{"id":31167,"date":"2024-12-23T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31167"},"modified":"2024-12-19T18:59:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T18:59:54","slug":"namor-the-sub-mariner-epic-collection-volume-4-titans-three-1970-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/12\/23\/namor-the-sub-mariner-epic-collection-volume-4-titans-three-1970-1972\/","title":{"rendered":"Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 4: Titans Three (1970-1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Roy Thomas<\/strong>, Gerry Conway<\/strong>, Allyn Brodsky<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, Gene Colan<\/strong>, Ross Andru<\/strong>, George Tuska<\/strong>, Marie Severin<\/strong>, Frank Springer<\/strong>, Mike Esposito<\/strong>, Jim Mooney<\/strong>, Bernie Wrightson<\/strong>, John Severin<\/strong>, Sam Grainger<\/strong>, Tom Palmer<\/strong>, Dick Ayers<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-5539-7 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Salty Stalwart Superhero Action\u2026 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

In his most primal incarnation (other origins are available but may differ due to timeslips, circumstance and screen dimensions<\/em>) Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner<\/strong> is the proud, noble but exceedingly bellicose offspring of the union of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer. That doomed romance resulted in a hybrid being of immense strength and extreme resistance to physical harm, able to fly and thrive above and below the waves. Over decades, a wealth of creators have played with the fishy tale and today\u2019s Namor is often hailed as Marvel\u2019s First Mutant. What remains unchallenged is that he was created by young, talented Bill Everett, for abortive cinema premium Motion Picture Weekly Funnies<\/strong>: #1 (October 1939) so – technically – Namor predates Marvel, Atlas & Timely Comics.<\/p>\n

The Marine Miracleman first caught the public\u2019s avid attention as part of an elementally appealing fire vs. water headlining team-up in the October 1939 Marvel Comics<\/strong> #1 (which renamed itself Marvel Mystery Comics <\/strong>from #2 onwards. The amphibian antihero shared honours and top billing with\u00a0The Human Torch<\/strong>, having debuted (albeit in a truncated, monochrome version) in the aforementioned promotional booklet which had been designed to be handed out to moviegoers earlier in the year. The late-starter antihero rapidly emerged as one of the industry\u2019s biggest draws, and won his own title at the end of 1940 (cover-dated Spring 1941). His appeal was baffling but solid and he was one of the last super-characters to vanish at the end of the first heroic age.<\/p>\n

In 1954, when Atlas (as the company then was) briefly revived its \u201cBig Three\u201d – the Torch and Captain America<\/strong> being the other two – Everett returned for an extended run of superbly dark, mordantly timely fantasy fables. However, even his input wasn\u2019t sufficient to keep the title afloat and eventually Sub-Mariner sank again. Seven years later as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes with landmark title\u00a0Fantastic Four<\/strong>, they revived the awesome, all-but-forgotten aquanaut as a troubled, semi-amnesiac antihero. Decidedly more bombastic, regal and grandiose, this returnee despised humanity: embittered by the loss of his subsea kingdom – seemingly destroyed by atomic testing. His rightful revenge was infinitely complicated after he became utterly besotted with the FF<\/strong>\u2019s Susan Storm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for a few years, squabbling with other star turns such as The Hulk<\/strong>, Avengers<\/strong>, X-Men<\/strong> and Daredevil<\/strong> before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish<\/strong>, and duly graduating in 1968 to his own solo title. This fourth subsea selection collects Namor, the Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #28-49, Daredevil<\/strong> #77 and material from Ka-Zar<\/strong> #1 covering August 1970 to May 1972, and sees the sea lord as a recently self-appointed guardian of the safety and ecology of all Earth\u2019s oceans. As we open the Prince of Atlantis furtively returns to the surface world, to recover from wounds earned in service of ungrateful humanity in the company of human Diane Arliss<\/em>. Wandering Manhattan streets Namor is incensed by the actions of an unrepentant industrial polluter and joins teen protestors fighting developer Sam Westman<\/em>\u2019s thugs and mega machines in \u2018Youthquake!\u2019<\/em> before we pause for a little diversion\u2026<\/p>\n

Beginning as a Tarzan<\/strong> tribute act relocated to a lost world in a sub-polar realm of swamp-men and dinosaurs, Ka-Zar<\/strong> eventually evolved into one of Marvel\u2019s more complex and mercurial characters. Wealthy heir to one of Britain\u2019s oldest noble families, his best friend is Zabu<\/em> the \u201csabretooth tiger\u201d, his wife is feisty environmental-crusader Shanna the She-Devil<\/strong> and his brother is a homicidal super-scientific bandit. Kevin Reginald, Lord Plunder<\/em> is perpetually torn between the clean life-or-death simplicity of the jungle and the bewildering constant compromises of modern civilisation. The primordial paragon even outranks Namor in terms of longevity, having begun as a prose pulp star, boasting three issues of his own magazine between October 1936 and June 1937. They were authored by Bob Byrd – pseudonym for publisher Martin Goodman or one of a fleet of writers on his staff – and he was latterly shoehorned into a speculative new-fangled comic book venture Marvel Comics<\/strong> #1. There he roamed alongside another pulp mag graduate: The Angel<\/strong>,<\/em> plus Masked Raider<\/em>, the Human Torch<\/strong> and Sub-Mariner<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

When Ka-Zar reappeared all rowdy and renovated in 1965\u2019s X-Men<\/strong>\u00a0#10, it was clear the Sovereign of the Savage Land was destined for bigger things. However, for years all he got was guest shots as misunderstood foe du jour for Daredevil<\/strong>, Sub-Mariner<\/strong>, Spider-Man<\/strong>, and the Hulk<\/strong>. In 1969, he took his shot with a solo saga in Marvel Super-Heroes<\/strong> and later that year – after Roy Thomas & Neal Adams used him so effectively in their X-Men<\/strong> run (i#62-63) – was awarded a giant-sized solo title reprinting previous appearances. The title also incongruously offered all-new stories of Hercules<\/strong> and the second, mutant X-Man Angel<\/strong>. That same month, Ka-Zar\u2019s first regular series began in Astonishing Tales<\/strong>. That aforementioned Hercules back up from Ka-Zar<\/strong> #1 (August 1970 by Allyn Brodsky, Frank Springer & Dick Ayers) is reprinted here as prelude to Namor\u2019s next exploits\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018In his Footsteps\u2026 The Huntsman of Zeus!\u2019<\/em> sees the Prince of Power on the run from an Olympian agent despatched by the King of the Gods. Following another bitter dispute with his sire, Hercules returns to Earth leaving Ares<\/em> to foment trouble and prompt Zeus<\/em> to set his terror-inducing Huntsman<\/em> on the godling\u2019s trail. After fruitlessly seeking sanctuary with the<\/strong> Avengers<\/strong>, Hercules sees his mortal friends brutally beaten and flees once again\u2026<\/p>\n

The panicked rush takes him to Sub-Mariner<\/strong>\u00a0#29 and the distant Mediterranean where the Huntsman ensorcells Namor and pits him against the fugitive. Although Hercules soon breaks the hypnotic spell, \u2018Fear is the Hunter!\u2019<\/em> readily revealing why the pursuer is so dreaded as he sends mythical terrors Scylla<\/em>, Charybdis<\/em> and Polyphemus<\/em> against the outcast heroes and pitiful mortals of the region, until a valiant breakthrough ends the threat and forces a paternal reconciliation\u2026
\n\"\"
\nAnother guest star treat materialises in #30 as \u2018Calling Captain Marvel!\u2019 <\/em>finds Namor again reduced to a mesmerised puppet: attacking the Kree warrior and human host Rick Jones<\/em>. This time the condition is due to the amphibian\u2019s falling in battle against toxic terrorist Mr. Markham<\/em> currently trying to blackmail Earth by threatening to poison the seas with his molecular polluter. Once Mar-Vell<\/em> batters Namor back to his right mind, they make quick work of the maniac in a concerted twin assault\u2026<\/p>\n

Fallout from his recent actions have unsettled Namor\u2019s old friend Triton<\/em>, and the Inhuman goes looking for the prince in #31, just as apparent Atlantean attacks on surface shipping mounts. Meeting equally concerned human Walt Newell<\/em> (who operates as undersea Avenger Stingray<\/strong>) they finally find – and fight – Sub-Mariner, only to learn the crisis has been manufactured by his old enemy who is now \u2018Attuma Triumphant!\u2019 <\/em>The barbarian\u2019s plans include destroying human civilisation, but he still has time to pit his captives against each other in a gladiatorial battle to the death; which of course is Attuma\u2019s undoing\u2026<\/p>\n

Jim Mooney comes aboard as inker with #32 as a new and deadly enemy debuts in \u2018Call Her Llyra\u2026 Call Her Legend!\u2019<\/em> when fresh human atomic tests prompt Namor to voyage to the Pacific and renew political alliance with the undersea state of Lemuria. However, on arrival he finds noble ruler Karthon<\/em> replaced by a sinister seductress who lusts for war and harbours a tragic Jekyll & Hyde secret. By the time the prince reaches Atlantis again the Sunken City is being ravaged by seaquakes and old political enemy Byrrah<\/em> is seizing control from Namor\u2019s deputies and devoted partner Lady Dorma<\/em>. \u2018Come the Cataclysm\u2019<\/em> sees him first accuse surface-worlders before locating and defeating the true culprits – an alliance of Byrrah with failed usurper Warlord Krang<\/em> and malign human mastermind Dr. Dorcas<\/em>. In the throes of triumph, Namor announces his imminent marriage to Dorma\u2026<\/p>\n

Antihero super-nonteam The Defenders<\/strong> officially begin with Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #34-35 (cover-dated February & March 1971). As previously stated, the Prince of Atlantis had become an early and ardent activist and advocate of the ecology movement, and here takes radical steps to save Earth by fractiously recruiting The<\/strong> Hulk<\/strong> and Silver Surfer<\/strong> to help him destroy an American Nuclear Weather-Control station. In \u2018Titans Three!\u2019 <\/em>and concluding chapter \u2018Confrontation!\u2019 <\/em>(Thomas, Sal B & Jim Mooney) the always-misunderstood outcasts unite to battle a despotic dictator\u2019s legions, the US Army, UN defence forces and Avengers<\/strong> to prevent the malfunctioning station vaporising half the planet\u2026<\/p>\n

Inked by Berni Wrightson, Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #36 heralds a huge sea change in Namor\u2019s fortunes that begins with time-honoured holy preparations for a happy event as \u2018What Gods Have Joined Together!\u2019<\/em> Elsewhere, arcane enemy Llyra is resurrected and seeks to steal the throne by abducting and replacing the bride-to-be, whilst Namor is distracted by an invasion of Attuma\u2019s hordes. Ross Andru & Esposito take over illustration with #37 as an era ends and tragedy triumphs, leading to a catastrophic battle on \u2018The Way to Dusty Death!\u2019 <\/em>Betrayed by one of his closest friends and ultimately unable to save his beloved, the heartbroken prince thinks long and hard before abdicating in #38 \u2018Namor Agonistes!\u2019 <\/em>(inked by John Severin): reprising his origins and life choices before choosing to henceforth pursue the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller\u2026
\n\"\"
\nDespite his abdicating the throne and pursuing the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller, Namor\u2019s tragic tribulations instantly intensify in Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #39 as seasoned scripter Roy Thomas bows out with \u2018\u2026And Here I\u2019ll Stand!\u2019<\/em> Illustrated by Andru & Mooney, it sees the former royal arrive in New York City and move onto abandoned, desolate Prison Island. Intrusion is taken for invasion by curmudgeonly human authorities who mobilise the military to drive him out. A tense stand-off soon escalates and a typically bombastic response all round reduces Sub-Mariner\u2019s sanctuary to shards and rubble.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath, human friends Diane Arliss and Walt Newell bring the twice-exiled Prince staggering news. Meanwhile in Manhattan – and depicted in Daredevil<\/strong> #77 – Gerry Conway, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer embroil Namor in a 3-way clash after a strange vehicle materialises in Central Park. Irresistibly summoned by telepathic force, Namor arrives just in time for the Sightless Swashbuckler to jump to a wrong conclusion and attack\u2026 Then a late-arriving third hero butts in\u2026<\/p>\n

Guest stars abound in \u2018\u2026And So Enters the Amazing Spider-Man!\u2019 <\/em>and when the uncanny alien artefact explodes, a mysterious woman ominously invites DD, the webspinner and Namor to participate in a fantastic battle in a far-flung, dimensionally-adrift lost world. Exhausted by the traditional misunderstanding and subsequent fight, Daredevil begs off and goes home, leaving the wallcrawler to join now-nomadic Namor on a fantastic voyage and bizarre adventure that concludes in the Atlantean\u2019s own comic\u2026<\/p>\n

Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #40 sees Conway, Colan & Sam Grainger detail how Spider-Man and Namor are compelled \u2018\u2026Under the Name of Ritual\u2026\u2019<\/em> to save The People of the Black Sea<\/em> from murderous usurper Turalla<\/em>. The telepathic subspecies has undisclosed links to Atlantis and a claim on Namor\u2019s honour: demanding he fight on their behalf since their true king has been missing for decades. In distant Boston, angry, reclusive elder Stephan Tuval<\/em> is psionically aware of what\u2019s transpiring and – just when arachnid and amphibian are about to fall in the brutal duel – strikes with all the terrifying power of his mind\u2026<\/p>\n

Returned to Manhattan, the heroes part, and Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #41 reveals Namor following up revelations shared by Diane and Walt. Illustrated by George Tuska & Grainger, \u2018Whom the Sky Would Destroy!\u2019<\/em> sees the sea lord struck down over rural New York state by mutants artificially created by deranged scientist Aunt Serr<\/em>. Her son Rock<\/em> is terrifying, but the real threat is meek, gentle, deceptive Lucile<\/em>, and before long Namor has fallen to the demonic clan. Considered raw material, the former prince barely escapes destruction in #42\u2019s \u2018\u2026And a House Whose Name\u2026is Death!\u2019<\/em> as Conway, Tuska & Mooney briskly build to larger epic featuring Tuval. If you\u2019re completist, this issue offers a brief Mr. Kline <\/em>interlude, as Conway continued an early experiment in close-linked crossover continuity. Issue #42 contributes to the convoluted storyline involving a mystery mastermind from the future, twisting human lives and events. For the full story you should see contemporaneous Iron Man <\/strong>and Daredevil<\/strong> collections: you won\u2019t be any the wiser, but at least you\u2019ll have a complete set\u2026<\/p>\n

For one month, Marvel experimented with double-sized comic books (whereas DC\u2019s switch to 52-page issues lasted nearly a year: August 1971 to June 1972 cover-dates). November\u2019s Sub-Mariner<\/strong> #43 held an immense, 3-chapter blockbuster beginning with \u2018Mindquake!\u2019<\/em> as Namor reaches Boston, still searching for his father Leonard McKenzie<\/em>, whom he believed had been killed by Atlanteans in the 1920s. Instead, he finds Tuval driven mad by his re-emerging psychic abilities and now a danger to all. Crafted throughout by Conway, Colan & Esposito, the tale of the aged tele-potent reveals how he has built a cult around himself \u2018\u2026And the Power of the Mind!\u2019<\/em>, before his increasingly belligerent acts trigger \u2018The Changeling War!\u2019<\/em> and cause his downfall\u2026<\/p>\n

Cruelly unaware how near he is to his dad, Sub-Mariner is distracted by the return of Llyra and new consort Tiger Shark<\/em> in #44\u2019s \u2018Namor Betrayed!\u2019<\/em> Illustrated by magnificent Marie Severin & Mooney, the story reviews the antihero\u2019s love-hate relationship with Human Torch<\/strong> Johnny Storm<\/em>, just in time for the sultry shapeshifter to orchestrate a heated clash with the teen hero. The blistering battle concludes in #45 with McKenzie\u2019s abduction, as \u2018\u2026And Fire Stalks the Skies!\u2019<\/em> sees Namor surrender himself to save his sire\u2026
\n\"\"
\nConway, Colan & Esposito pile on the trauma in #46 in \u2018And Always Men Will Cry: Even the Noble Die!\u2019<\/em> with the son\u2019s quest ending in death and disaster, despite the best – if badly mismanaged – interventions and intentions of the Torch and Stingray. Doubly orphaned and traumatised, Namor loses his memory again, and is easily gulled by ultimate manipulator Victor Von Doom<\/em> in #47\u2019s \u2018Doomsmasque!\u2019<\/em>: duly deployed as cannon fodder in the Demon<\/p>\n

Doctor\u2019s duel with M.O.D.O.K.<\/em> and A.I.M. to control a reality-warping Cosmic Cube.<\/p>\n

The war is dirty and many-sided, with a frontal assault in #48\u2019s \u2018Twilight of the Hunted!\u2019<\/em> leaving Namor to a pyrrhic triumph in concluding chapter \u2018The Dream Stone!\u2019<\/em> (Frank Giacoia inks) before retrenching in confusion to ponder his obscured future\u2026<\/p>\n

To Be Continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Sunken treasures salvaged here include Buscema\u2019s cover to all-reprint Sub-Mariner Annual<\/strong> #1 (January 1971, reprising the underwater portions of Tales to Astonish<\/strong> #70-75); Bill Everett\u2019s similar job on Sub-Mariner Annual<\/strong> #2 plus an Everett pinup of the Golden Age iteration, house ads, glorious Marie Severin cover sketches and a vast gallery of original art by Sal B, Tuska, Gil Kane & Giacoia; Andru & Mooney.<\/p>\n

Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume, especially from an art-lover\u2019s point of view, is a wonderful exception: historical treasures with narrative bite that fans will delight in forever. Moreover, as the Prince of Atlantis is now a bona fide big screen sensation, now might be the time to get wise and impress your friends with a sunken treasure\u2026
\n\u00a9 2024 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Allyn Brodsky, Sal Buscema, Gene Colan, Ross Andru, George Tuska, Marie Severin, Frank Springer, Mike Esposito, Jim Mooney, Bernie Wrightson, John Severin, Sam Grainger, Tom Palmer, Dick Ayers & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-5539-7 (TPB\/Digital edition) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Salty Stalwart Superhero Action\u2026 8\/10 This book includes Discriminatory Content produced … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 4: Titans Three (1970-1972)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,94,18,85,175,317,255,102,288,98,320,189,120,79,148,107,157,39,155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-avengers","category-captain-marvel","category-daredevil","category-defenders","category-doctor-doom","category-environmentalism","category-fantasy","category-hercules","category-hulk","category-human-torch","category-inhumans","category-iron-man","category-marvel-superheroes","category-romance","category-science-fiction","category-silver-surfer","category-spider-man","category-sub-mariner"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-86H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31173,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31167\/revisions\/31173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}