Ol’ Subby is probably my favourite from the early 1940s/Golden Age. Not only could Namor’s creator Bill Everett draw – and what lush inking! – he could write. Sure, this is primitive stuff compared to comics published now, but his characters packed plenty of personality!
This is helped by this version of Namor being a young, unpredictable hot head. As likely to bash a Nazi as to attack New York by flooding it!
If you’re used to Stan Lee’s version of Namor with his “Imperious Rex!!” mode of speech, early Namor might be a bit of a shock to you. Young Namor has a naturalistic patter, sprinkled with (I assume, I’m not that old!) 1940s slang.
A Watery History Lesson
Namor, the Sub-Mariner was one of Timely Comics’ (a precursor company to Marvel) earliest characters. His debut being way back in Marvel Comics #1, October 1939.
(Fact check! His actual first appearance was in a trial issue of Motion Picture Funnies #1: lots more information at Wikipedia)
Although a lot of superheroes from the time started out as vigilantes, Namor went further and was quite often at odds with the surface world. You can understand it though. From his point of view, surface dwellers have an unfortunate habit of bombing, polluting and attacking Namor’s home city. Sometimes accidentally, other times on purpose. Not the best way to stay on good terms with the undersea hot head!
Described as an “Ultra-man from the deep” in his first story we’re introduced to Namor and the basic set-up: He’s the son of Princess Fen and a human sea captain. He’s determined to defend his undersea city and has no qualms about killing his enemies – including deep sea divers. Although you could give him the benefit of the doubt here as he hasn’t seen deep sea divers. It’s also implied he doesn’t realise they’re actually living beings.
Hey, This All Sounds Like Someone Else…
The first part of the above sounds a bit like a certain character published by the Distinguished Competition! It’s worth noting that Namor debuted two years or so before Aquaman!
From this start, Namor’s stories in Marvel Comics (renamed Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2) follow a loosely continued narrative. These can almost – almost! – be read as one extended story.
When I started reading these Golden Age stories I was expecting almost no continuity at all. And yes, that is mostly true but here we have Bill Everett weaving Namor’s tale right at the start of the Golden Age.
Of Team-Ups and Nazi Bashing
Although Namor was always partial to a bit of Nazi-bashing, it wasn’t until the US joined WWII that he can reliably be thought of as a hero. At this point he joins Captain America and the original Human Torch to show the evil Axis powers the errors of their ways.
Namor along with the Golden Age Human Torch, were even the principle characters in one of the earliest cross-overs in comics. Okay, calling it a cross-over might be over-selling it. Both characters already appeared in the flagship Marvel Mystery Comics. At this time in comics, continuity was sparse and this was significant!
It was billed as “Fire vs. Water” and managed to tie in to Namor’s and the Human Torch’s stories quite effectively.
However, as Namor was spun off into his own title, the number of stories required increased. The continuity inevitably fizzled out and the stories tended to be self contained adventures. Bill Everett being drafted into the US war effort probably didn’t help either.
Namor After Everett
The artist who filled Everett’s shoes was Carl Pfeufer and he did a pretty good job. He started out (to my eyes at least) sticking to the style established by Everett. Gradually however, he developed his own style which I enjoyed. It has to be said that he did give Namor a very triangular head! Although I guess it was good at cutting through water!
Once the war ended, Bill Everett returned to write and draw stories for his creation. Alas, as with a lot of super hero titles, Sub-Mariner Comics and Marvel Mystery Comics were cancelled at the end of the 1940s.
During the mid 1950s Timely, now going under the name of Atlas Comics, attempted to reintroduce its most popular heroes from the 1940s and Namor was among them. Although this is regarded as some of Bill Everett’s finest work on the character, by the end of 1954 all the titles were cancelled once again.
You Can’t Keep a Good Prince of Atlantis Down!
It didn’t end there for our undersea prince of course. Namor famously reappeared as an amnesiac homeless person in Fantastic Four #4 in 1962. Once he regains his memory, this version of Namor is Stan Lee’s noble, but arrogant anti-hero which is what most readers are familiar with.
I have to say though, that I have a real soft spot for the early 1940s Golden Age Namor! Sufferin’ shad!
- SEO & editing
