The Invaders (1993) #1

For my second reading, I wanted an issue from one of Namor's solo books. I considered his first series, but it ran in the late 60s/early 70s. That was a little too close in terms of timeline to the book I read last night (Fantastic Four #102 from 1970). I want to avoid John Byrne's 90s series for a bit longer and didn't want to read another guest-appearance. So I opted for a team book.

Namor has been a member of several teams but he is arguably most-associated with the Invaders. Some would debate that the Defenders are that team but I disagree. For one thing, the Defenders, by definition, are not a team and for another, the Defenders have had several line-ups without Namor. That can not be said of The Invaders. Namor almost always appears with them.

So with that said, let's grit our teeth and roll with the 90s. The book is written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Dave Hoover and Brian Garvey. It is cover-dated May 1993.

Well THAT didn't take long...Battle cry on page 2!

We're in New York in 1942. The same New York that Namor had probably attacked several times by then and would numerous times more.

A merchant ship in port gets fired upon so coincidentally, the first two books I buy feature Namor wrestling a torpedo.

And...That's about the extent of his heroics. When the team lands on the submarine, they easily dispatch the soldiers on it but are promptly attacked and, frankly, decimated by a team called Battle Axis. Namor gets punked by a dude named...Strongman.

By Proteus? Is that expressions commonly used by Atlanteans? I'll have to keep an eye open for that.

After suffering that indignity, the team (Captain America and The Human Torch, at this point) heads home to lick their wounds. From page 16 on, the book focuses on two other Invaders, Miss America and The Whizzer (worst name ever) also being attacked by Battle Axis. Whizzer is captured but Miss America manages to escape.

Overall, pretty cool. For a 1990s book, this could have been far worse but you're in good hands with Roy Thomas, who wrote nearly 70 issues of All-Star Squadron. He should pretty well have been anyone's go-to guy for a book written in WW2.

And while Strongman seemed quite lame at first glance, it took no time to find out that he is actually a lesser-known public domain character that Thomas adapted for his story. Presumably, that is true of the entire Battle Axis team.  Neat idea.