Here's someone who goes all the way back to the earliest days of Marvel's Golden Age. Thanks to Marvel Masterworks, a lot of his GA stories have been reprinted. He appeared in the Silver Age before Captain America. Before he got his own series in Tales to Astonish, he made a number of appearances that were classics - Fantastic Four 4, Avengers 3 & 4, Daredevil 7, and of course, the first FF Annual.
In 1968, he got his own book. In the 1970s, he was a founding Defender, a co-star in Super Villain Team Up, and a star in Invaders. In the 1980s, he had a 4 issues mini-series, a 12 issue limited series, popped up in Defenders now and then, and made a number of guest-starring appearances, and as well became an Avenger. It would be 1990 before he got his own book again.
In the last ten years or so, he's had a few mini-series and an ongoing series that didn't last a year. He's also been a member of the Illuminati, and had ties to the X-Men. Not an A-lister, but he never seems to go away for long, and he's been on a lot of teams.
What do you think of him? Which of his many solo series did you like the best?
Replies
I liked him best when I was 10 years old, in 1979. By that time, his 1968 book was a distant memory - it ran 72 issues and was cancelled in 1974. Invaders and SVTU were also cancelled titles by then, and he didn't appear in Defenders much. I think the first place I saw him was Tales to Astonish Vol 2. It was a reprint title that started in late 1979, and reprinted the first 14 issues of the '68 series. I bought every issue, and still remember bits and pieces of it - a team-up with Triton of the Inhumans, the debut of Tiger Shark, a brawl with the Thing, and the death of Toro - even though it's been 30 years plus since I've read them. My favorite series was the 1990 Namor book, at least the first 25 issues, written and drawn by John Byrne. Namor as a CEO was certainly different, and Byrne's writing and art were still top-notch in my eyes at this point.
The 1968 series may be the longest running pre-1980 series that never got an Essential. Masterworks go up to #38 but outside of that, very few reprints. I had hoped that eventually Essentials would cover it all but now that the line has been discontinued, not likely to happen. Even other old series that didn't get an Essential, like Champions and Invaders, got a Classics series of reprints. And the Astonish reprint series I mentioned routinely cut 2 pages from the originals. Was it that bad?
In either reprint form or the few originals I picked up in comics shops, I have the first dozen or so issues of the 1968 series, written by Roy Thomas and with art by either John Buscema or Marie Severin, and IMO it was pretty great to start with. I also picked up one of Everett's last works on the title and several of Gerber's output when the series had really bad art and was flopping like a dying fish out of water. I did regularly collect both the Invaders and Super-Villain Team-Up, which were usually fun but not exactly classic material.
Of the Golden Age heroes, Namor didn't make it past the great superhero die-off like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, and he didn't make quite as successful a comeback as Captain America did, but I'd say he ranks the highest among those heroes who keep coming back one way or another, even if they can no longer sustain their own solo series for any great length of time. And he was really the first great anti-hero in comics, decades before Wolverine or the Punisher or even the Hulk. It was sheer genius that Lee & Kirby reintroduced him in the Silver Age as a villain, but with a haughty, imperious character like Namor, it really worked. Otherwise, maybe Namor really works best as either a guest star or in limited series with a specific, unique story to tell, rather than an ongoing series which may start strong but eventually gets repetitious, too dependent on killing off supporting characters for drama, and winds up with artists ill-suited to Namor and his aquatic world.
I agree about the anti-hero thing--I've long maintained that Namor is the prototypical Marvel hero in the same way that Superman is the DC one. Everything that made the Marvel Universe distinct & successful (well, except for Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) was present in Namor from the beginning: The misunderstood, hot tempered protagonist, often (usually) at odds with the world around him--heck, by the 1960's he was even classified as a mutant!
Of the ones I've read, I actually prefer his run in Tales to Astonish. I was actually quite surprised how much I enjoyed the series after it was collected in Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1.
Colan's unique art on most of the Tales to Astonish run was well-matched with Namor. Gave the series an apt bit of moodiness and other-worldliness that also fit very well with Dr. Strange and Tomb of Dracula.
Randy Jackson said:
I had said the '68 series didn't get an Essential. Almost true, but not quite. Just to clarify, Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1 reprinted the following: Daredevil #7, Tales to Astonish #70-101, Tales of Suspense #80, Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1 and Sub-Mariner #1. So the first issue made it. That was the only Subby Essential.
Randy Jackson said:
I haven't read enough issues of any of his series to have a favourite. I have an Australian reprint digest with the stories from Sub-Mariner (1968) #4-#6, with art by John Buscema. His art was extremely good in that period (and he may have contributed more to the stories than one might guess: Stan Lee has said he was "probably as creative" as Kirby). I really like the splash page for #5; just look at how much effort was put into the ocean!
Good question, John! I’m not going to rank them, but I will list my faves. First, a little personal history. The first Subby I ever read was Tales to Astonish #83 (reprinted in Marvel Super-Heroes #38). I bought MSH for the Hulk, but I read the Subby stories as well. The first copy of an original Sub-Mariner comic book I ever obtained (as a back issues) was issue #3. Giant-Size Defenders #1(which I bought new) featured an old 1950s tale, plus I read several other tales of the same era in earlier issues of Marvel Super Heroes (which I acquired as back issues). Enough history! Here are my highlights…
MMW ATLAS HEROES Vol. 3 – Reprints #33-42 from the ‘50s; all Everett!
MMW SUB-MARINER Vol. 1 – This volume leads with Subby’s first GA appearance (from Marvel Mystery Comics) #1, segues into Daredevil #7 (Wally Wood art!), which leads directly into his solo strip in Tales to Astonish. This volume features two complete story arcs, plus more Everett art, Gene Colan and Jack Kirby.
SUB-MARINER #50-58 (or so): These are the Bill Everett issues which I hope to see collected in a MMW edition in the years to come.
JOHN BYRNE’S NAMOR: Collected in two tpbs.
That’s it! Those are my all-time favorite runs (obviously, I have a deep affection for and appreciation of Subby’s creator, who I deem to be the most under-rated artist of the Golden Age) but don't ask me to choose my favorite from among them! And don’t give up on Marvel reprinting beyond #38. It’s been only three months since the last Subby volume was released, and although the next one is not on the horizon for the next six months, it usually takes about two years for a “second tier” character to come back in rotation.