IMPERIUS REX! Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2022

[ImperiusWrecked]

Anyways, reminder that I did commission two Hellfire gala arts last year for Namor Week and the artist came up with these awesome looks, so I'm just gonna share that again.

[Oberon]

It would not surprise me if some of the 'leaks' were fan-jerking. That person in the video looks like someone who I think has ridiculous theories or spoilers. I think he was the one who was so sure Tom Cruise would be Iron Man in Dr. S 2.

Anyway, if this is the way it is, it might be nice if they left enough mystery cliff-hangy stuff so that he could more easily spin off into an FF tale or wherever.

I would hate it if we lose all the real Namor stuff, so sad.

[Doombot]

The official Gala outfit is a strange take for Namor.

IW, those are more in line with the Gala aesthetic, but as nicely illustrated as they are (and they really are) those outfits are a bit too feminine to me. Namor has always exuded a simple masculine beauty and showy costumes look so weird on him.

To be honest, my own thoughts on Namor at the HellFire Gala would be that Namor would absolutely show up, with all these ridiculous people and their flamboyant, over the top outfits, wearing nothing but shiny new wrist bands and his classic speedo, and somehow still show everyone up. That's Namor to me.

[Reviresco]

Namor the Sub-Mariner Hellfire Gala art by Chris Bachalo

I hate when my abyss level expectations of Marvel prove true. I believe the phrase I used was "half-assed effort." Zero imagination and zero fashion. It looks like it came off the rack from Party City. I've never understood artists who didn't grasp the AMAZING visuals of the ocean fauna and flora. I mean, look at Mera's eye popping dress from the Aquaman movie.



Check out McQueen's Plato's Atlantis show or Thierry Mugler's Atlantis show -- both actual haute coutre!

That's a little basic for the King of Atlantis. I would have expected Namor to put in a bit more effort even if he doesn't really care.

Absolutely.

As art on it's own, it's fine.
As Hellfire Gala art?
I'm disappointed.
Not trying to shade the artist or anything, but this is what Namor would wear to an Oracle Inc. office party

Namor wouldn't even wear this to get a bagel.

The best thing about this is the sharks. And that he didn't draw Namor with his googley eyes. I guess I should just be happy he didn't end up looking like Cosmic Boy.

The official Gala outfit is a strange take for Namor.

IW, those are more in line with the Gala aesthetic, but as nicely illustrated as they are (and they really are) those outfits are a bit too feminine to me. Namor has always exuded a simple masculine beauty and showy costumes look so weird on him.

To be honest, my own thoughts on Namor at the HellFire Gala would be that Namor would absolutely show up, with all these ridiculous people and their flamboyant, over the top outfits, wearing nothing but shiny new wrist bands and his classic speedo, and somehow still show everyone up. That's Namor to me.

I could see that. In fact, I'd rather that. Or nothing but a hydro-kinesis splash of water. ; p

[Doombot]

Everything so far has been speculation, Marvel themselves have not even confirmed it is Namor and not another ancient kingdom. I'm gonna lay my final thoughts on this subject for now until we get some actual concrete official proof of anything up to and including seeing the movie in theaters this November because I really love this character a lot and I want the best chance for his character to finally step into the spotlight and get the recognition he deserves. I do not trust Marvel Comics. I do not trust the MCU. I more than most am very critical about the MCU which is why it almost pains me to try to put a defense in until I am proven wrong by the movie.

1. Mesoamerican Native Atlanteans:
- I have all long said that the Atlanteans have been coded as an "Other" aka non-white undersea race. While they are a fictional race they are still coded as Indigenous People of Color. Which is why I would have been happy with any kind of nod/acknowledgement to that. An acknowledgement to Namor being Biracial. It more than anything is the core of his character and why he is the way he is, his people were done a grave injustice, and he is the Avenging Son for a reason. However Namor struggles with his surface/white/human side as well, which makes the Atlanteans mistrust him. He is literally a character with his feet in two worlds yet unable to fully belong to either. He is an angry and deep feeling character who has a very strong moral center that does not always line up with surface humans. He is a protector of his people and his home, the oceans. So far we have no knowledge if Fen/Leo is even going to be mentioned, nor anything else.

We all know that the core original concept of Namor from his creator Everett was not Atlantis, however that is and has been Namor's long standing backstory. Golden Age Namor Comics even mention Atlantis long before Aquaman's Silver Age retcon to become half human/half atlantean like Namor. So yes, Namor does have claim, he does have a right to be called an Atlantean in the movies, and a right to showcase Atlantis and be true to the comic lore. And it is deeply unfair that because Aquaman is the more popular character that he will always be seen as the original King of Atlantis instead of Namor. It's unfair to us as Namor fans to have to give ground to this when we have spent years already dealing with this from DC/Aquaman fans and then for Marvel/MCU to not even say he is from Atlantis/have any ties to his long standing Lore, because "they are too worried to be similar to Aquaman". It makes me mad, it makes me upset because it is not fair. So yes, I can understand how Namor fans don't want this change, and it has nothing to do with race or not wanting a Mesoamerican Native Namor. It has everything to do with the fact we have waited years and years for Namor to show up on screen and if we are lucky Marvel might drop a line like "Oh they are where the myth of Atlantis came from but actually they are the X people and their city is called X" and use Namor's name and nothing else. By that point would it not have been better to simply use Mesoamerican Lore in a respectful way to showcase Latino/Native Mexican representation?

Myself I am on board with the Tenoch casting, I am interested in the Mesoamerican Native Atlanteans, I do HOPE that MCU Namor will be good and as one fan put it very neatly:

"I worry too, but I think there's solid reason for hope. There has always been a thread of indigenous identity in Namor and his people, so turning that subtext into text isn't a transformative change, it's an evolution of a concept already present. It's additive, not subtractive."


2. We as Namor fans have been bitching and moaning for years that Marvel has never given Namor any kind of world building, we have cobbled together Lore from every comic read, we have waited for someone to see the potential of Atlantis, it's mysteries and stories, and I will be the first to admit that Namor needs a big push to get out of this cycle of Marvel using him and destroying Atlantis. I don't want to disregard any of Namor's past or his Lore at all, but I want Marvel to build on that. We need new stories, new concepts to weave into the web already laid out. The sad and very true fact is that Marvel does not care about Namor because they do not see him as a money maker, and only having scores of fans suddenly knowing of Namor through the movies will ever move them to give the character a push because they want to make money off of that.

This has a very real downside of going the Quicksilver route, in which a character is introduced into the MCU, his entire background and personality is changed and all they kept was the name/powers, and then it did nothing for him in the comics and Quicksilver has been in comic limbo since 2018 because of MCU synergy. I have already lived through what happens when one of my favorite characters is done dirty by the MCU. I already know the outcome and what fan response will be like. I was there to see the change in fan perception of Quicksilver before and after the MCU, and now I can't even go into a single search or tag about Quicksilver without seeing that terrible MCU version of him who literally dies in the first movie he is in. This is why I hope Namor's inclusion in the mcu will be different, because I already know how bad it can get.

3. Just give the movie a chance. The MCU will never truly base Namor off a direct comic to screen adaptation, because they haven't done it for any of their other characters either, characters that are much more popular than Namor.

Do I want all of that? Hobo Namor, the Invaders, Jim Hammond, Betty Dean? Yes, of course! However this is a Black Panther movie, things are not going to happen that don't tie into that. It sucks that Namor is once again being connected to Black Panther when I know as a character he has never needed them to tell his story. Unless Marvel does the impossible and actually gives Namor his own movie and his own solo plots not connected to Black Panther or the Avengers then I will not be expecting them to actually include all the plots and things I love about his Lore. I am already scratching my head wondering why Namora? Why her instead of Nita as a family member? Nita is much more well known and more popular than Namora if they needed a family member. If they needed a female Atlantean in general then why not Dorma? We literally have so little information that getting upset over anything that isn't even proven doesn't actually matter at this point.

Everyone is of course free to hate and speculate on whatever rumors come out but as for myself I will continue to wait until I get the full picture of what is happening. I support Namor's character above all else and it's the only reason for me to have any interest in the MCU these days otherwise I would just continue to ignore the MCU as I've been doing.

Hear Hear!


While you and I can and will disagree on details here and there, we always agree on the core of Namor and his world, and I agree wth your sentiments here as well. There's a lot to comment on in this post, I don't know if I have the stamina to go through it all atm, but something tells me this topic will come up again

[nj06]

Namor the Sub-Mariner Hellfire Gala art by Chris Bachalo

This is way too basic for Namor in regards to the Hellfire Gala. He should have been garbed in something much more spectacular and over-the-top!

[nj06]

Anyways, reminder that I did commission two Hellfire gala arts last year for Namor Week and the artist came up with these awesome looks, so I'm just gonna share that again.

These are much better than what we got. I love the ocean-themed cape from the first pic. Very creative. Your Namor is very handsome.

[Devaishwarya]

Bachalo's forte has never been design but that HFG look is lazy and phoned-in even by his standards. Thankfully, at the very least he's not wearing another version of this...
Lady Mastermind.jpg

[ImperiusWrecked]

The official Gala outfit is a strange take for Namor.

IW, those are more in line with the Gala aesthetic, but as nicely illustrated as they are (and they really are) those outfits are a bit too feminine to me. Namor has always exuded a simple masculine beauty and showy costumes look so weird on him.

To be honest, my own thoughts on Namor at the HellFire Gala would be that Namor would absolutely show up, with all these ridiculous people and their flamboyant, over the top outfits, wearing nothing but shiny new wrist bands and his classic speedo, and somehow still show everyone up. That's Namor to me.

Lol, you know I can't wait until Marvel throws Namor back into those speedos! Just that with a crown would be more fashion that what we got. Like come on, he is a king, he should at LEAST have a crown!

I hate when my abyss level expectations of Marvel prove true. I believe the phrase I used was "half-assed effort." Zero imagination and zero fashion. It looks like it came off the rack from Party City. I've never understood artists who didn't grasp the AMAZING visuals of the ocean fauna and flora. I mean, look at Mera's eye popping dress from the Aquaman movie.



Check out McQueen's Plato's Atlantis show or Thierry Mugler's Atlantis show -- both actual haute coutre!

Absolutely.

Namor wouldn't even wear this to get a bagel.

The best thing about this is the sharks. And that he didn't draw Namor with his googley eyes. I guess I should just be happy he didn't end up looking like Cosmic Boy.

I could see that. In fact, I'd rather that. Or nothing but a hydro-kinesis splash of water. ; p

Hehe. Well we would need Alex Ross to draw that, he is great at a non clothed Namor XD

While I like the sharks, I do wish artists would use other ocean animals in their themes from time to time, like sharks are not the only thing in the sea. However I get it because Namor = Shark in human skin, etc.

You were right again Rev on your predictions for this outcome ):

Hear Hear!

While you and I can and will disagree on details here and there, we always agree on the core of Namor and his world, and I agree wth your sentiments here as well. There's a lot to comment on in this post, I don't know if I have the stamina to go through it all atm, but something tells me this topic will come up again

Agreed! Everyone will definitely have differences in their interpretations of the character, but I just hope somehow we can keep the core of what Namor's character is intact.

This is way too basic for Namor in regards to the Hellfire Gala. He should have been garbed in something much more spectacular and over-the-top!

When we have Doom and Storm looking like THIS (and she is in my regards Mutant Royalty), and then Namor showing up in a scale printed suit? it's disappointing. Makes me wish we had gotten Dauterman on Namor, even though he gave us a wonderful Doom look.

These are much better than what we got. I love the ocean-themed cape from the first pic. Very creative. Your Namor is very handsome.

Thank you!

[Frontier]

Anyways, reminder that I did commission two Hellfire gala arts last year for Namor Week and the artist came up with these awesome looks, so I'm just gonna share that again.

The bottom I could legit see as a Namor costume.

[Reviresco]

Bachalo's forte has never been design but that HFG look is lazy and phoned-in even by his standards. Thankfully, at the very least he's not wearing another version of this...

Lady Mastermind.jpg

That's the Cosmic Boy costume I lived in fear we were going to get! LOL!

Lol, you know I can't wait until Marvel throws Namor back into those speedos! Just that with a crown would be more fashion that what we got. Like come on, he is a king, he should at LEAST have a crown!


When we have Doom and Storm looking like THIS (and she is in my regards Mutant Royalty), and then Namor showing up in a scale printed suit? it's disappointing. Makes me wish we had gotten Dauterman on Namor, even though he gave us a wonderful Doom look.

YES! When I saw that Doom by Dauterman, I was SO envious. Why couldn't he do Namor instead of Spider-Man?!?! This is the second time we've been robbed of Dauterman Namor. Now, all we'll have Doom laughing and throwing shade at our Prince. Unbelievable.

Namor definitely needs to be back in the speedo for his regular comic appearances.


I could see Namor wearing a thin layer of water that was full of bio-luminescent creatures, or tiny firefly squid, and he could move it around and change the colors -- it would be kind of Rave like but cooler.

[Starrius]

I don't see why it would be problematic? Historically people of color have and do fight, so I don't see what's the issue?

Also connecting Atlantis to Mesoamerica is pretty cool since most theories place it in the Atlantic ocean so an Ancient Aztec/Mayan island civilization in the middle of the Atlantic makes sense to me.

There are four Atlantic archipelagos, and they have been colonized by the people of the Iberian Peninsula.


The Azores - Portuguese colony
Madeira - Portuguese colony
Cape Verde - former Portuguese colony and now independent African nation since 1975
The Canaries - Spanish colony

They're known as Macaronesia.


Macaronesia (Portuguese: Macaronésia) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the coasts of the continents of Africa and Europe.[1] Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands, which are formed by seamounts on the ocean floor whose peaks have risen above the ocean's surface.[2] Some of the Macaronesian islands belong to Portugal, some belong to Spain, and the rest belong to Cape Verde.[3][4][5] Politically, the islands belonging to Portugal and Spain are part of the European Union. Geologically, Macaronesia is part of the African tectonic plate. Some of its islands – the Azores – are situated along the edge of that plate at the point where it abuts the Eurasian and North American plates.[6][7]

In one biogeographical system, the Cape Verde archipelago is in the Afrotropical realm while the other three archipelagos are in the Palearctic realm. According to the European Environment Agency, the three European archipelagos constitute a unique bioregion, known as the Macaronesian Biogeographic Region.[8] The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions places the whole of Macaronesia in its botanical continent of Africa.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaronesia



My maternal grandfather's paternal grandfather was the son of immigrants from Cape Verde, and they were clearly of mixed Sub Saharan African, European ancestry.
My maternal grandfather's maternal grandmother was the Hawaiian born daughter of immigrants from Madeira. DNA testing revealed my 2nd Great Grandmother's Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup was L0a0a2 which indicates Sub Saharan African matrilineal ancestry.
My maternal grandfather's maternal grandfather was from Puerto Rico, and I read that most of the Spaniards that immigrated to Puerto Rico were from the Canaries. The average Puerto Rican is a mix of European, SubSaharan African, and Amerindian.


There were a North African people that lived in The Canaries, and they were known as The Gaunches. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BC. The Guanches were the only native people known to have lived in the Macaronesian archipelago region before the arrival of Europeans, as there is no evidence that the other Macaronesian archipelagos (the Cape Verde Islands, Madeira and the Azores) were inhabited.

[ImperiusWrecked]

The bottom I could legit see as a Namor costume.

Thank you! I asked the artist I commissioned to do 1 Fancy look and 1 more practical but still stylish look and I'm very happy with what they came up with!

That's the Cosmic Boy costume I lived in fear we were going to get! LOL!


YES! When I saw that Doom by Dauterman, I was SO envious. Why couldn't he do Namor instead of Spider-Man?!?! This is the second time we've been robbed of Dauterman Namor. Now, all we'll have Doom laughing and throwing shade at our Prince. Unbelievable.

Namor definitely needs to be back in the speedo for his regular comic appearances.


I could see Namor wearing a thin layer of water that was full of bio-luminescent creatures, or tiny firefly squid, and he could move it around and change the colors -- it would be kind of Rave like but cooler.

That last pic is sooooo cool!

Maybe we should have just been happy if Namor showed up in a seashell and nothing else as drawn by Kris Anka

[Reviresco]

That last pic is sooooo cool!

Maybe we should have just been happy if Namor showed up in a seashell and nothing else as drawn by Kris Anka

Hrrmmmm. : )


I like the water man alot too. Of course, my idea is would be the water would be laced with phosphorescence / chromoplasts, than a complete water elemental.

I found this in Gail Simone's twitter ... it wasn't for the Hellfire Gala, but ... am I wrong for saying I like this better than the Bachalo's cover? ;p

[ImperiusWrecked]

I do like how fancy his hat is XD