Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #1

Many, if not all, of Marvel's 1995 annuals were tied into the Atlantis Rising story. I own a few and I would really like to get into them soon so I'm going to have a look at the true starting point of Atlantis rising then "fast forward" through a couple of the issues in which Namor is barely, or not at all, involved.

Namor the Sub-Mariner issues 60-62 was all set up to the Fantastic Four Atlantis Rising one-shot. Those were reviewed earlier. You can check that out by clicking the link under the "Story Arcs" heading at right.

The cover above is the one displayed on Comixology these days. I have seen reference to a wraparound cover but I'm not certain if it was a variant, a gimmick, a future edition or what.

I'm also not too interested in finding out, frankly. My guess and vague recollection is that it was an acetate cover. Whatever the deal, here is a look at it in all its 90s garishness.

Back cover treatment only for our guy. That's actually appropriate because he has relatively little involvement in this book. His role begins with taking the Inhuman Triton to the hospital due to a nasty wound suffered at the end of Namor the Sub-Mariner #62. Sean Dolan, carrier of the Ebony Blade (tm) comes along for the ride.

As they deliver Triton, United Nations police attempt to apprehend Namor but the avenging son will have none of that.

He takes Dolan's Ebony Blade in order to prevent the young man from unleashing its curse again and takes off with it.

As Namor returns to the newly-risen Atlantis, he is knocked out of the sky (causing him to drop the sword in the ocean) by...Mjolnir. Morgan Le Fey, responsible for Rising Atlantis in the first place, has taken control of Thor as well and he is now protecting her new 'hood for her. But Namor is done dicking around.

Thor gets his licks in but then makes the mistake that just about everyone seems to make; he takes the battle underwater. Why, why, why?!!

Naturally, Namor takes advantage.

Thor gets his head out of his ass and takes the battle back to the sky. As the two continue their scrap, a ship of Inhumans flies by. They have left their residence on the moon to investigate Atlantis as they feel they can lay claim to its "ownership" as well. Unsure as to Namor's motivations now that the prince has seen his city brought to the surface, they shoot him out of the sky.

That's the last we see of Namor in this issue. Being that he fights the Norse God of Thunder, it may appear that he has a large role but that is not the case. Out of 44 pages or so, Namor only appears in about a quarter of the book.

The story continues in Fantastic Force #8. Thankfully, Namor does not appear in it at all. It is followed by Fantastic Four #401 and it is in this book that we find out what happened to him after his plunge.

He is found by a handful of Atlantean soldiers looking for survivors. They consider killing him since this is one of those many times when he's been exiled from Atlantis but they consider this behaviour to be dishonorable (go figure) and instead hatch a different as-yet-unstated plan.

Once again the story shift to the Fantastic Force book but Namor is nowhere to be found. He will be a larger part of Fantastic Four #402 and we'll check that one out at some point down the road.