Appreciate Namor McKenzie in here!
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Namor Thread
"All it takes for sexism to prosper is for good men to see nothing."
From the vantage of anecdotal experience it is an inevitability that any conversation between geeks will inevitably turn to the topic of comparing different properties or organizations. Comparisons of Star Wars and Star Trek, rival sports teams, competing video game systems, different albums by favorite bands; if it's somebody's passion there will be somebody else with whom to argue about the merits and flaws therein. As a longtime devotee of comic books, particularly superhero comics, one subject under this umbrella I've been prone to ruminate about is the premise of Marvel comics having an analogous figure to DCs Superman. In my own quarter century as a dedicated patron of this genre I've seen figures with a superficial similarity to the Last Son of Krypton rolled out under the mighty Marvel masthead and come across many others in my reading of their backlog. And yet these figures seem to lack the significance to draw true comparission to the Man of Steel. The Sentry and Adam the Blue Marvel bear powers, costumes and other superficial trappings that echo Superman but have backgrounds so distinct and histories so shallow that a genuine comparison falls flat. Other obvious figures like Hyperion, Wundarr the Aquarian, Gladiator, and Ethan Edwards all are so bluntly referential in power set, back story and ethic that they are at best homages, and at worst pastiche on the flagship property of the Distinguished Competition. What I propose is that none of these caped champions are the Superman of the Marvel Superheroes. Instead, as I will elucidate, Marvel unknowingly introduced its Superman a mere 12 months after the publication of Action Comics #1 in the barely distributed Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. That's right, by virtue of the criteria of character background, power level, significance to his fictional world, publication legacy and distinct Marvel-ness Namor the Sub-Mariner is Marvel's Superman.
To discuss their power sets is perhaps the most superficial of the similarities between them, but is still significant. Superman is widely regarded as the most powerful hero in the DCU. While there are others, villains and heroes alike who can pose a challenge for him his abilities are formidable and the combination of his unique Kryptonian physiology impacted by environmental mutation effects that come from reaching maturity on a planet nurtured by a wavelength of stellar radiation distinct from that of his native world (in other words a "yellow Sun"). By this combination of inheritance and environment Superman has commonly (N.B. I'm taking license to neglect some of the super-silliness of the 1950s and 1960s like super hypnotism, super weaving and super ventriloquism, here) been shown to possess a nearly indestructible body, incredible strength and speed, the ability to survive in hostile environments, the power to defy the bonds of gravity, senses able to hear great distances and perceive as visible wavelengths that are invisible to humans, and the ability to project laser-like beams of intense heat from his eyes. The abilities of the Sub-Mariner also arise from his unique physiology, a combination of Homo sapien and Homo mermanus genetic inheritance and reaching maturity in a harsh, polar, aquatic environment affecting further mutation and rendering him a specimen of Homo superior. Namor has been shown to possess a nearly indestructible body, strength and prowess enough to directly battle (and on many occasions defeat) the likes of the Hulk ("strongest one there is"), a fully equipped Iron Man, Thor, the Sentry and the whole of the Fantastic Four single-handed with or without the benefit of an aquatic battleground (and without the benefit of 20% of the Phoenix Force, thank you), the ability to survive in hostile environments, the ability to defy gravity and move freely in fluid environments, and to communicate in aquatic environments. Though rarely displayed or discussed Namor has also exercised the ability to discharge bio-electric energy to devastating destructive effect & absorb external sources of energy to recharge this ability, as well as enhanced senses of hearing and vision that allow him to be fully functional in the darkest most pressurized aquatic depths (I'll happily file the whole puffer fish incident away with super weaving if it's all the same). The abilities of these two heroes compare favorably with one another and by extension initiate a basic foundation on which their analogous relationship is built.