Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner (1968) #23: "The Coming of...Orka!"

Ah! Orka! Not a character I'm terribly familiar with but he does appear to be a challenging foe for our favourite prince. Bring it on, whale man!

Namor is on his way home when he happens across a horde of killer whales. He fears that they might pose a threat to Atlantis and especially so when he notices a giant dude riding one of them.

That escalated quickly.

Namor understimates his new foe's strength and speed. Orka pounds on him a couple of times and Namor finds himself trapped on the side of a collapsed mountain.

He frees himself from the rubble and tracks Orka to "some awesome undersea fortress". He sneaks his way in and comes across Orka again but this time is better prepared for him.

Orka is sent flying during the battle and when Namor chases after him, he comes upon another old foe.

Nooo! Come on, man! How often am I going to stumble into this loser??

Dorcas, in an attempt to avoid a severe beating, shows Namor that there are several Atlanteans trapped in a bubble outside and surrounded by hunger-crazed sharks.

Dorcas, of course, has the ways and means to dissolve said bubble if Namor doesn't cool his gills. And also of course, there is one prisoner in the bubble that is of particular interest to the prince.

Again, Dorma is in the shit. At some point Namor has to ask himself if she's worth the trouble, honestly.

Orka's cobwebs are starting to clear and he prepares to start round three with the sub-mariner but he is stopped in his tracks by the real boss.

Sure, since we're all here.

It's origin time! Krang was exiled but Orka, while a simpleton, was a one of his most loyal subjects. As he sought to generate wealth to plan to retake Atlantis, Krang stumbled into Dorcas' underwater lab. There, he and Dorcas subjected Orka to an experiment similar to what Tiger Shark went through and voila! Instant whale dude!

He's far less intimidating in his underwear though.

When Namor tires of the stories and makes a move towards Krang, Orka has his excuse to drop the gloves again.

This time, he's boosted though. Dorcas designed the belt around Orka's waist so that it saps the strength of the whales nearby and directs it to increase Orka's. So Namor is at a distinct disadvantage.

The prisoners manage to escape, dumbass Dorma included, but Namor is captured and shackled as the book ends.

Orka is established as a credible threat immediately in this one, on par with Tiger Shark, Attuma and the like. I'm only disappointed that his origin so closely resembles that of Tiger Shark but I look forward to witnessing his other throw downs with Namor soon.

Tales to Astonish (1965) #72, "A Prince There Was"

I've had about enough of Namor as a team member for a while, or stories in which he barely appears, so it's back to solo books for the next couple of reads.

When we last checked in on Namor's quest to recover Neptune's trident in order to prove he was the true ruler of Atlantis, he was being crushed by the gigantic Seaweed Man. How would he ever survive such a predicament??

Fairly easily, actually. He used a little leverage to get out from under the monster's crushing hand (describing the technique as something similar to judo) then formed a twister around it.

Precisely what I would have done.

Namor forces that trap door open and what does he find? Exactly what you'd expect: A talking fish with a diamond in its mouth.

Namor now knows that he must find...The Diamonds of Doom!!!

Meanwhile, his lady love Dorma is in a pickle as well. Krang has grown tired of not even reaching friend-zone with her so he has her banished to the cave of the Faceless Ones.

That's creepy Zantor off on the right. I'm not sure how he spends his days but he does the banishing honours here.

As a result, Namor senses a disturbance in the force...

So he DOES talk to fish? Or do they just talk to him?

Anyway, Namor has 99 problems but Dorma ain't one. He's a prince and he has to go on with his quest. It is what it is.

When he finds the diamonds though, it doesn't really strike him right away that there just might be a good reason why they're called "diamonds of doom".

And...that's it??

As you can see from the cover, Namor shared this book with the Hulk so the story is only 12 pages long. We're left with a cliffhanger but if Namor was able to defeat the dreaded Seaweed Man, surely he'll find a clever way of overcoming the devastating effect of the diamonds of doom!!

Tales To Astonish (1959) #70, "The Start Of The Quest"

Looking back at Defenders reunions has been fun but most of them have been fairly recent. Let's go back in back in time a bit and to stories more specific to the avenging star of this show.

His own series!!!  Which he...shares with the incredible Hulk!

Well, it was still a promotion of sorts. Namor had returned to some prominence in 1962 after being off the radar for about seven years. He showed up in the various team books at the time; Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men...He appeared in Daredevil in April 1965 (cover date, natch) and even though it was published four months later (August 1965, obviously), Tales To Astonish #70 takes place immediately after that guest-spot. 

In that Daredevil issue, Lady Dorma tracked down Namor to let him know that one of his warlords, Krang, had planned a coup to take over Atlantis. When Namor reaches Atlantis, Dorma confirms that Krang was successful but because he rejects her advances, she rats him out.

Yet he is ultimately captured and tossed in the dungeons by Krang. When Dorma comes by to visit because "her heart would not permit her to stay away", the imprisoned prince reminds her that there is one way to reclaim the throne even if his people have accepted Krang as their leader.

Wow, Neptune really saw this coming!

Dorma helps Namor escape so that he can begin his search for the trident.

Off he goes to the Cave of Shadows, the location of the first clue in his quest.

But Krang ain't no sucker! He totally anticipated Dorma's actions and let them come to pass thinking that Namor is just going to get himself killed anyway.

At the Cave Of Shadows, Namor promptly finds the clue in a red sea shell. But it is guarded by giant-ass squid!

He finds that the exit from the cave is blocked, blames Krang (irrationally, really, but apparently accurate) and we end on that note.

The story was by Stan Lee and the art was by Adam Austin. The story of the quest would run through issue #76.

Fantastic Four (1996) #3

All right! In the event that you stumbled here following a search and are not reading this chronologically, this is essentially a continuation of this blog entry from March 25th. FF3 is the second part of a modernized retelling of Fantastic Four #4 from 1961.

Looking a little rough with the ladies there, Avenging Son.

Giganto was released at the end of the previous issue. We open this one with a brief recap and the Avengers' attempt at stopping the giant whale. It fails, to Namor's great glee.

Tell 'em, boss.

Susan Richards tries to talk Namor and even though she seems to be making headway, the men in the family take a more direct approach and ruin everything. Namor dispatches each one individually, culminating with this gem.

Wham indeed!

The Avengers step in. Thor is itching for a scrap but Captain America takes Sue's more peaceful approach. Well, Krang will have none of that!



Enthralled? I know Namor tends to like blondes, but I'm not sure that extends to...

Anyway, as everyone begins to make peace, Namor suddenly takes ill, apparently due to catching the plague that triggered Atlantis' attack on New York in the first place. And so, Krang seizes the moment.

While a hybrid Avengers/FF team fights back the invasion, Reed Richards treats Namor and finds that the prince's illness was actually Atlantis-borne. Namor believes Richards and calls off the sea dogs of war.

More appropriate channels! Atlantis would invade the surface another half dozen times after this. But in fairness, I don't recall a single time that Captain America has helped make Namor's voice be heard, sanctimonious ass that he is.

Everyone makes their farewells and that's that! A year later "Heroes Reborn" would become "Heroes Return" and everyone would be in the regular timeline. While this was enjoyable enough to read, I look forward to going "home".

Fantastic Four (1996) #2

It seems I inadvertently bought the same book twice!

In 1996, Marvel made a dismal attempt at being trendy with a "Heroes Reborn" marketing campaign. My memory of this period is a little hazy, but I believe that Marvel's A-List heroes were believed to have died but instead had been transported to an alternate universe or some damn thing. Once there, they basically ended up reliving the key moments of their origin stories, unbeknownst to them.

Most of the material appeared to be quite craptastic to me and since I'd pretty well given up on Marvel by then anyway, I didn't buy into this whole scheme. Until yesterday.

Heroes Reborn was far out of mind when I bought this book. It wasn't until I had a closer look at the creative team that I realized what I'd purchased.

This issue, however, is pretty much a retelling of the story I read and wrote about yesterday from the fourth issue of the original Fantastic Four series. So what the hell, let's see how they managed this.

Being the second issue, things are already in motion. The FF have just acquired their powers and are battling the Mole Man (Ugh...). As they escape his tunnel lair, they appear to be surprised by a sudden flash of light.

We switch to Atlantis and the HR versions of Krang and Dorma, looking quite good.

Orthus, with paler skin, could be any number of the early Image Wolverine ripoffs. I'm not sure why Krang feels the need to remind him that they are cousins, but there you have it.

Krang, being an asshole, sees the above tragedy as an opportunity to goad Namor into attacking the surface world.

So none of this seemingly random crap about being found with amnesia in a homeless shelter and needing a shave. To this point, the Namor material feels more like it is meant to update the beginning of Daredevil #7.

We cut to the SHIELD Heli-Carrier. The earlier flash of light was SHIELD abducting the FF. SHIELD, having no shame, now asks for help to subdue repel Namor's attack.

He IS a legend! Is that a little admiration we see in Sue's demeanor? Not certain if I'm seeing what I expect to see, but I do know the expression on The Thing is spot on.

The Fantastic Four go to meet Namor and things go about how you'd expect.

*Groan*. Why does EVERYONE throw Namor back in the ocean? Think! Do you use a flame-thrower to beat The Human Torch??

Understanding that he is outnumbered, Namor calls on his own "Doomsday Weapon".

Giganto! Now there's a post tag I didn't expect to use a second time!

I got swerved into buying Heroes Reborn material that I expected to be putrid, and I'd planned on avoiding all alternative reality versions of this character to focus on the "primary" version, but I'm not disappointed that I got this issue. I suspect that it was among the better books at the time. It's a decent enough attempt at that cleaning up wonky history and the art is spectacular.

I'll get around to #3 sooner rather than later to complete the "re-imagining" of Fantastic Four (1961) #4 then get back on track.

Daredevil (1964) #7

I may have gotten a bit of a break earlier today. The book below was available on Comixology for $0.99, down from $16.99.

It was apparently released today so I can't help but think that the price was set in error. The book is not part of a current sale and even if it were, 94% would be a pretty incredible sale!

So I bought it, of course. It collects 20 books in total; 18 issues of Tales To Astonish, one of Tales Of Suspense and, somewhat surprisingly, Daredevil #7.

This is actually the first book in the collection. While Stan Lee indeed wrote this issue, it was drawn by Wally Wood and not Gene Colan, as the Masterworks cover might lead one to believe.

The book starts with Namor sitting on his throne (as he often does), being questioned about why he hasn't taken over the surface world yet. Check this out...

Now that's Krang and he's full of shit. Among the reasons he states for invading the surface is a desire by his fellow Atlanteans to "bask in the heat of the sun". Yeah. Say that again slowly, Krang, and think it through.

That's Dorma on the steps.

Namor decides to go negotiate...something...unclear...with the surface so he hops on his Turtlecycle and heads for New York.

I'm three pages in and absolutely loving the ridiculousness of this book.

Namor's is unfamiliar with human law so he looks for a good lawyer or, alternatively, the very first one he comes across. Of all the wild coincidences, that happens to be Matt Murdock!

In Murdock's office, Namor lays out his master plan.

Hey, leave me out of this!

The absurdity of the plan is explained to Namor. The Sub-Mariner doesn't care for the response so he goes to plan B, which is to demolish the city in order to be arrested. Then "the man" will have to bring Namor to court. It's brilliant!

But not really. This book is full of such leaps of logic. When Daredevil attempts to stop Namor, his reasoning is that he should kick him off the pier because maybe "a dash of cold water will cool him off and make him listen". How can you possibly think that's a good idea?

Shortly thereafter, Daredevil recognizes that Namor is essentially invincible in water and, well, gets his ass kicked in record time. Namor recognizes that 'devil's a solid dude though so he doesn't let him drown, even if his handling is a little rough.

Namor decides this is as good a time as any to surrender so he can get himself to court which, apparently is an overnight process because he's in front of a judge the next day. But during the trial, Dorma shows up with a fish bowl on her head to let Namor though that that bitch Krang has attempted a takeover of Atlantis. Ah, shrimp!

Namor naturally wants to head back to Atlantis but now he has crimes to pay for. The puny humans attempt to stop him but it's pointless. Namor makes short work of police, military, etc. He gets a HUGE power push in this book, to use a pro wrestling term. He is made out to be unstoppable.

Daredevil, however, won't quit (and is fearless, as we know) and it is his courage that gets underscored. He loses the fight, but earns respect. 

Can't measure heart, baby!

Namor heads back to Atlantis to kick Krang to the curb, a story which I hope to read in the next issue of this compilation.

This issue, by the way, is also notable for being the first one in which Daredevil wears his red suit.