Secret Empire: Brave New World #2: "Sanctuary, Part 2"

To cap off the year, I'm going to knock off a couple of "partial" Namor appearances, meaning anthology books in which he's involved in only one story or so.

I'll start with the second issue of this Secret Empire mini-series. I didn't care for the first one so I do so with some trepidation and low expectations.

The guy above is the new Patriot. We skip his story and that of "Bob from Hydra" to get to Namor's

In issue one, the original Human Torch from the Invaders days and his former sidekick/fellow Invader Toro sought out Namor in Atlantis to seek sanctuary (hence the title of this story) from the terrorist organization known as Hydra. Namor jailed them, fearing that if he helped them hide, Hydra would come after him for it.

We know Namor is often on the wrong side of a conflict but this decision seemed frustratingly inconsistent with his willingness to fight Nazis in WW2. And yet...

 

Okay, maybe that's a bit better. He's offering sanctuary of a sort without appearing to be doing so to save himself the headache of dealing with Hydra. That's one way to look after your peeps. We'll go with that.

Shortly thereafter, Atlantis is attacked. Namor goes to the fray to see what's up. He captures one of the attackers.

Ah, but to what end?

This damage caused in the attack enabled Hammond (the Human Torch, that is) and Toro to escape their cell.  In their attempt to get out of Atlantis, they encounter their rescuer, of sorts.

Nice! I've been jumping about Namor's history for a couple of years now and this is the first time I come across Namora. I only know the basics of her background so am aware that she is in effect a female version of the Avenging Son but know little else about her. Seeing the two butt heads should be fun.

Way to turn this story around after a disappointing start, Marvel.

The Invaders (1975) #16: "The Short, Happy Life of Major Victory"

It's been almost a year since I had a look at one of the original Invaders books and being that they've become my favourite Marvel team, I shall check out another one now.

Captain America and Bucky are incognito in a movie theater in London England, watching highlights of their own adventures. Evidently Namor is not the only character on this team with an ego.

As the pair leaves the theater, there's a blackout in the city. In the time it takes for them to suit up, a scream for help caches their attention. It leads them to the scene below.

The heroes make short work of the Nazis but are taken by surprise by a sudden heel turn.

Ah, she was with Ze Germans all along! She, and the hooded Nazis in the preceding image, escapes her hostage. Captain America and Bucky let them go to ensure that the Germans do not harm the young soldier.
 
Instead, they head to their headquarters to meet with the rest of the team. When Cap tells everyone what just occurred, Bucky and Toro recognize the name of the private who was snatched (as they should, since his first name is Biljo"). They remember him as a comic book writer/artist so they check his material for a clue.

Fearing that Hitler may be attempting to use "Biljo" to duplicate the super soldier formula which created Captain America, the team heads off in Namor's Atlantean airship to Fortress Europe, apparently the fuhrer's hiding spot, to rescue the young man. As they near the castle, a projectile knocks out one of the wings on the ship.

The projectile was actually an old foe named Master Man. Namor's pissed that his ship was wrecked so he wants the get the first shot in.

Namor is stunned by Master Man's super bosom. MM wrecks the rest of the team single-handedly. They are restrained in the fortress and get a visit from the boss.

Meh. I love Nazi villains but I hate when Hitler shows up. Mind you, the next issue will introduce a character named Warrior Woman, so we get to look forward to that and hopefully a decent scrap between Namor and Master Man.

Secret Empire: Brave New World (2017) #1: "Sanctuary"

While I have not read a Marvel book on a regular basis in several years, I still heard/read much of the criticism surrounding Secret Empire specifically and the various accusations of "character assassination" of stalwart characters like Iron Man, Cyclops, Mr. Fantastic and (in this case, Captain America) in recent years.

This book makes me think that Namor needs to be added to the list, especially since he appears to be a full-blown villain in current books. He has not been represented particularly well in recent years, it would seem and I believe now that it started here.

We begin with Namor fighting off fellow Atlanteans. The very first line of dialogue from him is "Do you KNOW who I am?". Remember that for a moment.

He makes short work of his aggressors.

Some military-looking types happen by and Namor turns the attackers over to those soldiers. Just prior to doing so, he appeared to be about to execute them. That was a bit of a red flag as to his state of mind.

It is pointed out to Namor by one of the soldiers that this is the second assassination attempt on him this month. So to answer Namor's question from earlier, yes, if they were assassins targeting you, they very much know who you are. What a peculiar question to ask.

Namor is in the process of instructing a soldier to enhance security when he is interrupted with news that he has guests. The soldier he had been talking to actually asks if the guests are assassins as well.

Yeah, dumbass, they're at the front door asking for permission to enter to murder Namor. JFC.

These two are at the gates.

That's the Human Torch (Tom Hammond, SHIELD agent) and Toro from the Invaders. They seek sanctuary.

The former is an android. He explains that Hydra's brainwashing techniques on SHIELD agents during their takeover didn't quite work for him.

Toro, meanwhile, is an Inhuman (he is?) and therefore an automatic enemy of Hydra. News to me.

Namor states his position to his former colleagues.

Upon learning that Namor has an alliance of sorts with Hydra, the Torch and Toro come to realize that they made a mistake in going to Atlantis to hide out. They attempt to leave but are prevented by the Atlanteans, including Namor.

The two former Invaders are then jailed with the other "dissidents".

So Namor who, when faced with the Nazi threat in the 40s, joined these two and others to battle that threat now decides he needs to imprison them out of fear of Hydra finding out that they're sleeping in his basement? Bitch, please...

Had he explained that Atlantis has been devastated far too many times to risk even the slightest damage, I might have bought it. Instead, this feels like Namor taking a knee in front of Hydra and there's little in the character's history that would suggest he'd ever do such a thing. Quite the opposite.

This is one story out of three in this anthology book and thankfully Namor is not included in the other two because they are complete time-wasters. They add nothing to this story or to, I suspect, Secret Empire as a whole.

Unfortunately, the Invaders story (if you could even call it that, since it really only features two member against one) continues in the remaining four issues of Brave New World so evidently I'll have to stomach those at some point. It won't be any time soon.

The following image is a variant cover to this book by Chris Samnee.

The Invaders (1975) #11 - "Night Of The Blue Bullet"

As stated in the previous post about the 1993 Invaders mini-series, today we're going to look at issue #11 from the original Invaders book from 1975.

Lord James Falsworth (the first Union Jack) and his daughter Jacqueline were recently injured in a battle against Baron Blood. The Invaders rush them to a hospital for treatment as this issue begins.

While Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, is giving a Jacqueline a blood transfusion, the lights in the hospital suddenly go out. The Invaders aren't just good at punching Nazis upside the head, they are also awesome at generator repair, so off they go!

The transfusion goes off without any additional issues but the doctor is all kinds of pissed and storms off to find the person who caused the generator to break down.

Gold is the that was referred to 18 years later in Invaders #2.

Captain America and Bucky depart after a quick confrontation with Gold's assistant but shortly thereafter a voice at the other end of a mysterious phone call gives orders to the effect that the heroes be destroyed. And so the Blue Bullet lives!

This is where Namor finally shines...eventually. His first attempt at stopping the rampaging mechanical terror is rather unsuccessful.

Captain America and Bucky also fail to stop the Blue Bullet but when it threatens to kill the helpless Jim Hammond and Jacqueline Falsworth, Namor steps up again.

And that is it for the Blue Bullet so good display of power by Namor there. BB is revealed to be Doctor Gold and not his asshole assistant. I suppose the confrontation from earlier was supposed to suggest that the assistant was some evil prick.

This book is also notable for Jacqueline Falsworth gaining superpowers as a result of having received both vampire blood from Baron Blood and that of an android in Jim "Human Torch" Hammond. The latter left the team at the end of this issue but young lady Falsworth joined up as the sassy Spitfire. Comic book science rocks!