IMPERIUS REX! Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2023

[Doombot]

Here's a cool Kirby Attuma, complete with the original bunny skull helmet, as I've heard people call it lol
Kirby was obviously going with the whole "evil barbarian man wears animal skull" thing, but he was like, "I'll be damned if I'm going to look up any actual undersea animals for this, I'm Jack Kirby."

[Reviresco]

Here's a cool Kirby Attuma, complete with the original bunny skull helmet, as I've heard people call it lol
Kirby was obviously going with the whole "evil barbarian man wears animal skull" thing, but he was like, "I'll be damned if I'm going to look up any actual undersea animals for this, I'm Jack Kirby.

Bunny Ears! LOL!

For some reason, I thought his headgear was supposed to be coral and the 'ears' were some sort of growths. Of course, a coral helmet makes zero sense, but ....

Besides being a cool Kirby image, I like how he made the breast plate much smaller, perhaps more like a weird gorget. I always thought that was a weird piece of armor / costume.

[Reviresco]

I know, right?!

Attuma better leave Jean Grey alone or he will be sorry!

Attuma is nothing but......a barbarian!

Oh, I'm pretty sure he was made very sorry. But the sheer cojones of Attuma thinking he was going use the Phoenix. TWICE.

I looked it up, and it turns out it was Claremont that started this weirdness, in a flashback story with Jean in Bizarre Adventures, but Byrne took the ball and ran with it.

Well, I mean, he IS a barbarian warlord. I'm sure has has no qualms about taking women by force. Attuma would have slaves of every sort, including a harem I'm sure. Especially if, like in this panel, he's interested in fathering powerful children.

Also, Atlantis Attacks really wasn't a good showing for like..anyone. Interestingly though, the Atlantis Attacks Fantastic Four Annual, which I believe is the finale, was the first comic I bought for myself from the back issue bins as a kid. I still have it. Naga coming back from the dead to take Ghaur always kinda freaked me out, I had no idea who he was.

Really? That's cool! What I remember most about Atlantis Attacks was being very annoyed that Namor finally got an event ... and he barely shows up at all, and in fact, was "killed" off at the start! It's sort of like The Depths.

And yes, that's definitely Attuma's MO. That's how we got Andromeda.

[Reviresco]

I was going to suggest world building of Atlantis for a new series. There's so much I don't know.

How many cities are under the sea? Do they all bow down to Namor and is Atlantis the capital?

What's the population of Atlantis? I've seen estimates from millions to just tens of thousands.

Why do some writers depict Atlantis as technologically advance and others show the residents as primitive barbarians?

And sorry I missed the vote I course would have voted for Namor.

Awww. Thanks!

The big problem is that Namor hasn't had his own book for a while. And when something of his own, like a mini-series, comes out, writers ignore what's come before and just throw new stuff at the wall, which never gets addressed or expanded on. There's a woeful amount of ignorance about Namor, his history, and Atlantis amongst modern writers, IMO. They haven't read his books. Again, this goes back to Marvel not giving him his own book -- which is why get the primitive barbarians crap.

We do know there are various cities / communities under the sea that fall under the domain of Atlantis, which is a capital city, as well as an empire. I don't think there's a list of them, but IIRC, DeMatteis talked about it in his 1984 mini-series. What their exact relationship to Atlantis is, hasn't been explored. In the Defenders story focused on Namor, Fraction said that Namor's rule of the Seven Seas was ... loose, hence why he wasn't put the hammer down on the Nereids.

I don't think it's a population of tens of thousands. That doesn't really make sense. They literally would be facing extinction, given how many times they've been destroyed.

[Reviresco]

So ... talking about another dangling plotline ... I'd forgotten that Attuma also got decapitated in Robinson's Squadron Supreme, but somehow, showed up alive in Robinson's Nick Fury issue. He also was eaten in the Indestructible Hulk in Lemuria, but showed up later without explanation.

An Attuma article from CBR that isn't bad.

https://www.cbr.com/marvel-attuma-tr...ng-civil-war-2


A list of Attuma's appearances from Marvel Fandom.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Categ...es?from=%C2%A1



Fantastic Four Vol 1 33
Tales to Astonish Vol 1 64
Tales of Suspense Vol 1 66
Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 3
Avengers Vol 1 26
Avengers Vol 1 27
Tales to Astonish Vol 1 88
Tales to Astonish Vol 1 89
Tales to Astonish Vol 1 91
Sub-Mariner Vol 1 4
Sub-Mariner Vol 1 31
Sub-Mariner Vol 1 36
Sub-Mariner Vol 1 37
Sub-Mariner Vol 1 38
Defenders Vol 1 7
Defenders Vol 1 8
Super-Villain Team-Up Vol 1 1
Super-Villain Team-Up Vol 1 2
Super-Villain Team-Up Vol 1 3
Super-Villain Team-Up Vol 1 9
Avengers Vol 1 154
Avengers Vol 1 155
Avengers Vol 1 156
Bizarre Adventures Vol 1 27
Marvel Age Annual Vol 1 1
Alpha Flight Vol 1 33
Alpha Flight Vol 1 34
Alpha Flight Vol 1 35
Alpha Flight Vol 1 36
Alpha Flight Vol 1 37
Alpha Flight Vol 1 38
Alpha Flight Vol 1 39
Avengers Vol 1 272
Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 34
Avengers Annual Vol 1 17
Saga of the Sub-Mariner Vol 1 9
Iron Man Annual Vol 1 10
Avengers Annual Vol 1 18
Saga of the Sub-Mariner Vol 1 12
X-Factor Annual Vol 1 4
Web of Spider-Man Annual Vol 1 5
Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual Vol 1 1
Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual Vol 1 2
Namor the Sub-Mariner Vol 1 45
Marvels Vol 1 3
Namor the Sub-Mariner Vol 1 52
Marvel: Heroes & Legends Vol 2 1
Incredible Hulk and Sub-Mariner Annual Vol 1 1998
Defenders Vol 2 2
Citizen V and the V-Battalion Vol 1 2
Defenders Vol 2 5
Avengers Vol 3 42
Avengers Vol 3 43
Avengers 2001 Vol 1 1
Defenders Vol 2 7
Defenders Vol 2 11
JLA/Avengers Vol 1 3
JLA/Avengers Vol 1 4
Hercules Vol 3 3
Sentry Vol 2 1
Agents of Atlas Vol 2 6
Dark Reign: Made Men Vol 1 1
Fear Itself Vol 1 2
Fear Itself: The Deep Vol 1 1
Herc Vol 1 4
Alpha Flight Vol 4 1
Fear Itself: The Home Front Vol 1 3
Fear Itself Vol 1 4
Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force Vol 1 1
Fear Itself: The Home Front Vol 1 4
Fear Itself: The Deep Vol 1 2
Fear Itself: The Worthy Vol 1 1
Fear Itself: The Deep Vol 1 3
Fear Itself Vol 1 6
Fear Itself: The Deep Vol 1 4
Fear Itself Vol 1 7
Avengers Academy Vol 1 20
Fear Itself: The Fearless Vol 1 4
Indestructible Hulk Vol 1 4
Indestructible Hulk Vol 1 5
Squadron Supreme Vol 4 1
Squadron Supreme Vol 4 12
Squadron Supreme Vol 4 13
Nick Fury Vol 1 4
King in Black: Namor Vol 1 1
King in Black: Namor Vol 1 2
King in Black: Namor Vol 1 3
Champions Vol 4 4
King in Black: Namor Vol 1 4
King in Black: Namor Vol 1 5

[Reviresco]

And I found the pertinent pages about Attuma's origin from Fear Itself The Worthy 6 -- which do seem to contradict KiB. Gives him a more Spartacus like origin.

[Reviresco]

Well, the June solicitations are out, and once again, we've got nothing with Namor mentioned or even any covers. The only thing we've got is Hickman's Ultimate Universe issue. Marvel suxs.

[Doombot]

And I found the pertinent pages about Attuma's origin from Fear Itself The Worthy 6 -- which do seem to contradict KiB. Gives him a more Spartacus like origin.

Wow that's alotta Attuma you posted.

These pages are much more my preference for Attuma. I'd have to read KiB again, but I suppose a creator could work a way to mesh the two origins.

[Doombot]

Oddly enough, the Attuma & Jean Grey encounter seemed to strike a chord with some fans. I honestly didn't even remember it happening. (Though that Attuma X-factor cover was burned into my memory, I just didn't remember it was Jean that Attuma was choking)





A cosplayer has even done an "Atlantean Jean Grey", which is quite nice, but being a red-blooded male, I may be a bit biased in liking this set:

https://www.superherohype.com/cospla...bscure-costume

[Doombot]

While going over the X-Factor Annual in question, (which is a fun little story, Andromeda challenges Attuma to a right of birth type combat, so Beast & Jean may escape) what's really interesting is that it contains one of the backup "Saga of the Serpent Crown" chapters. In this chapter, they do a bit of retconning by adding Llyra to the original Questers story arc, as she's shown to be the High Priestess of Set in Naga's court. Which circles us back to the "lost years" of Namor's 50's era. Who knows how long Llyra has served under Naga, and god only knows what kind of schemes and devious machinations she got up to while there.

[Reviresco]

Wow that's alotta Attuma you posted.

These pages are much more my preference for Attuma. I'd have to read KiB again, but I suppose a creator could work a way to mesh the two origins.

I don't know. Born on a battlefield and grew up a slave doesn't exactly fit with prince of a the Chasm People.

Oddly enough, the Attuma & Jean Grey encounter seemed to strike a chord with some fans. I honestly didn't even remember it happening. (Though that Attuma X-factor cover was burned into my memory, I just didn't remember it was Jean that Attuma was choking)



A cosplayer has even done an "Atlantean Jean Grey", which is quite nice, but being a red-blooded male, I may be a bit biased in liking this set:

https://www.superherohype.com/cospla...bscure-costume

I think those are commissions from one fan. That is a lovely cosplay. I'd love to see her do Namora or even Lady Dorma.

[Doombot]

I don't know. Born on a battlefield and grew up a slave doesn't exactly fit with prince of a the Chasm People.

LOL, I suppose you're right.

[Reviresco]

While going over the X-Factor Annual in question, (which is a fun little story, Andromeda challenges Attuma to a right of birth type combat, so Beast & Jean may escape) what's really interesting is that it contains one of the backup "Saga of the Serpent Crown" chapters. In this chapter, they do a bit of retconning by adding Llyra to the original Questers story arc, as she's shown to be the High Priestess of Set in Naga's court. Which circles us back to the "lost years" of Namor's 50's era. Who knows how long Llyra has served under Naga, and god only knows what kind of schemes and devious machinations she got up to while there.

Yes, each issue had a Saga of the Serpent Crown story, which is probably closest thing to 'history' of Atlantis that we've gotten.

From Subby 50 we know that Llyra was around at the court of Lemuria fighting with Namora over Merro, so it would make sense that she was a priestess of Set too. She certainly continued working for Set and I think that's why she transformed into the sea snake creature, IIRC.

[Doombot]

Yes, each issue had a Saga of the Serpent Crown story, which is probably closest thing to 'history' of Atlantis that we've gotten.

From Subby 50 we know that Llyra was around at the court of Lemuria fighting with Namora over Merro, so it would make sense that she was a priestess of Set too. She certainly continued working for Set and I think that's why she transformed into the sea snake creature, IIRC.

Llyra transforming into the serpent as well as the female "Nagala" simply never happened, and you can't convince me otherwise.

[Reviresco]

Llyra transforming into the serpent as well as the female "Nagala" simply never happened, and you can't convince me otherwise.

LOL! It's amazing how much of comics we headcanon in or out of existence.