Super-Villain Team-Up #2, "In The Midst Of life...!"

I am at times surprised at how some books that you expect to be significant in a character's history turn out to be duds while some that seem to be little more than brainless distractions actually have far more impact. This book belongs in the latter category.

Part of the reason for my enjoyment of the first issue of this series was that Namor was the most prominent character. The opposite is true in this issue but it's quality over quantity.

Following the breakdown of the very brief union between Namor and Dr. Doom, the Atlantean prince returned to Hydrobase only to find it under siege by a number of his past villains; Attuma, Tiger Shark and...Dr. Dorcas. Well, the first two would be bad enough...

That's Betty Dean-Prentiss walking us through the graphic above. See, Dr. Doom has been watching the proceedings from a camera inserted in a robot fish (it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it).  He had been seeking an opportunity to make Namor indebted to him and he sees one here.

So Doom shows up at Hydrobase and encounters Betty, a long-time friend of the sub-mariner, who gives him the scoop. With her guidance, Doom breaks his way into the lab in which Namor is chained up.

The villains were expecting them though. They're all gloating and stuff when Betty gives them a verbal middle finger. Chicken-shit that he is, Dorcas backhands her one across the face which wakes up the Avenging Son.

Dorcas, being a chicken-shit and all, figures he'd better deal with Namor ASAP. He plans to shoot Namor dead while the prince is an easy target but he can't even do that much right.

Good job, asshole. You have legit badasses Tiger Shark and Attuma ready to go and you pull this stunt.

At least you inadvertently created some awesome. The book concludes on the panel below.

I've been reading a lot of books from that era. They tend to be filled with melodramatic, overstated, verbalized internal dialogue. I would have expected something along the lines of "The fiend killed someone who was very dear to me and I will not rest until he has been brought to justice! So swears the prince of the blood, the avenging son, the one true sub-mariner, Namor of Atlantis!"

Instead, writer Tony Isabella and artists Sal Buscema / Fred Kida rely on the simple act of looking up, silently. Everyone in the fictional room, and reading this book, knows that hell will be unleashed in short order. If I'm a kid reading this in 1975, I can't friggin' wait to get the next issue.

Betty Dean was a not huge deal in the "current" Marvel era. But during Namor's adventures of the 40s and 50s she was a regular presence. They did eventually incorporate her into the silver age continuity and she served as a guardian of sorts to Namorita to the point that Namorita took on Betty's last name of Prentiss.

So Dean meant something and she was killed off in the second issue of a long-forgotten book. Ah well. We can't all go out in a blaze of glory.

Namor, The Sub-Mariner (1990) #62, "Beware The Tides of March"

Today, I'm feeling like getting a little further ahead in the Atlantis Rising story. Maybe it was the recent exposure to the Black Knight in an Avengers book who triggered that mood as he was involved in the chapter prior to this one. Whatever the cause, let's move on a bit.

The delightful lady above, wearing a quaint belt made of skulls, is Morgan Le Fey. She has just revealed her plan to take back what belongs to her and that, in her opinion, is the city of Atlantis or as she calls it, Avalon.

Le Fey has taken control of the Inhuman known as Triton and sicced him on Namor. The wounded Avenging Son retreats, however, taking Andromeda with him to find a place to recover their respective strength.

They head to Atlantis. Namor is exiled at this point but the guards take them, on the sly, to Namor's old friend and adviser Vashti.

While in recovery, Namor has a vision of a previous ruler of Atlantis.

Kamuu details how Avalon's demise, which Le Fey survived, led to Atlantis' birth. She wants her home back and for the magic required to cast the spell that will enable her to do that, she needs to sacrifice the noble soul of one whose "magnetic vitality is equal parts earth and moon".

That would be Triton who, along with the other Inhumans, resides in the city of Attilan on the moon. Namor won't let that happen so he storms off to help another old pal.

See that dude on the left there? That's 90s poster boy Blood Wraith. He's given Namor that gaping wound that others have referred to.

But our prince has done his research. He knows that the blade BW wields must drink blood before being sheathed again. So Namor defeats his opponent by sheathing the blade against Wraith's will and breaking the curse.

That leaves Namor and Triton to have it out. As Namor tries to break Morgan's hold on Triton, this Dolan guy takes matters (and Namor's sword) in his own hands. He whips the sword at Morgan Le Fey in attempt to kill the witch but Triton steps in front of the throw.

Way to go, jackass. Now you've completed the ritual sacrifice and sure enough...

This would conclude Namor's 1990 series but the Atlantis Rising story would be told through a couple of specials, the Fantastic Four books of the time (the main title, FF Unlimited and Fantastic Force) and affect the annuals for most (all?) Marvel books that year. If you're going to go out, do it with a huge bang, I guess.

Avengers (1963-1996) #263: "What Lurks Below?"

A glance at the labels to the right side of the page made me notice that very few of the books I've read were from the 80s so...Here's one that is! January 1986, to be precise.

One of the few 80s books reviewed to this point was Avengers #262 in which Namor became a team member officially for the first time. In this book, we see how he fits in and how his presence affects the team's image.

The issue's opening pages are dedicated to a plane that crashes into Jamaica Bay. When we first see the team, Namor is the topic of discussion.

Cap and Wasp reassure their liason and in doing so, we find out that Whitman (the Black Knight) might be starting to crush on the Wasp a bit. Whatever.

When Namor finally does appear, Hercules and Captain Marvel (the Monica Rambeau edition) are showing him around the Avengers mansion. Namor comes across a bedroom that he favours but it happens to belong to the Olympian demi-God in attendance.

After bailing, a blast of light emerging from Jamaica Bay draws Rambeau to the location of the downed plane where she is brought up to speed on the day's events.

As the dude in the hard hat finishes his sentence, the divers are thrown out of the water. One of them explains that he heard a voice under water then was tossed away. Rambeau tries to investigate in her light form and she does find a cocoon near the crash site, but she is similarly ejected from the water, so she calls in her buds.

I like that. The reaction makes sense in light of how often the sub-mariner has attacked the surface world.

The team plans some strategy to approach the cocoon but the prince of the blood has no time for that jibber-jabber. He makes his own attempt at investigating, but it doesn't go so well...

...and the team is not shy about pointing it out to him.

Piss off, Whitman. Friggin' D-list loser....

Sadly, it is not the end of Namor's journey through humiliation because when they reach the cocoon and attempt to resist its repelling effect, Hercules is better able to withstand it and actually makes progress whereas Namor...

That's rough.

Anyway, of course they manage to recover the cocoon and take it back to the mansion. It will eventually lead to the first of what feels like dozens of resurrections of Jean Grey of the original X-Men and to the creation of the X-Factor team but this is the extent of the Avengers' involvement in their own book.

While I find Namor's "humbling" an interesting approach, I'm not sure about how much sense it makes. He had been on teams before this one (Invaders and Defenders) so it doesn't seem like fitting in should be such a difficult task but it creates an interesting dynamic early on. I don't recall what ultimately leads to his departure from this version of the team but now I'm curious as to whether his personality was a significant factor. I guess I'll find out down the road.

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.

Marvel Feature (1971) #1: The Defenders

Since the previous post inadvertently included Namor's departure from the Defenders, I think we'll look at the (non) team's initial meeting today.

Dr. Strange is really the star of this show, although Namor does make one significant contribution. It is by his suggestion that the members of this little club are chosen.

But first things first. Dr. Strange is sitting in front of the fireplace at home, He hears, and heeds, a beckoning call and traces it to a hospital where he finds a former foe named Yandroth.

But he doesn't.

All that Dr. Strange knows at this point, in order to track down this Omegatron machine that Yandroth built, is that Yandroth had a mailing address in Maine. So off to New England he goes and when he arrives, he comes across the sub-mariner. That was...fortuitous.

The good doctor explains the situation to Namor and it is at that point, based on recent interactions with the other characters, that the avenging son suggest The Hulk and Silver Surfer might be helpful.

Dr. Strange recruits accordingly and we have ourselves a team! A team that doesn't refer to itself as such but a team nonetheless!

Silver Surfer is actually not immediately available but the Hulk is so the threesome tracks down the building containing the Omegatron. The Hulk and Namor work their way into the trap-filled building with brute strength while Dr. Strange does so using his astral form.

After the sorcerer supreme reaches the Omegatron, the super-computer idiotically points out to Strange that being punched by The Hulk and/or Namor will trigger the nuclear apocalypse that Yandroth threatened earlier. So Strange uses the power of illusion to turn the two of them against one another so that they don't directly attack the Omegatron.

Ah, but even the vibrations of that titanic battle will provide the Omegatron the power that it needs! With mere seconds before Omegatron detonates the nukes, Strange casts a spell by which time slows down drastically for it. What would have been seconds now becomes centuries. Strange turns off his illusion spell that causes the two combatants to fight one another so they both cease and desist.

In other words...Getting The Hulk and Namor involved was not only borderline useless, since Strange stopped Omegatron on his own anyway, it arguably made things far worse. Namor, to his credit and unlike Dr. Strange, seems to get this.

So Namor not only brought most of the cast together, he also named the "grouping". I questioned the perception of Namor as a key member of this weird-ass team but even though he hasn't spent as much time on it as some other "members" and his initial stint was quite short, he had a fair bit of impact on its formation so that makes greater sense.

There is also a back up Dr. Strange story but it does not involve Namor and so I ignore it completely. The Defenders would star in the next two issues of Marvel Feature then get their own book a few months later.

The Defenders (1972) #14, "And Who Shall Inherit The Earth?"

Today we're looking at another second-part-of-two in the form of The Defenders #14. The previous issue was reviewed back in February.

I didn't expect much from this but it turned out to have one slightly significant moment at the end. Let's check it out.

When we left the Defenders at the end of #13, they had been defeated by Nebulon and trapped in a force field bubble. Nebulon prepares to deliver the killing blow but Hyperion stops him.

Come on, man...You KNOW that never works out...

We get several pages of Hyperion's back story and find out how he came to meet Nebulon and to sell out the earth to him. After this tale, the Defenders are flung into space in their little bubble.

The Defenders are pounding away at this bubble. unable to escape, until Nighthawk suggests they all concentrate their power into hitting one specific spot.

The man is clearly a genius, because the plan works marvelously. The bubble pops and the Defenders return to do battle with the Squadron Sinister.

As the team arrives and are spotted by the villains, Nebulon creates some sort of ice giant to help his side. After the creature swats away the Hulk, our hero finally makes his mark.

The team eventually defeats the ice giant and takes the fight straight to Nebulon as the Squadron Supreme busies itself with melting the polar ice in order to drown the planet. And again, the Prince gets his licks in.

Somebody really likes that "sprak" sound effect!

Nighthawk, again showing some brains, turns the canon that the Squadron Sinister is using to melt the ice against Nebulon. The energy absorption causes Nebulon to explode as a result and it appears that the Squadron is destroyed in the blast as well.

The battle won in large part due to his input, Nighthawk asks to join the group and while Doc Strange tries to explain that they're not a team per se, the Avenging Son jumps in.

Guess he told him.

Well, this is helpful in terms of knowing what material to get. I honestly thought that Namor had been with the Defenders for a longer period, being that he's considered a staple of the group. In fact, if we can judge by covers alone, Nebulon actually returns to the book (around issue #33 or so) well before Namor does (in issue #52). That's a much bigger gap than I would have anticipated.