Namor75: Namor the Sub-Mariner Readathon

[Mantis Girl 94]

Couple of great scans Thor-Ey! I really liked the first one just because I love Jarna character...boy she really gives it to Namor, she has a sharp tongue! LOL.... "All my love, but I hope you Choke"!

[Thor-El]

Couple of great scans Thor-Ey! I really liked the first one just because I love Jarna character...boy she really gives it to Namor, she has a sharp tongue! LOL.... "All my love, but I hope you Choke"!

MG, I was already missing you! Yes, Jarna is a real Siren, isn't she. Hopefully she will turn up in another story. We still don't know why she is so tall and her subjects so little.

[Mantis Girl 94]

MG, I was already missing you! Yes, Jarna is a real Siren, isn't she. Hopefully she will turn up in another story. We still don't know why she is so tall and her subjects so little.

...I wouldn't doubt she had something to do with it LOL

[Thor-El]

Using a hidden tribe of druids in Ireland the Nazis are entering England and creating chaos. When Namor goes to Ireland to unravel the mystery he riles the druids to get up in arms against the Nazis liberating the tribe and destroying another German hidden base.



The above are selected scans that highlight the main points of a story to generate discussion in a forum. You can read the complete story by purchasing the Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner Vol. 1 (Sub-Mariner Comics #1–4) or any other available reprints.
http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Masterw...ge+Sub-mariner

[Reviresco]

Wow, that was a long one! Was it a two parter?

I love Namor's quips. "Here's a kiss for Hitler!" and "Say, can't any of you Santy Clauses speak English?" LOL!

There's something very wrong looking with Namor's guide to Rockhenge. And his British 'disguise' is great!

[Thor-El]

Wow, that was a long one! Was it a two parter?

Yes, it was a two parter.

I love Namor's quips. "Here's a kiss for Hitler!" and "Say, can't any of you Santy Clauses speak English?" LOL!

There's something very wrong looking with Namor's guide to Rockhenge. And his British 'disguise' is great!

I love his quips too, I wish he could have kept that personality through the modern age. Wonder if Bill Everett wrote him the same in the silver age.

I find his power levels fluctuating a bit. It says he gets overpowered by twenty men but his strength used to be described in the thousands of men unless the druids are more powerful than a regular man. I did not select those panels but when he liberates himself from his chains he doesn't rips them apart but uses the iron to melt them. I know an explanation would be his strength fluctuates depending how long he has been away from water so maybe that questioning chamber was really hot and that had drained his strength somewhat.

I also don't think this artwork was done by Bill Everett, the first panel doesn't have his traditional signature. I have to say I really liked the story and the artwork was not bad at all either.

[Reviresco]

Yes, it was a two parter.



I love his quips too, I wish he could have kept that personality through the modern age. Wonder if Bill Everett wrote him the same in the silver age.

I find his power levels fluctuating a bit. It says he gets overpowered by twenty men but his strength used to be described in the thousands of men unless the druids are more powerful than a regular man. I did not select those panels but when he liberates himself from his chains he doesn't rips them apart but uses the iron to melt them. I know an explanation would be his strength fluctuates depending how long he has been away from water so maybe that questioning chamber was really hot and that had drained his strength somewhat.

I also don't think this artwork was done by Bill Everett, the first panel doesn't have his traditional signature. I have to say I really liked the story and the artwork was not bad at all either.

You and Bill Everett! I think it was Roy Thomas that talked about how Everett didn't care for the more ... formal speech Stan had saddled Namor with. Of course, I grew up on the more formal Namor so that seems more in character to me. But I think modern writers have brought back the ... sarcasm, at least, of Namor.

It is interesting to read these, and realize that Namor might have even inspired Spider-Man a bit -- as I thought he was Marvel's first quipster -- but now I realize, that Namor was doing it years before!

Good point on the power fluctuations. Had they started talking about his strength diminishing when he was away from water, yet? As we've seen, they aren't always consistent, story to story, back then.

I was thinking the same thing, that the art didn't look quite up to Everett standards. I think Thomas mentioned that Funnies and Everett had apprentices / helpers, so maybe that was the case here. Perhaps he did layouts, and they finished off the pages and did the inks.

[Mantis Girl 94]

I really like this story too...and I was thinking the same thing...Dang those Druids are Powerful! Might need to give Cestis his own comic LOL

[Thor-El]

I really like this story too...and I was thinking the same thing...Dang those Druids are Powerful! Might need to give Cestis his own comic LOL

Yes, Cestis is a visually cool warrior-like character, unfortunately he dies in this story, I know is not too clear cause we are missing panels.

[Reviresco]

The two page text story from Marvel Mystery Comics 25, by Stan Lee!

[Thor-El]

The two page text story from Marvel Mystery Comics 25, by Stan Lee!

Great post Rev, I'm going too fast thru these reads skipping most of the issue to get to the Sub-Mariner story and missing these gems. Glad they never escape you. I wonder why is Captain America and Bucky missing from this get together, I guess Stan probably wrote this before creating Cap although at the time of publication Cap is already around. Of course Namor and the Torch's friendly rivalry was the fun part of this get together.

[Mantis Girl 94]

Foiled by the boy detective....Yikes!

[Reviresco]

Great post Rev, I'm going too fast thru these reads skipping most of the issue to get to the Sub-Mariner story and missing these gems. Glad they never escape you. I wonder why is Captain America and Bucky missing from this get together, I guess Stan probably wrote this before creating Cap although at the time of publication Cap is already around. Of course Namor and the Torch's friendly rivalry was the fun part of this get together.

I'm amazed at your speed putting together these reviews and recaps. I keep getting distracted by other things like these pages, and background and other reviews.

As for Cap not being there ... No, he was published in his own comic by then. But there's an interesting point that Roy Thomas brings up about the Human Torch and Namor battle in Human Torch 5b, that may have something to do with it. Though, it may also have to do with the fact that Cap was a Joe Simon and Jack Kirby show. Torch and Namor and most of these other characters were a Funnies Inc package. IOW, a different studio sort of thing -- though nowadays, we'd call it different editorial offices, I guess. IIRC, there are no Cap stories in Marvel Mystery Comics.

Speaking of ... I'll be posting the first segment of the Human Torch 5b story shortly!

Foiled by the boy detective....Yikes!

No, Yolks! I know, I know. I'm sorry.

But at least Namor was a good sport about it, unlike Torch. I mean check out that ending. Namor gets a lot of grief for acting like a jerk, but Torch isn't exactly the nice guy he's portrayed as today. Someday, I'm going to go back and read the Torch stories and see if he's like that in his own stories, or if it is only around Namor.

[Reviresco]

The redone cover by Ray Fago for a 1990s reprint of this classic issue.





Human Torch 5b
Fall 1941
September? 1941

“The Human Torch Battles the Sub-Mariner as the World Faces Destruction!”

Writer: Funnies Inc.
Pencils: Funnies Inc.

RATINGS
Reviresco:
CBR Readers:
Supermegamonkey: 2 / 5
Supermegamonkey Readers: 4 / 5


REVIEWS / LINKS
http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chron...torch_5a.shtml
SuperMegaMonkey's short, but illustrated, synopsis, placing the story in the MU chronology and there are some panels posted there, so check it out!

##########

This is a landmark issue. It's the first Marvel Comic with one comic story taking up all 64 pages (yes, there's a single page humor piece called Tubby an' Tack, but think of it that as a brief intermission). It may be the first comic that dedicated it's pages to one story, but I'm not sure of that.

Roy Thomas thinks this story may actually have been slated to appear in Marvel Mystery Comics, since it features Patriot and Ka-Zar, characters that normally feature in that book. Thomas also points out that while it would have been great to have Cap in this story, instead of Patriot, then the story probably would have been more Cap centric. And of course, he proved quite correct, as when Brubaker rewrote this story for Marvels Project, Torch's role was very much diminished and Cap was made the hero of the story.



Second, this is probably the legendary issue that was done in one insane weekend. Roy Thomas describes it thusly.

... Bill Everett told me about back in 1969-1970, the one that was completely written, drawn, and lettered over one wild and crazy weekend, with everybody working together in some rented hotel space and at least one writer banging away at his typewriter in the bathtub for want of other space.

It's hard to tell who did what in this story. Probably Everett penciled Namor's faces and perhaps basic figures, with Burgos doing similar duty on the Torches; but by then Bill had already had some help inking a Subby tale or two, and the work of assistants like Harry Sahle and Edd Ase on Torch stories was pointed out (previously)... and while it's hard to figure out how two people could've been writing this story, it's clear that at least one writer may have been involved, -- perhaps Ray Gill, though probably NOT young Stan Lee.

Writers John Compton and Joey Epstein worked on this story, according to interviews whose appearances I can't remember right now.

I do think this is the Done in a Weekend story, because, while that's a major accomplishment, and the story is action packed and amazing, it does have lack some consistency and it is a bit choppy.



Third, the numbering. The first few issues of the Human Torch's book have had a mess, with the numbering. If you recall, one cover was number of 3, when it was actually number 4. This is the second #5 issue of Human Torch. In some places, you'll see these two issues numbered 5 and 5a. Most the time they are referred to as 5a and 5b -- which is what the Marvel Masterworks do, so I'm going with that.

There's some conjecture about why this happened. Mark Drummond at Super gives us the most likely reasoning.

The reason why there are two #5s of this title is because "Human Torch" started life as the poor-selling "Red Raven Comics". That book was re-titled "Human Torch" with the 2nd issue in order to avoid paying expensive mailing permit fees. The post office didn't accept the re-titling and forced publisher Martin Goodman to put out a 2nd #5 to get the numbering straight.

Onward to the story!

PART ONE of Three

A group of friends, mostly super-heroes (Angel, Patriot, Torch, and Toro are pictured), gather at a send off dinner for their reporter friend, Casey. Torch mentions Namor couldn't make it, because of an urgent message from his mother.

Arriving near his home, Namor finds the Russian and German navies fighting each other above his home. He sends the Nazi ship plowing into the Russian ships and stops the fighting. Then dives down to discover ...

[Reviresco]

The story moves on to Casey in Russia. He's stolen a uniform, so he can embed himself in the Russian Army at the Ukraine front, fighting the Germans near the Dniester River. Suddenly a whirlpool in the river expands out of the river and swallows the Germans and the Russians, including Casey. Luckily, the Torch and Toro appear and rescue him. There's some funny panels of both the Russians and the German propaganda reporting the conflict as major victories.

Torch has another 'hunch' that his friend Subby can help out, so he and Toro head to the Antarctic.




Namor uses one of the whirlpool weapons to cause a water spout that snuffs the firey pairs flames and suck them down to Atlantis. Namor Napoleon is preening and Toro laughs at him, mockingly calling him Mussolini.