvel Two in One and then was gone after just a couple of issues.

[Dermie]

The Big 2 really need to up their rates / offer better terms. They lose a lot of their talent to the creator owned, because the pay and the rights are much better for name creators.

While I agree with you in general, in Deodato's case I think it was more a matter of him wanting to do something different. In his announcement he seemed to be parting on very good terms, and thanked Marvel for all the opportunities they had given him -- but after 24 years he wanted to focus on creator-owned projects.

[Reviresco]

2 Days to Christmas








Tales to Astonish #84
by Gene Colan
Cover Date October 1966

Gene Colan is one of Namor's icon artists. I think he's responsible for the bullet head look for Namor. While I think one his great strengths is making Namor and the Atlanteans look like they are actually underwater, swimming, instead of walking, as if they were on land, this is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because there were plenty of comics where Namor was in 'disguise' to walk on the surface world. And his 'disguise' was invariable a trench coat and a fedora -- which he'd HAVE to rip off at some point. LOL!

[Reviresco]

1 Day to Christmas








Invaders (2019) #1 variant
by Skottie Young
Cover Date January 2019

Finishing up this Advent calendar of Namor covers, it was tough to pick the last one, out of 80 years of amazing Namor covers. So, I went with the fun choice: Skottie Young! We don't have a lot of Skottie Young's version of Namor, but this is probably my favorite.



Bonus cover: the Namor alone Skottie Young variant for Best Defense Namor. Here's hoping we get another this year for a Namor solo book! Positive thinking! : )

[Reviresco]

While I agree with you in general, in Deodato's case I think it was more a matter of him wanting to do something different. In his announcement he seemed to be parting on very good terms, and thanked Marvel for all the opportunities they had given him -- but after 24 years he wanted to focus on creator-owned projects.

I agree in part. But most of the writers and artists that move on to creator owned stuff leave on good terms ... if they are professional. They can make much more money in the creator owned work, IF they succeed there. Not everyone does.

Holy cow. 24 years?? Didn't realize it was that long.

I hate to see these artists leave too and it's got to be a pay rate thing. But the ones I don't get are those that jumped to DC, like Jim Cheung did. He was announced as the artist for Zdarsky's Marvel Two in One and then was gone after just a couple of issues.

Some of that is exclusive contracts expiring, I think and getting wooed by the competition. It was sad that we lost Cheung on MTiO.

[Reviresco]

Another great cover. I'm with you on the pony tail era for Namor. Did not like that look. On top of that Sue is in that cringe-worthy peek a boo (emphasis on "BOO!") uniform. IMO the DeFalco era of the Fantastic Four, and Namor's part in it, was not a favorite of mine. Reed came back from the (assumed) dead with a pony tail too.

OMG. Yes, I forgot that. Reed with a pony tail. LOL!

Yes, not my favorite costume for Sue.

The thing a lot of people don't notice on that Isherwood cover, is that Namor is actually chained to that bed. O_O

[Dermie]

santa-namor1.jpg

santa-namor2.jpg

[Iron Maiden]

OMG. Yes, I forgot that. Reed with a pony tail. LOL!

Yes, not my favorite costume for Sue.

The thing a lot of people don't notice on that Isherwood cover, is that Namor is actually chained to that bed. O_O

Whoa....I just went back to look at that! I kind of dropped out of comics around that time. I only got a few issues of the Byrne/Jae Lee Namor series and the ones I read I liked. I should do some binge readings on Marvel Unlimited, if they have the whole run. Sometimes there are strange gaps in some titles

I really enjoyed going through your entries. I do hold Gene Colan pretty high in regards to his Namor. A lot depends on the inker. Anyone paired with Tom Palmer in that era really got the benefit of his skills. But I don't think he worked on the Sub Mariner series. I know he worked on the Avengers with John Buscema and Gene Colan's Dracula a lot. I'm not sure but I think he comes from the world of commerical artists, much like Colan did for a while. Probably in the decline of comics that happened after the Seduction of the Innocent. Then I think work in the commercial art field dried up too, just like you see with the character in the Shape of Water

[Reviresco]

Christmas Day!








Sub-Mariner #1
by John Buscema
Cover Date February 1968

Okay, the real FINAL cover for the Advent Calendar. It's hard to beat this iconic John Buscema cover. It was made into a US Postal stamp!


Bonus cover: I could be wrong, but I always felt this was a homage to Namor's first Silver Age issue. It was by Scott Kolins, and I have to say, I like this crown much better than the Kirby crown.

[Reviresco]

santa-namor1.jpg

santa-namor2.jpg

Merry Christmas, Dermie! Thank you posting this great holiday story with Namor.

[Reviresco]

Whoa....I just went back to look at that! I kind of dropped out of comics around that time. I only got a few issues of the Byrne/Jae Lee Namor series and the ones I read I liked. I should do some binge readings on Marvel Unlimited, if they have the whole run. Sometimes there are strange gaps in some titles

Someone pointed out they've got all of the Silver / Bronze Age Namor series, and actually quite a few other runs, but the 1990s run is spotty, so I don't think that particular issue is on Marvel Unlimited. and yes, I think I stopped buying comics near the end of Namor's series.

I really enjoyed going through your entries. I do hold Gene Colan pretty high in regards to his Namor. A lot depends on the inker. Anyone paired with Tom Palmer in that era really got the benefit of his skills. But I don't think he worked on the Sub Mariner series. I know he worked on the Avengers with John Buscema and Gene Colan's Dracula a lot. I'm not sure but I think he comes from the world of commerical artists, much like Colan did for a while. Probably in the decline of comics that happened after the Seduction of the Innocent. Then I think work in the commercial art field dried up too, just like you see with the character in the Shape of Water

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was definitely a trip down memory lane for me too.

I love Gene Colan, but you are so right about the inker. He did one of my favorite arcs with The Quest. Sadly, several of those issues were inked by Vinnie Colletta, which was ... distracting. Tom Palmer and Colan were awesome on Dracula. I need to do some more reading on Palmer. He still does some books.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Bonus cover: the Namor alone Skottie Young variant for Best Defense Namor. Here's hoping we get another this year for a Namor solo book! Positive thinking! : )

I'm definitely hoping for a Namor solo this year with lots of variant cover art too!

Okay, the real FINAL cover for the Advent Calendar. It's hard to beat this iconic John Buscema cover. It was made into a US Postal stamp!


Bonus cover: I could be wrong, but I always felt this was a homage to Namor's first Silver Age issue. It was by Scott Kolins, and I have to say, I like this crown much better than the Kirby crown.

I never knew the Buscema cover was made into a stamp! That's so cool!

Scott Kolins trident was also too busy for me, I really enjoy it when Namor either has the Buscema trident or something more simplistic. But that's a definite improvement in the crown!

Thanks so much for doing this thread this year Rev!!!

[Iron Maiden]

Someone pointed out they've got all of the Silver / Bronze Age Namor series, and actually quite a few other runs, but the 1990s run is spotty, so I don't think that particular issue is on Marvel Unlimited. and yes, I think I stopped buying comics near the end of Namor's series.




I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was definitely a trip down memory lane for me too.

I love Gene Colan, but you are so right about the inker. He did one of my favorite arcs with The Quest. Sadly, several of those issues were inked by Vinnie Colletta, which was ... distracting. Tom Palmer and Colan were awesome on Dracula. I need to do some more reading on Palmer. He still does some books.

Colletta gets demonized a lot by Jack Kirby fans yet I think the pair did pretty well together on the Lee/Kirby Thor. He got a lot of work because he worked fast but part of that was due to him sometimes omitting Kirby's background. The Jack Kirby Collector magazine had some interesting examples of that. But in his defense, Colletta had said they gave him work to ink when the art was late because Stan knew he would hit the deadline for getting the work to the printer. Since he used to work a lot in romance comics, I do like the female faces he inked. I think the women in Thor look better than the women in say, Fantastic Four when you compare Kirby's work in the titles.

[Abe]

Merry Christmas to all the great Atlanteans of CBR! And thanks so much for that wonderful month, Rev! Gorgeous all the way!