Who Is Namor the Submariner?

My wife and I went to our local theater to see MCU’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever during its opening weekend. The movie was over two and half hours of non-stop excitement, thrills and surprises. Since many readers may not have seen this movie yet, I don’t want to offer up any spoilers, so I think my post will be safe for you to read if you still plan to watch the movie. The plot introduced a new character and race of people that came up out of the ocean. No one – not even the Wakandans – had ever known of the existence of these people and were surprised by their great power. Their leader was Namor who had very powerful super-human abilities. As the movie progressed, we learned more about his underwater kingdom, his powers and his agenda. In the MCU timeline, this is the first appearance of Namor; but, in the Marvel comics, he had been around for a long time. In fact, he has a very rich history in the Marvel comics universe. If you have read my posts from the beginning, you may remember that I mentioned him briefly in my very first post here. Yes, he is Namor the Submariner! Since now he has become a big name in the MCU, we should take a more in-depth look into the history of this villain. Who is Namor the Submariner?

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He was Timely Comics’ first character

Namor was created by struggling writer/artist Bill Everett. Everett’s interest in anything aquatic or having to do with the sea was a large factor in the creation of the character. Everett said he received his inspiration for the character from the epic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” He said he came up with the name by writing noble-sounding names backwards and decided Roman/Namor sounded right. He described Namor as an “ultra-man of the deep [who] lives on land and in the sea, flies in the air, [and] has the strength of a thousand [surface] men.”

Namor’s first appearance was in April 1939 in a prototype for a planned giveaway comic titled Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, which was produced by the comic book packager Funnies, Inc. The idea was to provide a weekly comic freebie to movie-goers. There were only eight copies of this prototype that were published to be used as sample hand outs to theater owners. The venture never caught on with the theaters, so the weekly was never published. Incidentally, these eight samples showed up in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1978.

When the giveaway idea fell through, Everett used the character for Marvel Comics #1, the first comic book by Timely Comics (a client of Funnies, Inc.). Namor the Submariner has the distinction of being the first character created for Marvel Comics.

Namor is often called Marvel’s first mutant.

In the comics, Namor’s mother was Fen, Atlanta’Emperor Thakorr’s daughter. He was born in the Atlantean capital which at the time was located under the Antarctic ice pack. Namor’s father was a human sea captain from America, Leonard McKenzie of the ice breaker Oracle. McKenzie’s crew was using dynamite near the location of the underwater city, causing damage to Atlanta. Fen was actually spying on the crew of the Oracle when she met the captain. An unlikely friendship ensued and eventually they fell in love and were married. Atlantean soldiers attacked the ship to bring Fen back. McKenzie was apparently killed in the attack, and a pregnant Fen was brought back to Atlanta, where she gave birth to a pink-skinned baby. Namor grew up among the blue-skinned Atlanteans and was often rejected because he was different.

His mixed DNA gives him a boatload of special powers. Like the Atlanteans, he can breathe underwater. He commands telepathic control over sea creatures and even his soldiers. He is 10 times stronger than any Atlantean or human. He has one special power that no other Atlantean or human possesses – he has wings on his feet that enables him to fly! This is his mutant ability and why he is considered a mutant.

This mutant ability actually makes Namor the first mutant, at least in the Marvel comics timeline if not in age. There are other mutants that are older than Namor. In X-Men #6, Dr. X and Magneto try to recruit Namor when they realized that he was one of them, but Namor wasn’t interested. But in the 1980s, X-Men were Marvel’s biggest brand, so in 1990 a new solo series premiered – Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel’s First and Mightiest Mutant. The series was very popular and lasted for 5 years.

Is Namor a super hero?

I mentioned this briefly in my first article about Marvel’s first superhero. Namor has a pretty colorful past. Most of the time he was fighting against the surface world, lashing out at perceived injustices to his people. He first appeared in Timely’s Marvel Comics #1 (cover dated October 1939) as an enemy of the United States. He especially hated the way surface dwellers were polluting the seas and took violent action against them whenever he could. He was an angry crusader, quickly rising up out of the sea to attack ships without mercy. He ultimately engaged in fighting with the android superhero The Human Torch, because Namor threatened to sink the island of Manhattan under a tidal wave.

Although he was a villain, his cause was not without some justice. Readers seemed to identify with him and they weren’t offended by the carnage of knocking down skyscrapers and destroying cities. But when World War II started, Namor sided with the United States to fight against Hitler and the evil Axis powers, making him a “good guy.” His adventures during the war brought him into the All Winners Squad, where he fought alongside Captain America. These two polar opposites formed an unlikely friendship.

Namor was more of an antihero. Often he fought with the good guys if it fit his own goals. Some story lines saw him fighting with the Fantastic Four, Avengers, or X-Men. Other times, he sided with the enemies, like Magneto, or even on his own.

After the war, Namor the Submariner went the way of most comic super heroes, as readership began to dwindle. He made a few appearances in the 1950s, he mostly disappeared in 1949.

But then came the Marvel Age of comics in 1963!

Namor makes a new appearance in Stan Lee’s new Marvel comics

The publication officially became Marvel Comics in 1963 with the publication of The Fantastic Four #1. In the fourth issue, Johnny Storm (the new Human Torch) finds a bearded man with amnesia in the Bowery district of New York City. When he recognized the man as Namor, he tossed him into the ocean, restoring his memories and powers. Namor was back!

He often fought against The Fantiastic Four, even siding with their arch enemy Dr. Doom; however, he also helped them out on occasion. He was even romantically attracted to Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman. Being engaged to Reed Richards, she would always chastise Namor for his advancements to her, but you could tell that she liked the attention.

Namor’s comeback was so popular with Marvel fans that he once again got his own solo series in 1968 – Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner. In this series, Marvel expanded his mythology significantly. He received a whole modern set of enemies to fight, such as the Atlantean warlord Attuma who became his biggest enemy.

The Sub-Mariner became one of Marvel’s biggest and most popular characters. He fought with every superhero team that Marvel created. This included Dr. Strange’s team the Defenders. This collaboration gave opportunity for Namor to forge a friendship with the Hulk. They had a lot in common – they both hated humans.

Namor fit well with Marvel’s age of angst-ridden super heroes. He was noble, yet misunderstood. Powerful, but often thwarted. He was often described as a king without a country. In later issues, it is revealed that he has a bipolar disorder that came about from wartime PTSD.

Namor had a distinct battle cry

In battle, Namor would cry out, “Imperius Rex!” Loosely translated, it means “Emperor King.” It was a cry that fit with his name, which as we learned is “Roman” backwards. But what does it really mean? Throughout the decades, no one really knew. Finally, in 2018 in Thor #1, Thor asks him what it meant while they were locked in combat. Namor’s less-than-serious reply: “It means I’m going to feed your sorry Asgardian hide to the biggest sharks I can find!”

It was good to see Namor in the MCU at last!

It was a longtime coming, but Namor has finally made it into the MCU. He has been upstaged and had his identity stolen by DC Comics Aquaman, who took advantage of Namor’s disappearance in the 1950s. But I think we are going to see more of the Sub-Mariner in future cinematic releases.

If you were paying attention, you probably notice that there are many differences in the history of Namor in the MCU and the comics universe. The underwater city has a different name and location. Surface dwellers, including the Wakandans, are learning about the underwater kingdom for the first time. His birth and history are different in the movie.

But his powers including his winged feet were the same. He still needed to be in water to regain his power. And he still had his battle cry! Toward the end of the movie, when locked in battle, Shurri cries out “Wakanda Forever!” Namor replied with “Imperius Rex!” It was a sweet nod to Namor the Submariner’s rich Marvel comics history.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this history of Namor. I know we didn’t cover everything about him. I’m sure we will revisit him as he appears again in the cinema. As always, let me know what you think in the comments. Also, tell us your memories of the Atlantean Prince.

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