Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2020

[Reviresco]

Tomorrow we get MARVEL SNAPSHOT SUB-MARINER!!!

There's an early review at Newsrama that gives it a 9 out 10! There are spoilers, but the review is here:

https://www.newsarama.com/49362-best...apshots-1.html


Agent M featured two of the variant covers as some of his favs for this week (the Dell'Otto and the Ordway covers).


Lord Retail gives a mini-review / plug:

Marvels Snapshots SubMariner was outstanding! Exactly the sort of comic that gets bypassed without endorsement though. Beautiful sequential art by @JerryOrdway
. The story gets into the complexity of Namor. You’ll want Betty Dean to become as well known as Peggy Carter. Excellent!

I’d mentioned a long time ago that I thought that comic book readers had greater awareness of WWII compared to non-comics readers because it is inextricably built into so much content. Marvels Snapshots SubMariner reinforces that even to new readers which I think is a good thing.

[Reviresco]

Another review, with no spoilers, at PopCultHQ that gives the book a 4.5 out of 5!

https://popculthq.com/2020/03/10/com...ls-snapshot-1/

I think this is the intro of the book:

It begins here — a series of specials that show us Marvel’s greatest characters from the Golden Age to today, all through the eyes of ordinary people! Project curator Kurt Busiek (Marvels, Astro City) has brought together an amazing assemblage of talent to bring you a total of eight new and unusual viewpoints on Marvel history and Marvel heroes, two per month for the next four months. To kick it all off, best-selling novelist and Emmy Award-winning TV writer Alan Brennert (L.A. LAW, TWILIGHT ZONE) and superstar artist Jerry Ordway (All-Star Squadron, Crisis on Infinite Earths) to tell a story of Marvel’s debut superstar: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

It’s 1946, and the boys are back from World War II. But they haven’t left the battlefields behind, as reporter Betty Dean discovers when she and Namor reunite for an outing at Palisades Park, only to find themselves under attack. Also featuring the All-Winners Squad.

A dramatic, unexpected and revealing tour through the Marvel Universe by a cornucopia of amazing creators.


I'm curious if the bolded is actually in the book. I don't remember Betty being a reporter??? She was a policewoman!

[Reviresco]

Another great rating in a review for Snapshots at Adventures in Poor Taste! 9.5!!

https://www.adventuresinpoortaste.co...iner-1-review/

This issue opens with Betty Dean, a mild-mannered American woman with a storied past with Namor who actually convinced him to join the Invaders.

But I'm starting to worry about Betty Dean's portrayal in this comic. O_O

[Kurt Busiek]

I don't remember Betty being a reporter??? She was a policewoman!

She was a policewoman when she met Namor, but a reporter by the end of the war.

kdb

[Reviresco]

She was a policewoman when she met Namor, but a reporter by the end of the war.

kdb

I didn't recall that. That's sad. I guess I'll just have to force myself to go back and read some Atlas era Subby. Oh, the torture. ;p

[Reviresco]

On another note... Just finished skimming Avengers and I really can NOT believe Aaron is going to go back there. We had all those scraps of "explanation" that Namor's detractors failed to read that at least attempted to fix the AvX mess, and now ... and we might as well just flush the past year of character work in Invaders down the toilet.

We desperately need to get Namor out of these guest star roles and into his own book.

[Glio]

Aaron needs to end his weird obsession with the fucking Phoenix.

[Triniking1234]

Aaron needs to end his weird obsession with the fucking Phoenix.

True. He's used it more than Claremont by now.

[Reviresco]

Aaron needs to end his weird obsession with the fucking Phoenix.

True. He's used it more than Claremont by now.

Besides the awfulness of this, which absolutely will not end well for Namor, it appears none of it will be addressed for what? Another 6 months, while Aaron hies off on his beloved Moonknight arc.

Which, of course, means we won't see Namor being used in a productive, character building, manner for most of this year.

[Phoenixx9]

Aaron needs to end his weird obsession with the fucking Phoenix.

True. He's used it more than Claremont by now.

Besides the awfulness of this, which absolutely will not end well for Namor, it appears none of it will be addressed for what? Another 6 months, while Aaron hies off on his beloved Moonknight arc.

Which, of course, means we won't see Namor being used in a productive, character building, manner for most of this year.

Well, I am obsessed with the Phoenix, but hey--it is part of my character!

But seriously, yes, for Namor, they need to focus on Namor and all of his many abilities, problems, kingdom, etc. I hated that all of these other "pretenders" got the Phoenix Power. Namor does not need that.

In addition, Namor has such a rich history and a multitude of ties to the MU. These writers need to use some imagination and use all of these great points to weave terrific stories.

[MadFacedKid]

Aaron needs to end his weird obsession with the fucking Phoenix.

It was honestly a matter of a time though. His whole run is based off the premise of the Avengers BCE thing he introduced. So The Phoenix was going to show up eventually in some form or another during Aaron’s tenure on the book similar to how the Starbrand appeared last arc. I’m expecting to get more BCE related stuff in future arcs as well.

I honestly didn’t expect to see The Phoenix like this so I’ll give Aaron points on that on top of the fact that despite Namor getting duped into going into War with the Avengers he’s doing it on his own terms and not getting duped into forming an alliance with people he doesn’t care for to begin with. I was curious to how an interaction with him and Hyperion would go because I definitely don’t see Namor being keen on that, so I thought the Phoenix fit here cause like Namor said he doesn’t have the power on his own to take on The Avengers

[Glio]

The idea that Namor "has the Phoenix phone" and can summon it at any time is ridiculous to me. Hopefully, it won't affect what Hickman and Ewing have planned for him in X-Men and Hulk.

[MadFacedKid]

The idea that Namor "has the Phoenix phone" and can summon it at any time is ridiculous to me. Hopefully, it won't affect what Hickman and Ewing have planned for him in X-Men and Hulk.

It would make Namor op as hell but the way I read it was that Namor having a past connection to the Phoenix Force is the reason why there’s some residual at the very least connection there to contact it. On top of the fact it has interest in Namor so it’s of both their choosing

[legion_quest]

On another note... Just finished skimming Avengers and I really can NOT believe Aaron is going to go back there. We had all those scraps of "explanation" that Namor's detractors failed to read that at least attempted to fix the AvX mess, and now ... and we might as well just flush the past year of character work in Invaders down the toilet.

We desperately need to get Namor out of these guest star roles and into his own book.

I dont know that it does flush it away. It puts him under the thrall of another manipulator character, but it doesnt contradict anything we've seen in Invaders. He's still angry, he's still a defender of the environment and he's still willing to go as far as needs be to do it.

[ImperiusWrecked]

1.) I am LIVID over the Phoenix being brought back into Namor's life because not only was the AvX event the WORST for Namor's character development and created the Atlantis vs Wakanda issue that we still deal with today, but Namor SHOULD NOT have any connection to the Phoenix at all! Leave that to Rachael or Jean Grey! Not happy about another "Namor is possessed" story line AGAIN.

2.) I Love Marvel's Snapshots: Sub-Mariner, I posted about it on the Twitter since there's too many comic images for me to post here due to the limit. Seriously I was super worried they would make Betty different/mild mannered but they didn't, she was the angry spitfire I love, leaping right into the action when she could. Also Marvel acknowledging that Namor had/has PTSd from the war was good to see because he does have issues and he didn't leave the war the same person he was when he entered it. As a Betty/Namor fan I am heartbroken knowing just what happens later in their lives and seeing them so happy for a time. Also we get more info on how long Atlanteans live, which I don't think has ever been clear before. Seriously this book is a fave now.