Namor (2003) #1

After another run of team books, I'm craving some Atlantean content so let's go back to Namor's childhood through the first issue of his 2003 series.

The art by Salvador Larroca, Danny Miki and J.D. Smith makes this book. That's no knock on Bill Jemas' story and Andi Watson's telling of it but it suffers from Marvel's all-too-frequent problem of dragging things out.

The book begins with a young girl named Sandra playing on a beach in the pacific northwest in the early 1920s and running into a naked prince. They chat a bit and pal around.

Her neglectful but worried mom comes to find her.

Nearby, another young girl gets bit by a jellyfish. Now friendless, Namor leaves for home just as the victim cries about how everything in the ocean is disgusting. All in all, a dismal conclusion to the afternoon what what will become the avenging son.

We're already at page 9, by the way. The next two (quite pretty) pages worth of material are filled with Namor entering the ocean and swimming home. Two panels would have done but this is Marvel comics in the 21st century.

When he gets reaches Atlantis, Namor is greeted by his mother.

Always good to see Fen.

We get a good look at Atlantis at this point as Namor's mum guides him through the market place. On the way through town, the prince is fascinated by a gigantic fishing device called the Neptune Net. Much like Sandra earlier in the day, Namor doesn't listen when his mother calls him back to her side so grandma has to step in and ensure that he of the royal blood is not put in a dangerous position.

Namor's grandmother. That's a new character to me. I have not read ahead but I have a feeling that I should not get too attached though.
 
We skip a few years ahead to Namor now being old enough to assist with the Neptune Net. We meet another relative to Namor, his cousin Bobo (really?), tasked with the same chore, all overseen by Korra.

While the two youths are working, large sharks are seen threatening Atlantean children playing nearby. The men responsible for watching for that very thing mishandle the situation so Bobo has to heroically draw the sharks to himself in order to save the kids.

And the issue ends on that note.

There is nothing too earth-shattering going on here then. The unpleasant conclusion to Namor's beach day with Sandra is no doubt typical of his early experience with the surface world and helps explain his poor perception of it. So that's something.

But aside from that, there is no antagonist as such aside from a large shark. There is no hint of any of the characters that would eventually cause trouble for the prince; be it Byrrah, Attuma, Krang...No foreshadowing of future conflict. That seems peculiar.

So for the first issue in a series (which ended after the 12th), there is surprisingly little suspense built up. It sure is easy on the eyes though.