The character has been in the role of both hero and villain over the decades, being mainly associated with the Fantastic Four [The character was revived in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962)]. He's been both ally and enemy to them, and also is known for carrying a bit of a torch for Sue Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman. But the FF are not the only team he's hung with. He's battled and been a member of the Avengers, and also in the Defenders. In WWII, he allied himself with Captain America, Bucky, and the original Human Torch to become the Invaders. In recent years, he's been more closely associated with the X-Men, taking advantage of an old nickname for him "Marvel's First Mutant". This is true in print, but in-universe, there are several mutants who predate him, including Wolverine. I am not kidding.
In 1990, he got his own series again, which lasted for 62 issues. The final one was published in 1995. The first issue of it is what we're going to look at here. So, with that out of the way, let's take a look at Namor #1!
The cover is well-drawn, if a bit basic. It's Namor flying out of the water, screaming in rage about something. That's Namor in a nutshell, guy who lives in water and gets mad about stuff. Doesn't take much.
"Purpose!"
Writer: John Byrne
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Glen Lopez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The story begins with a ship on the waters of the South Pacific. One of the boat's occupants remarks that there is nothing wrong with the equipment on board, so the blip the radar picked up had to be real. It's a fast-moving one, too. Nothing natural could move that quickly.
The young woman, Carrie Alexander, suggests that maybe it's some kind of Navy secret weapon test. The old man, Caleb Alexander, is not surprised. But then the blip turns ninety degrees, and it's heading straight up. A man bursts out of the water, revealing that he is Namor. The Sub-Mariner is clearly enraged about something. Both Caleb and Carrie are shocked by this, as Namor was believed to be dead. It was believed he was killed during the 1989 crossover Atlantis Attacks! during a battle with Iron Man and the forces of Attuma. Reports of his death have clearly been exaggerated.
The Alexanders pursue him on his boat and track him to an island. Namor is having trouble keeping his thoughts straight, and his head is killing him. Man, that Atlantean ale must have some kick if it can give Namor a hangover. He hears voices and finds a bunch of stereotypical natives worshipping an idol that looks like an airplane.
Namor gets mad because...well, he just gets mad. One of the natives spots him, and another tosses a spear at the King of Atlantis. Naturally, it only bounces off him. Namor loses it and wrecks the idol. He also decides to make like Braun Strowman and give the stereotypical tribe his hands.
Funny enough, this is similar to the revival of the Steve Rogers Captain America in the 1960s. No joke. Namor found a bunch of natives worshipping an idol that turned out to be a frozen Captain America. Being Namor, he lost his marbles, gave the tribe his hands, and threw Cap into the ocean, unaware of who it was. And they fought in WWII together as Invaders. Namor's temper is not very smart.
Carrie approaches Namor nervously, but Namor is clearly not well. Instead of Carrie, he sees Lady Dorma, then Marrina, both women who were part of Namor's life...and he had lost. However, Carrie doesn't understand him as he is speaking Atlantean. Caleb only knows a few words of it. Namor is rather disoriented, and Caleb thinks a theory he has about Namor's rage problem may have something to do with it. Caleb is able to convince the monarch to come aboard his ship, the Oracle. Later, Namor is resting, hooked up to an IV and an odd machine.
It has been an hour, but Namor is feeling much better. Namor admits he's unaware of the complete nature of the blood recycler he is hooked up to. Caleb says he will explain it...after he decides to recount Namor's origins. The year is 1920. On the seas near the South Pole, there was an icebreaker named the Oracle. It's captain? One Leonard McKenzie. The ship was dropping depth charges to break the ice around it. Unaware to the ship's crew, their charges were damaging the hidden city of Atlantis. In response, King Thakorr sent his daughter, Princess Fen, to lead a scouting party to check it out. Evidently the King didn't have anyone else in his army available to command the scouting party.
However, Fen, being the adventurous sort, basically said to the party: "I got this, go enjoy some Atlantean Ale at the tavern on me". Imbibing a special potion that would allow her to breathe in the air for five hours at a time, she climbs up to the ship and gets caught. Despite Atlanteans, or Homo mermanus as they have been called by the science set being physically stronger than normal humans thanks to their bodies being adapted to the pressures of the ocean, Fen is able to be held down and taken to Captain McKenzie.
When McKenzie and Fen's eyes meet, they are smitten. Fen spends some time with the handsome captain that has so captured her interest. Eventually, Captain McKenzie asks for Fen's hand in marriage and Fen eagerly agrees. They married on the Oracle, but it would sadly last long. King Thakorr would send a party to retrieve his daughter, and McKenzie was seemingly killed in the process. You'd think it would have occurred to Fen to actually return to Atlantis and basically say to her dad, "Yeah, I just found out what was going on. They had no idea we were down here, and they're very sorry about the depth charges. They're actually quite nice, and their captain is handsome." That would have saved a LOT of grief.
But not all was lost. Before his death, McKenzie and Fen did conceive a child: one Namor McKenzie, the Avenging Son. That's what "Namor" means in Atlantean.
Aww, isn't baby Namor cute? He's going to grow up into a great little walking rage problem. Namor confirms this as the account of his birth he gave to the United Nations in Fantastic Four Annual #1 (1963). Caleb explains that Namor is the reason he became a marine biologist. Namor was a special study for him. He believes that because of Namor's hybrid human/Atlantean physiology, his body chemistry is a bit messed up. If he's underwater or on the surface for too long, he starts to suffer from oxygen deprivation, which causes him to go crazy.
This retcon is an attempt to explain Namor's craziness when it came to his characterization over the years. Honestly, I do like the retcon, although I do think that Namor having rage issues shouldn't be completely discounted. I can't see why it can't be a bit of both. Namor can still have issues with his temper, it can be just his physiology doesn't help things.
Despite this, Namor is clearly grateful for the help, and is curious as to why Caleb would be so interested in him. Caleb explains that during WWII, he was a kid living in Harlem. He loved comics, as they gave him an escape from his dreary life. One day, he saw a special celebration the Mayor of New York (who would likely be Fiorello H. La Guardia at the time) was giving for the Invaders (Captain America, Human Torch, Toro, and Namor). When the young Caleb saw Namor fly off, he pursued him on his bicycle. The boy didn't pay attention, and ended up careening off a dock and into the water. He was unable to swim away, as a trouser cuff got caught in the bike chain and was dragging him under. He remembers the dock workers looking down and not helping him. Yeah, remember this. This was the 1940s, and Caleb was black. Luckily, young Caleb did have a savior.
Caleb doesn't expect Namor to remember it, as it was nearly fifty years ago (topical to 1990). Namor admits he is prone to memory failure. Caleb explains after Namor rescued him, he sold his bike and bought a book on marine biology. It was the proudest day of his grandfather's life. Carrie Alexander is following in her father's footsteps, as he's got a bad heart and can't dive anymore. Caleb asks Namor what he wants to do, as Caleb's discovery may have given him a new lease on life, and the world thinks he's dead. Namor admits he has much to think about.
Some time later, Carrie is sitting on the deck of her and Caleb's boat, when Namor bursts out of the water, carrying an object crusted over with sea grime and rust. The former King of Atlantis wishes to show her something.
Behold! TREASURE! Carrie is amazed, as this treasure could be worth millions. Namor explains that he found it in the wreck of an old Spanish brigantine that sunk a few miles nearby about 300 years ago. The Atlanteans have known of many such wrecks with treasures, and Namor himself has used them to fund certain...projects in the past. And he's going to do so again with this treasure.
Namor has done a lot of thinking, and he's come to a conclusion: Humanity has treated the world as if it was a vast disposable resource. It isn't. The Earth is a fragile little planet, and one day, humanity in its ignorance and greed, could end up damaging it in a way that could never be fixed. He believes that perhaps that could be prevented. He has a plan, and he needs the Alexander's help so he can maintain the idea that he is dead. That, and he has found Carrie Alexander quite an attractive woman.
Somewhere else, a woman is walking by, being greeted by people. One man, Gerrold, asks how her trip to Hong Kong was. She didn't have a great trip, and is all too eager to see China take the territory back from Great Britain (This was 1990, so the UK wouldn't return Hong Kong to China for another 7 years). She also notices a man leering at her and tells Gerrold if she catches him doing it again, he's going back to the mailroom. She takes an elevator to her brother's apartments. She asks him where he is, and the butler tells her he is in the Gun Room. She heads in and sees him...
Yup. Her brother is planning to put a bullet in his head. She is able to stop him. Desmond Marrs is feeling despondent. He feels his existence is inconsequential and boring. The woman, Phoebe Marrs, tries to convince her brother that his existence matters. He's one of the six richest men in the world. Desmond explains he feels like Alexander the Great at the peak of his conquest. There are no worlds left for him to conquer. Phoebe tries to perk him up by telling him about the old Parallel Conglomerate. Someone paid ten billion dollars for it.
Desmond is confused by this, as he felt the Conglomerate was worthless. Phoebe explains that a father-daughter team bought it, but everyone believes they're a front for a mystery man behind the scenes. Desmond seems to perk up at this. A new challenge for him, a new world to conquer. The story ends with him asking about the company that purchased it. Phoebe explains that the company's name is Oracle, Inc....
This issue was perfectly fine and enjoyable. I felt it did do some of the things a first issue should do: establish the new status quo, Namor got a couple of new supporting characters, we got a couple plotlines going with his forming a new company and his possible romance with Carrie. Not to mention we got a threat in the future in the form of the Marrs twins (yes, Desmond and Phoebe Marrs are fraternal twins). Some may not like the recount of Namor's origins, but I didn't mind it. Namor is not one of Marvel's famous characters, despite his being one of Marvel's oldest.
The whole environmentalism angle may seem strange, but to me, it does make an odd sort of sense. Namor is from an underwater kingdom, and Atlantis probably would be affected hard by environmental damage. I can imagine that Atlantis is far ahead with environmentally-friendly technology. I think it's a great angle for Namor, and one that would make him stand out from other superheroes. And I have no real complaints about John Byrne's artwork.
Next time, we join Namor's fellow Invader, Captain America, as he celebrates an anniversary in the middle of a Galactic Storm...
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