Rise of the Black Panther (2018) #2: "Coffin For Head of State"

To avoid getting into a tired loop of reviewing Fantastic Four / Avengers / Defenders appearances, I try to choose my material based on whatever might be happening in the real world. It's often dictated by a movie release or an upcoming comics event (lord knows there are many), something along those lines.

Obviously, in this case, it was the sad passing of Chadwick Boseman. I will not pretend that I was a huge fan or any such; I haven't even seen the Black Panther movie. But by all accounts he was a great person making his corner of the world better and on that basis alone, the news came as a shock nonetheless. 

This book is actually far more recent than I realized, having been published in 2018. It takes place very early in T'Challa's (Black Panther, I assume you know) reign as king of Wakanda and debates whether Wakanda is best-served by remaining a secret to the rest of the world or by "going public", as it were. 

But first, Wakandan citizens have gone missing. As Black Panther searches form them, he hears an explosion miles away. Thinking it may be a lead, he heads towards it and finds an Atlantean ship has been shot down.

This upsets Atlantis' most hot-headed monarch who was with said ship and is still a little miffed at the whole thing.

The tradition of two heroes fighting upon first meeting is short-lived in this case as, after Namor mentions seeking traitors to Atlantis, Black Panther deduces that perhaps the two are looking for the same thing. 

Meranno? Isn't that U-Man from the original Invaders books?

Black Panther tracks down his missing countrymen to what appears to be a large barn out in the country. Namor gets tired of waiting for Panther to crack the password to break in stealthily so he uses one of his own.

And we find out that it is, indeed, U-Man! 😀 Dude has teamed up with some asshole from a neighboring country that has it out for Wakanda.
 

We only see Namor land one punch on U-Man and even that is in the background of the panel. Of course, it's not his book, so we can only expect so much, but it was still a little disappointing. 

The prisoners are released, the villains are captured, everyone's relatively happy. 

Black Panther is polite and diplomatic but he again weighs the question of exposure. Namor knows where Wakanda is. He's a friend now but Panther wonders if he will be the next time they meet? That was a nice way to work in more current tensions between Wakanda and Atlantis.

It took a long time for Namor to show up, to the point that I feared he might get the last-panel cliffhanger treatment, but that was not the case. It is clear that this is meant to be their first meeting and I'll be curious to see if it clashes with past material. These two characters have good chemistry. The line between respect and a wicked throw down always feels very, very thin. 

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (1998) #4, "Heatwave"

I meant to follow a Canada Day post with one for the fourth of July but, as I did last year, I went off schedule. No big deal, we'll get to it now with the conclusion of a three-part story from Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty.

Click the tag for this book in the "Titles" list on the right side of the page for the previous two issues. 

We left the three core members of the Invaders (seen on the cover above, being Captain America, Namor and the original Human Torch) having just discovered a bunch of simulations of the Jim Hammond Human Torch as well as a number of POWs locked away in preparation to be turned into more of them. Nasty.

First things first. Captain America recovers the ship he and Namor used to reach Atlantis and applies it to a POW rescue mission.

That whole plan seemed to happen awful fast...Still, as they are taking care of those men, the torch duplicates are unleashed on the world.

Captain America comes up with a plan to defeat them. The three Invaders members allow themselves to be chased, and "trapped" onto on of the ships, abandoned for this purpose. 

Cap had to know that this explanation wouldn't go over very well. He further argues that the fake torches lack judgement and a conscience. They are, in effect, little more than any other war machine such as a torpedo. 

Hammond nearly kills himself attempting to appeal to some sort of moral compass among the "Firebrands" but ultimately, they are all destroyed according to the plan above. 

So what of Nazi-occupied Atlantis? Well, while the heroes were dealing with the fake torches, Atlantis looked after its own affairs. They didn't waste any time either. 

Namor's mum, Fen, is mighty pissed at having been duped by the Germans. She has the Nazis in front of a firing squad and prepared for execution but Namor intervenes.

I didn't realize the relationship between Namor and Fen was so strained. I'll need to get out of the team books and back into his own title. 

The issue book concludes by spotlighting that the adventure strengthened the bond among the three core members of the Invaders but particularly so between Namor and Hammond as they are both outcasts of a sort.  That's a nice touch, and for a book specifically about Captain America, it was very respectful of its guests. That's not always the case so it was appreciated. 

Alpha Flight (1983) #16: "...And Forsaking All Others..."

It's Canada Day, bitches! Last year I reviewed #15 of the first Alpha Flight series so let's get on to part two of that story today!

Before preparing this one, I went over the post about #15 and fixed a number of brutal typos and errors so if you need to catch up, check that one out here.

Namor, Puck and Marrina, the latter two members of Canada's Alpha Flight team, were captured by a dude who calls himself the Master of the World. Marrina started showing some bestial qualities in the previous issue so we get a bit more explanation about all that.

TMOTW digs this. Marrina's race, according to him, lives only to dominate and conquer. That's right up the man's alley.

Puck fools the Master into releasing him from the prison tube by faking his own death. The Master is caught by surprise by this subterfuge so Puck manages to free Namor as well, but the Avenging Son is in dire need of water to replenish his strength.

Puck rips off the Master's helmet and throws it against Marriana's aquarium to crack the glass. And that's close enough for Namor to do the rest.

 Despite my poor cut job there, you can see that the Master calls our heroes fools. There are two reasons for this.

• Marrina is surely freed, which is arguably bad on its own in light of her lack of control of late, but the weedy looking creature that she was trapped with is also now free.
• The Master controlled the entire ship through his helmet. Without the helmet, he can no longer do so.

The ship is taking damage as a result of the creature flailing around trying to kill everyone so they need to bail. Namor lets Marrina go in order to save Puck (with some hesitation, it should be noted).

After searching for hours, Namor can not seem to track down Marrina again. All this has turned into a giant bummer for the Avenging Son so Puck tries to cheer him up a bit and appears to succeed.

Marrina was actually hiding a few feet away behind them. She is disgusted with the monster she now believes herself to be, thinks there is no romantic future with the likes of Namor and goes into a self-inflicted exile.

I've never bought into the relationship with Marrina all that much but I do enjoy how Namor blends in with Alpha Flight. He appeared in an earlier issue as well the previous year so I think I already know what I'll be doing 365 days from now.

The Avengers (1963) #267: "Time...And Time Again!"

The previous issue of this series was reviewed recently and in terms of Namor content, it was basically a throwaway. This one is as well so we'll get through it and move on to something else for a while.

Kang likes to screw around with time and in doing so has created a number of alternate timelines. As a result, he has also created copies of himself in those timelines. He is now attempting to destroy those copies and be the one and only.

What does that have to do with Namor? Precious little, I'm afraid. But the issue starts to hint at things to come for the Atlantean monarch.

Back in issue 263, a couple of cops showed surprise at seeing Namor with the Avengers. You try to destroy the surface world a few times and some people just can't seem to let it go.

Writer Roger Stern provides us with a reminder of this attitude by the general public towards Namor as The Wasp arrives at Avengers manor to be greeted by protestors.

Namor doesn't give a carp's ass though because he's out with Captain America and the Captain Marvel of the time, Monica Rambeau. They're testing out the team's new sub so of course he'd prefer to hang with them.

Cap suggests that being an Avenger will help bring out Namor's good side as opposed to his ego and arrogance. Gad, let's hope not! He also recognizes that Rambeau doesn't quite trust the avenging son. That might be a little nugget to file away.

The other team members have been abducted by Kang and thrown into his scheme so presumably this bunch will head off for the big rescue in the next issue, but for now that's it for Namor. Hopefully he starts throwing some fists in the next one, I can only read about the Wasp and the Black Knight so much!

The Avengers (1963) #266: "...And The War's Desolation"

We move forward in Namor's first stint as an Avenger today, finally reaching the conclusion of the pointless interruption that was Secret Wars II.

Namor's presence is minimal in this book. The Beyonder's demise in the Secret Wars II mini series caused damage to the earth's crust and the planet is in danger of falling apart as a result. This is not the type of situation to which the Avenging Son is best suited.

There is one moment of heroism though. During the earthquake, the Black Knight, tool that he is, sent plunging towards lava. Namor with the quick, selfless rescue!

But...This book had a tendency to want to bring a little humility to our favourite undersea monarch so while Namor makes the save, he needs one, too. 

That's right, the Fantastic Four have just shown up.

That's about it for the prince. As the cover suggests, the Molecule Man is talked into saving the planet but Namor's involvement from here is reduced to the occasional comment or thought bubble during a larger conversation. The end.

But it is a welcomed end and sneaking a peek ahead, it appears that Namor will be much more involved before long.

Marvel Universe (1998) #1: "The Spoils of War"

When quarantines and isolation began, I figured I'd have more time to take in some Avenging Son awesomeness but that has not turned out to be the case. I've been busy as hell but I finally get some quiet time to take in some Atlantean heroics.

Today, we're looking at a short-lived mini-series called, quite simply, Marvel Universe, in which the Invaders starred for the first few issues.

We begin with a recounting of the demise of a large German sea vessel called the Deutschland at the hands of the Invaders. 

We find out that the event is narrated, sort of, by Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, a Nazi and I believe the founder of Hydra, as he ponders the loss of the ship while in a meeting with German military leaders.  He is disgusted by his fellow Nazis' inability to see the future and the big picture so he leaves them to debate pointlessly. He has a brief meeting with the Red Skull in a secret lab geared towards, at least on paper, suspended animation and preservation.

We transition to a scene in a German submarine as its captain appears pleased to receive an encoded message. His glee is brief, however, because he is visited by undersea royalty. 

The men don't put up much of a fight so Namor has no difficulty getting his hands on the message that the captain received. 

But the captain ingest poison rather than talk. The poison was concealed in a ring with the Hydra logo so evidently we are seeing the formation of that organization.

This leads to a retelling of Namor's origin as told by Betty Dean to a couple of G-Men. The Human Torch and Captain America get the same treatment; a few pages of adventure followed by an origin story. The purpose in all cases is for the military to determine, based on these background checks, whether these three men can be trusted.

Once that has been established, these three core Invaders members are brought in by Allied Command and given their mission. Hydra is not only operational, but they are preparing to build an atomic bomb from their secret island base. They also acquired this sweet beast, the "dragon" referred to above.

...But Hydra swiped it. That, and books about things which have yet to happen, appear to make Strucker quite confident. 

So we have a little time travel going on here then? Good tease. 

This was quite enjoyable. Going over the origins of each Invader seemed a little pointless but in a 36-page book, it didn't hurt the story at all. I only wish that other members of the Invaders, like Spitfire and Union Jack, were included (Toro and Bucky, not so much).
 

The Incredible Hulk (1962) #118; "A Clash Of Titans"

With Namor coming to the Hulk's defense in the New Avengers: Illuminati issue reviewed last week, let's segue to the Avenging Son's appearance in the Jade Giant's own book, from 1969.

Oh, look, there's Dorma in danger again...

We get handy catch-up text to kick off the proceedings.

That strange cruiser is piloted by Dorma. Although she recognizes the floater as a surface dweller, she chooses to rescue him. If he's of any importance, that act could help cement peace with the land lubbers. All right, good thinking, blue lady.

But upon her arrival in Atlantis, we learn that not everyone is a fan.

Fara figures she can suggest to Namor that Dorma is having an affair with some skinny, pale, surface dude and get the prince all good and worked up. Use his temper to her advantage, so to speak.

Namor is already in the process of ranting about the surface world with Vashti when she interrupts, which works in her favour.

Namor has to see this for himself to he storms off to Dorma's quarters. Banner wakes up while the two Atlanteans argue. Waking up in a strange room to a bunch of yelling is hard on his nerves. He gets all worked up and we know that means. Hulk smash!

Our clash of Titans begins. Dorma gets knocked out in the action so Fara sees an opportunity.

Dorma helpless??  No way!!

A throw down between Hulk and Namor can't help but create significant collateral damage and Fara also gets caught in the spray. Namor gets knocked into a wall, and...

Oh. Well, so much for Fara. We didn't have time to get attached. Too bad. She could have been a good wildcard trouble maker.

Namor digs Dorma out but the Hulk isn't done yet. He launches himself at Namor.

Hulk gets literally blown out of the water so Namor goes to look for him.

"...And have found...a man!"

So he leaves. He doesn't check if Banner's okay or any such. he doesn't question what happened there. He's determined that Hulk is no longer a threat so it's back home because he's got renovations to finish. Okay!

I enjoyed that Namor didn't feel like a guest star in this book. He didn't just show up to have his ass kicked and make the Hulk look invincible. He arguably got more attention than the Hulk did in the Hulk's own book. That's rare so it made for a fun read, even if the finish was a little clunky.

The New Avengers: Illuminati #1

I've loved the concept of a secret union between the top dogs of the Marvel universe from the moment I first laid eyes on the cover below. I'm glad to finally get around to reading it, regardless of the various criticisms I've come across about the Civil War story.

We begin with the first meeting of the various men above and...one more. They are gathered in Wakanda years ago and naturally, T'Challa, the Black Panther, is also in attendance. It is shortly after the Kree/Skrull War that took place, in real time, in the early 70s, I believe.

Iron Man makes his pitch. He suggests that the various teams should unite under one banner to take on the world's problems. Namor is something other than impressed.

Namor argues that the public perception Iron Man expects, and cooperation between factions, would not happen because of some of the "questionable characters" among them.

And yet...He votes in favour of it on the condition that the entire operation be done with secrecy. This little program even includes a little mental monitoring by Professor Charles Xavier, something that I would think he would reject immediately but apparently not.

Black Panther does reject the proposal and warns that the whole thing will end badly.

And so we jump to the near present. The Hulk has devastated Las Vegas, killing several people in the process. Iron Man is being taken to task on the SHIELD helicarrier by some lady named (commander) Hill. I'm sure she's a big deal but I don't really know her.

They go over the old argument; If Spider-Man had simply killed the Green Goblin at some point, he'd have saved countless lives (the example works far better with Batman and the Joker...). Instead, the Goblin just goes back out there and kills a few more people. When is Spider-Man at fault for this? How often should the Hulk get away with this?

(Never. That's a stupid argument. No one can have the burden of murder thrust upon them)

With that in mind, the Illuminati meet. They plan to launch the Hulk into space where he can do no harm (in theory). I mean, they won't kill him, just...launch him into an endless void. You don't want to be cruel or anything.

But Hulk has a defender in Namor (see what I did there?), of all people. Those two have fought and argued numerous times but Hulk was a teammate and Namor's opposition feel quite appropriate. He will not tolerate the mere thought of this plan and makes his stance quite clear.

Namor and Iron Man battle underwater and Namor comes quite close to murdering his opponent here. He rips off his helmet and leaves him to sink like stone. Dr. Strange fishes them both out with some levitation type of spell before that happens.

Namor, then, is quite capable of committing murder to prevent murder. One to file away.

A disgusted Avenging Son beats it in a huff but shows up when invited at the next meeting. In that meeting, Iron Man previews Civil War for those in attendance (Namor, Strange, Reed Richards and Black Bolt). He explains that the government will expect all vigilantes (and mutants, Inhumans, etc.) to reveal themselves and to continue their activities only under SHIELD's oversight. He recommends that everyone sign up voluntarily.

The notion goes over like a fart in an elevator for most of the people in the room, including Namor who basically gives him in the finger.

And so a large crack begins to form in the Marvel universe.

I don't know how much of a factor Namor is in the actual Civil War mini series. It doesn't appear as though he's involved all that much, but he did show up in issues of Black Panther and Wolverine at the time. Click on the "Civil War" tag on the right to have a peek at those.

He is a far bigger part of this book than I thought, being that he is only half visible on its cover. His trademark arrogance and temper are both on display prominently and, as usual, he swims against the current, so to speak.

In typical Brian Michael Bendis fashion, the sitting-around-the-table debates are a little long but that aside, as a fan of Namor, I don't have much cause to complain here. An Iron Man fan might, but that's not my problem. ;-)