As many of us know, DC's big three back during the 1940's was Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. At the same time, Timely had their own big three of Captain America, the Human Torch and Namor.
I've been thinking about it recently, and I'm just a tad puzzled by the popularity of the Sub-Mariner. I can easily see the appeal of both Captain America and the Human Torch, but Namor makes little sense to me. Sure, he was the master of the seas which was a little more exciting back in 1941, but he was also a menace to mankind. Unfortunately, I've read very, very few Golden Age Sub-Mariner stories, and I'm a bit befuddled by his popularity. Was it the seven seas vibe? Was it the idea that he was righting wrongs? Was it the skimpy swim trunks (or the lack thereof)?
If someone has read an appreciable number of Golden Age Sub-Mariner stories, I'd love to know what you think the appeal might be.
Replies
I think it was because the Sub-Mariner was better written and better drawn than 99% of its contemporary fare. I started re-reading the Silver Age MMW Sub-Mariner just last night (which begins with the first story from Marvel Comics #1 and Daredevil #7), in anticipation of the new Everett volume solicited for January release, and I was struck (again, as I always am) by how professional-looking even that very first story was. Everett was using artisic techniques that professional newspaper cartoonists were using at the time.
I think there's a lot to be said for the anti-hero angle, too. It may be trite today, but it was unique back then.
Here's something else I thought about last night. Recently someone mentioned on this board that Namor recently committed genocide...? I have two questions. What comic (title and issue number) was that in? Where's the outrage? I would think fans should be up in arms at least to the degree as when Hal Jordan turned on the Green Lantern Corps. (Moreso, really, because despite how fans remember it and how DC has retconned it since, Hal was responsible for the deaths of "only" six people.)
My Bill Everett/Sub-Mariner discussion goes into detail about the early stories serialized in Marvel Mystery Comics.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
This might be a reference to the Atlantis/Wakanda War storyline that ran through several titles including AvsX and Avengers. I'm still piecing it together, having only read the Avengers portions, but I don't get the feeling that it is presented as a clear cut genocide. More like an act of war. That could be splitting hairs, but within the actual story itself, the aggression towards Wakandait is treated as part of an ongoing conflict.
Here's a thread Philip started that discusses the issue. Philip says he only attempted to destroy Wakanda, but actually destroyed a parallel Earth.
My theory about the Human Torch is he's a hero for your inner pyromaniac. Imagine if 60s Marvel had replaced Johnny Storm's series in Strange Tales with one about the adventures of the original Torch during WWII. It could've been full of scenes of the Torch duelling Messerschmitts or Zeros, melting tanks, causing fiery havoc.
Golden Age Namor was like an antihero version of Superman. He got to express our inner violent impulses. So sometimes he was the enemy of society, sometimes he smashed Nazi heads. A bit like a miniature Godzilla.
Thanks, Luke. that's the discussion I was thinking of. I'll re-read it now.
I'd go with Jeff's explanation.
One thing that struck me when reading the Golden Age stories was that Namor's irreverent attitude was genuinely funny. That might be a little wish-fulfillment, too -- what kid doesn't want to smart off to authority figures? -- but more than that, the dialogue was often quite clever. It had a screwball comedy/Thin Man kind of vibe.
And the art, as Jeff said, was several rungs better than most contemporary strips.
In other words, Sub-Mariner was popular probably because his strip was just qualitatively better than the majority of its competition.
Just my two cents.
It occurred to me a number of years ago that Namor was the prototypical Marvel protagonist in the same way that Superman had been for DC, at least until DC decided that everyone should be Batman instead. Right out of the gate, Namor was immature, hot-tempered, violent, bi-polar, "hated & feared", everything that makes Wolverine, the Hulk, and even Spider-Man stars. Superman, Captain America, & the pre-1980s Batman were the big brothers everyone wanted to hang around with, but Namor was a cross between a childish tantrum and teenage drama queen that readers wished they could get away with being now! And much like Superman, as newer characters came along and built on his schtick, Namor became less of the cutting edge bad boy, and more the cranky old man, who's just not as primal as the Hulk, or as literally edgy as Wolverine.
Good point, Dave. You might as well throw the Fantastic Four into your list of examples, the way they bickered and argued amongst themselves.
I remember hearing of John Broome’s first ever ComiCon, shortly after the publication of “Emerald Twilight.” Someone in the audience asked him about it, but he was unfamiliar. After someone summarized it for him, he remarked, “I’d never write that story,” to rousing and thunderous applause.
I remember, too, the earlier discussion Luke linked above and why I didn’t participate at the time. Similar to John Broome’s attitude, my is that that’s not a story I would care to read. If I don’t read it, it doesn’t exist (not on “Earth-J” anyway). There are plenty of story I do read that I don’t include in my personal continuity. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Marvel conveniently “forgets” it after a while, too.
Regarding “Where is the outrage?,” I withdraw the question.
Count me in with Jeff and Cap. When I finally picked up the first few GA Sub-Mariner Masterworks, both art and story struck me as miles ahead of most of the the other GA work that I've read.
A fair amount of Everett's Golden Age work can be found at Comic Book Plus, so I've put together a list of his Golden Age work for companies other than Marvel using the GCD and posted it here. In the instalments Everett drew Amazing-Man is a bit like Namor in his unpredictability (the Great Question turns him evil in one story), and in Everett's final instalment, where he receives a costume, he looks very much like him.