IMPERIUS REX! Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2022

[Thor-El]

I completed 100 Namor icons for his 100th, here is a link if anyone is interested in using them. I will be making more edits and such things later for Namor week but if anyone ever needs an Icon cut out just let me know!

That's a lot of cool icons.

Also I recently read Aaron's latest Avengers and I am not pleased that Namor couldn't hold his own in a fight against Teen Thanos. *sigh* I really hope a new Avengers writer comes soon or Namor is taken off the book.

I disagree, but what's new, right? Namor just hesitated for a minute because he was handling a "kid". A moment that young Thanos took complete advantage of because he is a ruthless sadistic villain with a deceptive physical appearance which makes him the more dangerous. I think Captain America or Black Panther would have hesitated too. The showing of Namor shaking off a bunch of blades stabbings and getting immediately back to use young Thanos as a punching bag was very savage and badass and reminiscent of a Wolverine showing at his best. Still, it is very early in Aaron's Namor as an Avenger run but I choose to be cautiously optimistic.

[namorcosplay]

Dude you are definitely the reigning Namor! I think I'll retire my Namor and leave the younger generation take over. LOL No, seriously Namorcosplay, you are killing it as Namor! I think you posted in instagram you are 6'3" and as a 6'2" tall guy myself I know how much it takes to fill up a big frame of muscle. Well done and a great representation of classic Namor!

Thanks man! I really appreciate that, just trying to do the King justice. It's defintely been a lot of hard work and patience to get here, and not planning on stopping

[ImperiusWrecked]

That's a lot of cool icons.

Thanks

I disagree, but what's new, right? Namor just hesitated for a minute because he was handling a "kid". A moment that young Thanos took complete advantage of because he is a ruthless sadistic villain with a deceptive physical appearance which makes him the more dangerous. I think Captain America or Black Panther would have hesitated too. The showing of Namor shaking off a bunch of blades stabbings and getting immediately back to use young Thanos as a punching bag was very savage and badass and reminiscent of a Wolverine showing at his best. Still, it is very early in Aaron's Namor as an Avenger run but I choose to be cautiously optimistic.

Namor has no qualms against hitting an overpowered/evil teenager, he won't kill them (though he should in Thanos's case, imo) but he would neutralize them without issue even without killing or hurting them badly. I have zero hope for and disliked the way Namor has been handled by Aaron for years and the Phoenix Event nailed that coffin close. Namor needs a better writer. Aaron's had 4 years of chances with Namor, and has shown me already how he disrespects and jobs the character, Teen Thanos is just another in a long line of characters Namor should have zero issues handling.

[Phoenixx9]

Namor has no qualms against hitting an overpowered/evil teenager, he won't kill them (though he should in Thanos's case, imo) but he would neutralize them without issue even without killing or hurting them badly. I have zero hope for and disliked the way Namor has been handled by Aaron for years and the Phoenix Event nailed that coffin close. Namor needs a better writer. Aaron's had 4 years of chances with Namor, and has shown me already how he disrespects and jobs the character, Teen Thanos is just another in a long line of characters Namor should have zero issues handling.

Aaron has not handled my beloved Phoenix Force in any proper way either----daring to stage a "Tournament"!

I "Wonder" what Aaron was thinking---that everyone was secluded island people--- trying to see who would win the title in order to venture to the outside world?

As Thor-El stated long ago, there was already a winner of the Phoenix Force.

Here is hoping that Namor in 2022 gets some good stories and also some special Anniversary issues!

[namorcosplay]

Thanks





Namor has no qualms against hitting an overpowered/evil teenager, he won't kill them (though he should in Thanos's case, imo) but he would neutralize them without issue even without killing or hurting them badly. I have zero hope for and disliked the way Namor has been handled by Aaron for years and the Phoenix Event nailed that coffin close. Namor needs a better writer. Aaron's had 4 years of chances with Namor, and has shown me already how he disrespects and jobs the character, Teen Thanos is just another in a long line of characters Namor should have zero issues handling.

Agreed Aaron has had his chances to do a shred of justice with Namor, but has repetatedly proven that:

A: He doesnt understand the characters basic histroy/origin. He obviously hasnt read much Namor, there was a line where his mother threatened to send him to the surface to live with his father. That is LITERALLY in his origin story, it's not some random issue or us being nit picky fans, Fen thought he died, it's Namor 101!

B: Doesnt understand the character at all, instead of making him a complex anti-hero/King he has turned him into an angry sea elf

C: Aaron has done anything to progress Namor and his story, and has just been using him as a negative plot device

D: When you compare Busiek's King in Black and Greg Pak's Atlantis Attacks (all that were going on at the same time as Aaron's Namor) his interpretation is horrible in comparison. There is a line in Atlantis Attacks that made me literally say out loud when i was reading it THIS! THIS IS MY NAMOR when Cho asked him "What are you Namor a hero or a monster" which he responded "I am a King so I am both!" That's my Namor, complex and duty bound to protecting his people. Not raging around throwing temper tantrums and killing sharks cause he wanted to see how it would feel(terrible moment in Enter the Phoenix fyi)

E: Destroying Atlantis AGAIN? King without a kingdom AGAIN? Wow how original Aaron, that storyline hasnt been used a hundred times. Sooooooo original

My final words on why I hate what Aaron is doing is there are articles from CBR and Screenrant that basically highlight dislike for him in Aaron's Avengers, he's making new fans and surface level fans think he is, like i previously said, an angry sea elf and a straight up d**k.

[Thor-El]

Aaron has not handled my beloved Phoenix Force in any proper way either----daring to stage a "Tournament"!

I "Wonder" what Aaron was thinking---that everyone was secluded island people--- trying to see who would win the title in order to venture to the outside world?

As Thor-El stated long ago, there was already a winner of the Phoenix Force.

Here is hoping that Namor in 2022 gets some good stories and also some special Anniversary issues!

Hah, hah, hah, thanks for the much needed levity, Phoenixx9. I'm not expecting Busiek level writing from Aaron but it seems he can write an entertaining story judging from his first work on Thor, not everything though. That's all I'm expecting from this. I also am aware he can ignore continuity and even re-write the past but I find that is not exclusive of Aaron, most modern comic writers do. That's why right now I don't collect any, just will grab an issue once in a full moon. I honestly have skipped most of Aaron's Avengers so I missed on the Phoenix story and the She-Hulk where Namor joins. Only been reading excerpts in articles and whenever I check this board, the comments from posters which are mostly negative with reason.

Anyways like I said before, I liked this art and it has Namor and Jane Foster in the roster and maybe Thor, all of which are favorite characters of mine. Kid Thanos seems like a cool villain like the God Butcher was and the elevation of Jane Foster to an A lister was cool to see even though I still haven't read those books. I'm interested to see what exactly Aaron wants to do with Namor though, what is his endgame with the character.

If I want tight continuity where character's personalities don't deviate and the character history is respected to almost perfection there is only one place to look at and that is the silver age. That honestly passed away in the 90s or even before. Nowadays characters are written based on the writer's taste because most editors don't care. They haven't cared for awhile now so the damage is quite deep. There are just a few jewels of a writers out there still trying to make sense of the convoluted mess that most timelines have turned into and all the mischaracterizations.

[Phoenixx9]

Hah, hah, hah, thanks for the much needed levity, Phoenixx9. I'm not expecting Busiek level writing from Aaron but it seems he can write an entertaining story judging from his first work on Thor, not everything though. That's all I'm expecting from this. I also am aware he can ignore continuity and even re-write the past but I find that is not exclusive of Aaron, most modern comic writers do. That's why right now I don't collect any, just will grab an issue once in a full moon. I honestly have skipped most of Aaron's Avengers so I missed on the Phoenix story and the She-Hulk where Namor joins. Only been reading excerpts in articles and whenever I check this board, the comments from posters which are mostly negative with reason.

Anyways like I said before, I liked this art and it has Namor and Jane Foster in the roster and maybe Thor, all of which are favorite characters of mine. Kid Thanos seems like a cool villain like the God Butcher was and the elevation of Jane Foster to an A lister was cool to see even though I still haven't read those books. I'm interested to see what exactly Aaron wants to do with Namor though, what is his endgame with the character.

If I want tight continuity where character's personalities don't deviate and the character history is respected to almost perfection there is only one place to look at and that is the silver age. That honestly passed away in the 90s or even before. Nowadays characters are written based on the writer's taste because most editors don't care. They haven't cared for awhile now so the damage is quite deep. There are just a few jewels of a writers out there still trying to make sense of the convoluted mess that most timelines have turned into and all the mischaracterizations.

Glad to give out chuckles, it is all we can do. You are correct that most writers today just seem to do their own thing, ignoring continuity and status that has been achieved.

By the way, nice new Avatar! You have bulked up. I never saw your Thor before.

[Thor-El]

Glad to give out chuckles, it is all we can do. You are correct that most writers today just seem to do their own thing, ignoring continuity and status that has been achieved.

By the way, nice new Avatar! You have bulked up. I never saw your Thor before.

Thanks brother. Those are actually 3 or 4 years old. Old icons I made but never used. I stopped going to the Gym a week before the lockdown for Covid. Still the same weight though at 220 pounds but less lean, lol. But I've kept working out at home and hopefully after two vaccines and a booster I'm feeling better about going back to the Gym. I've keep the Cosplay going on Instagram and may go finally to a local Con in person this July depending of how things go in the gym I may or may not cosplay, plus I'm getting too old. So happy I'm not the only cosplayer in the thread now.

I cannot stress how valuable are silver age comics to me, I had such a re-discovery of Thor and Jane Foster reading their 60's appearances in chronological order last year. The work of Lee and Kirby is just pure gold! Work I never read before because it was before my time. I plan to do the same with Namor. I started with the Golden Age and I wanted to finish that before going to the Silver Age but too many things in my plate so I might just jump into the silver age that is the well structured and character driven work guided by Lee and his close team of writers and editors that included his creator Bill Everett. That synergy of Stan Lee and Bill Everett IMHO is the true essence of Namor, the Sub-mariner.

[namorcosplay]

Thanks brother. Those are actually 3 or 4 years old. Old icons I made but never used. I stopped going to the Gym a week before the lockdown for Covid. Still the same weight though at 220 pounds but less lean, lol. But I've kept working out at home and hopefully after two vaccines and a booster I'm feeling better about going back to the Gym. I've keep the Cosplay going on Instagram and may go finally to a local Con in person this July depending of how things go in the gym I may or may not cosplay, plus I'm getting too old. So happy I'm not the only cosplayer in the thread now.

I cannot stress how valuable are silver age comics to me, I had such a re-discovery of Thor and Jane Foster reading their 60's appearances in chronological order last year. The work of Lee and Kirby is just pure gold! Work I never read before because it was before my time. I plan to do the same with Namor. I started with the Golden Age and I wanted to finish that before going to the Silver Age but too many things in my plate so I might just jump into the silver age that is the well structured and character driven work guided by Lee and his close team of writers and editors that included his creator Bill Everett. That synergy of Stan Lee and Bill Everett IMHO is the true essence of Namor, the Sub-mariner.

I recently just finished a re-reading of the Silver Age, truly no Namor has been as good as he was back then, (besides the 1984 mini-series) like the characters are classic, perfect characterization of Namor, lets not forget Lady Dorma too. His stories spending ample time underwater. Nothing will ever come close to what it was

[Thor-El]

I recently just finished a re-reading of the Silver Age, truly no Namor has been as good as he was back then, (besides the 1984 mini-series) like the characters are classic, perfect characterization of Namor, lets not forget Lady Dorma too. His stories spending ample time underwater. Nothing will ever come close to what it was

Ah, Lady Dorma is such a great and underrated character! I recommend you to check out the 60s cartoons if you haven't done it yet. Some people criticize their animation but they fail to see that it is the only way you will see these old classics faithfully and almost 100% unaltered come to live. The music, and sound effects track is great and the acting although exaggerated and melodramatic at times is pure Stan Lee goodness. In the case of the Sub-mariner they wrote 3 or more original stories that I always remember as some of my favorite episodes. The characters of Lady Dorma and Lord Vashti were the face of Atlantis and the heart and soul of the series, something Stan Lee used to make with every superhero, give them a cast that was important and the reader could identify as the audience and fall in love with.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Agreed Aaron has had his chances to do a shred of justice with Namor, but has repetatedly proven that:

A: He doesnt understand the characters basic histroy/origin. He obviously hasnt read much Namor, there was a line where his mother threatened to send him to the surface to live with his father. That is LITERALLY in his origin story, it's not some random issue or us being nit picky fans, Fen thought he died, it's Namor 101!

B: Doesnt understand the character at all, instead of making him a complex anti-hero/King he has turned him into an angry sea elf

C: Aaron has done anything to progress Namor and his story, and has just been using him as a negative plot device

D: When you compare Busiek's King in Black and Greg Pak's Atlantis Attacks (all that were going on at the same time as Aaron's Namor) his interpretation is horrible in comparison. There is a line in Atlantis Attacks that made me literally say out loud when i was reading it THIS! THIS IS MY NAMOR when Cho asked him "What are you Namor a hero or a monster" which he responded "I am a King so I am both!" That's my Namor, complex and duty bound to protecting his people. Not raging around throwing temper tantrums and killing sharks cause he wanted to see how it would feel(terrible moment in Enter the Phoenix fyi)

E: Destroying Atlantis AGAIN? King without a kingdom AGAIN? Wow how original Aaron, that storyline hasnt been used a hundred times. Sooooooo original

My final words on why I hate what Aaron is doing is there are articles from CBR and Screenrant that basically highlight dislike for him in Aaron's Avengers, he's making new fans and surface level fans think he is, like i previously said, an angry sea elf and a straight up d**k.

All of what you said! I'm done with Aaron's Namor, even if the writer manages to pull off something semi decent it won't make up for the way he has used Namor during a very precarious time, Namor is getting more limelight then he has in recent years and may be catapulted to stardom levels soon if Marvel does put him in the movies, so knowing that the most recent Namor in avengers is how people will see him is killing me inside. Instead of the complex royal figure we get some school yard bully who is dumb as a box of rocks, cruel for no reason, and easily beaten.

I adore the Silver Age, that is peak Namor, unfortunately many fans won't read back further than Avengers vs X-Men :/ There are modern writers who can write Namor very well, just not Aaron.

[Oberon]

It is sad to think this and agree.

Somewhere in the '90s was where I started cutting out comics that didn't matter so much to me anymore.

that was the X Men. It seemed like every person who wrote it or whatever just wanted to bombard us with more and more mutants, often imitating other mutants or heroes.

I think Skids was the last cool mutant I liked, even though she had more than one thing that reminded me of a certain FF member (yeah, I know she was made in the '80s, and btw, the first iteration of X-Factor will always be the best one)

So I just started cutting books like that out of my reading. 10 or so years ago, finally had it with the Avengers

though Uncanny Avengers, the first one, is very classic to me.
I regret this and I don't. Namor has been spoiled to me for ages, but I still hold out hope.

I mentioned 2 favorite runs of no longer bought comics: the original X factor and the first volume of Uncanny Avengers.

My favorite Namor run is further in the past, probably the original Tiger Shark story.

But I really loved the pix from the old Namor cartoon. It is not too melodramatic for me! Classic Cubed!

[Thor-El]

It is sad to think this and agree.

Somewhere in the '90s was where I started cutting out comics that didn't matter so much to me anymore.

that was the X Men. It seemed like every person who wrote it or whatever just wanted to bombard us with more and more mutants, often imitating other mutants or heroes.

I think Skids was the last cool mutant I liked, even though she had more than one thing that reminded me of a certain FF member (yeah, I know she was made in the '80s, and btw, the first iteration of X-Factor will always be the best one)

So I just started cutting books like that out of my reading. 10 or so years ago, finally had it with the Avengers

though Uncanny Avengers, the first one, is very classic to me.
I regret this and I don't.

The last comic book run I collected with great interest was Avengers by Kurt Busiek and the return of the still living legend George Perez. (We are still blessed with George Perez being among us even though sadly he is in hospice at home.) Before that it was Alan Davis Excalibur. I returned to read Thor a couple times but it never hold my interest. Same with Avengers most recently with the beginning of Aaron's run, not because Aaron but because McGuinness that has mostly been absent of the series lately. I did enjoy the beginning of Uncanny Avengers with Wonder Man and Scarlet Witch formally as a couple seems like a progression of Kurt Busiek's Avengers plus the union of the X-Men and Avengers in a team was interesting.

Namor has been spoiled to me for ages, but I still hold out hope.

I mentioned 2 favorite runs of no longer bought comics: the original X factor and the first volume of Uncanny Avengers.

My favorite Namor run is further in the past, probably the original Tiger Shark story.

But I really loved the pix from the old Namor cartoon. It is not too melodramatic for me! Classic Cubed!

To me either but its a critique I often hear besides the animation. Those cartoons are pure gold and John Vernon's voice is what I always figure in my head Namor would sound like. Same with Dorma and Vashti. And yes Namor has been spoiled for ages.

I also will never get the joy some fans get with associating Namor with Dr. Doom. That was good as a one time thing but a true hero doesn't dances around with evil and every time they keep repeating that alliance it just sinks the character as a heroic figure more, as much as when they try to rekindle his romance with Sue. I know you don't agree with the Sue part though. But about Doom, you would think he would have learned from his past experiences, just makes the character look dumb IMHO.

[ImperiusWrecked]

I mean Namor isn't a superhero, he is an anti hero, what does he care if Doom wants to rule the world so long as his oceans are left in peace? He cares about Atlanteans first and humans second, and allying himself with Doom isn't dumb, it's was a solid monarchial choice to gain a powerful ally. Doom isn't a dumb character, he is very smart but his hubris is what often takes him down. IMO Namor isn't dumb for allying with people who could aid him should he choose it and as a ruler he knows the importance of being allies, before Marvel was dead set on a Atlantis vs Wakanda war I would say the same thing about Namor and T'Challa. What's dumb is Aaron writing Namor needing an outside power like the phoenix force when Namor often relies on his own self power and making Namor look like a buffoon in the process.

edit: I meant he isn't a superhero like Captain America, he is by definition a superhero but his character has more grey than most other heroes and he is also an anti-hero

[Doombot]

A lot of people overlook the fact that not only is Namor not a hero in the sense of Captain America, he isn't a human hero at all. He's an Atlantean hero. He fights for Atlanteans, not for humanity. Of course he will do the right thing when those goals overlap, or for the greater fate of the world, but he is first and foremost a hero of Atlantis.