Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection—Volume 1: Enter the Sub-Mariner

Comic Info

Fantastic Four (1) #4

Reprints Fantastic Four (1) #4, 6, 9, 14, 27, 33, Annual #1, Strange Tales (1) #107, 125, Avengers (1) #3-4, Uncanny X-Men (1) #6, Daredevil (1) #7, and Tales to Astonish (1) #70-76 (May 1962-February 1966).  When Prince Namor of Atlantis disappeared after World War II, the surface world questioned if they had seen the last of the Sub-Mariner.  Johnny Storm finds Namor living with amnesia in New York City and the Sub-Mariner is reborn…but is he friend or foe?  With his eyes set on Sue Storm and restoring his kingdom of Atlantis, Namor does not trust the surface world and finds himself on a dangerous balance of a divided heritage.

Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection—Volume 1:  Enter the Sub-Mariner is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection.  The collection feature art by Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Dick Ayres, and Wallace Wood.  Issues in this volume have been collected multiple times.

Sub-Mariner was a World War II hero.  Despite having a tedious relationship with the surface world, the stopping of Japan and Germany overrode any forced allegiance to Atlantis or his past.  With World War II over and a new age of heroes being born (including a new Human Torch…the original was an ally), Namor was ripe for return to the Marvel ranks…and he quickly brought back another ally.

Daredevil (1) #7

The collection is a bit all over the place since Namor was a supporting character in his early return.  The writing played up his Atlantean heritage and also started the trend of Namor making really poor choices in allies.  In the volume, he works with Dr. Doom and Magneto and gets burned by them both times.  The collection also introduces the idea that Namor is one of Marvel’s oldest mutants (which became more of a factor in recent years with Namor allying himself with the X-Men).

The last third of this collection has Namor getting his own title (or at least half of a title).  The Tales to Astonish issues of the collection appear very similar to many plots of Aquaman and largely deal with Namor battling corruption within Atlantis (largely by his enemy and political rival Krang).  The issues read fast due to the fact that Namor shared the title with the Incredible Hulk and Hulk’s part of the issues are not reprinted here.  It is a good set-up for “solo” Namor which I do prefer.

Namor is a tricky character to write.  He is often unlikable and that can be a challenge when a character leads a book.  His high and mighty behavior is transferred to the idea that he is a king and royalty…but more in the lines of a King Arthur vs. a king that sits on his laurels.  I really, really enjoy the Namor solo series that started after his run in Tales to Astonish and I hope that the series will finally be reprinted with the help of the Epic Collections…but we’ll see.