Recently in Namor the Sub-Mariner Category

In 1972, the Defenders appeared in Marvel Feature #1, with this dynamic cover by Neal Adams.

It’s a great cover.  Each hero has a dynamic pose.  And you are not sure if these guys are here to save the world or destroy it!

In a recent Doctor Strange Barry Smith article, I came across a Marvel Milestones reprint that also had this version of Neal Adams’ cover, sans logo and with new coloring.

The colorist went for more muted tones here, rather than the bright colors on the original.  Doc’s left hand is obscured by the glow of the spell he is casting.  This cover was probably used on an Essentials reprint.  It’s an interesting experiment—but I can’t help think the original version is still superior.

The Defenders are one of my favorite super-hero teams of all time.  I can’t understand why modern Marvel can’t get the formula of Doc Strange + Hulk (smash) + Sub-Mariner to work.  Nuff Said!

Before trade paperbacks and hardcover collections, we had reprints, but no way of seeing classic tales reprinted on quality paper...until the Marvel Special Editions started in the 1980s.  They had some great wraparound covers and I'll be presenting a few of them here.

Fantastic Four Special Edition from 1984 reprinted the classic Lee-Kirby story from the very first FF Annual.  John Byrne depicted this event in a widescreen drawing that made it seem like the invasion of Normandy!  You have to admire the detail on that Atlantean fleet.  Sheesh, it's enough to make an NYC resident flee to the suburbs!  In addition to the reprint material, Byrne drew some interior pages filling in on Namor's history, as well as some pinups.

This pinup of the Sub-Mariner presents Namor in an apparently more mature phase of his life.  Byrne would later create a Namor series in 1990, which he wrote/drew for 25 issues and stayed on as writer until issue #32.

Byrne obviously had fun drawing this pinup of Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl...before she became a woman!  Sue's hairdo and costume puts her in the early 1960s Kirby era.  Groovy!  Nuff said.

Looking back at Gil Kane's career at Marvel, he never stayed on any series for a long time, unlike his long runs on DC Comics' Green Lantern and Atom.  Probably his longest association was with Spider-Man and Marvel Team-up.  He did many Team-Up covers, here are some of my favorites...

I've always enjoyed the dynamic figures of Captain America and Spider-Man on the cover to Marvel Team-Up #13.  John Romita obviously inked this cover--the line work on Grey Gargoyle and the two heroes is unmistakable.  The positioning of the characters and the camera angles are pure Kane.

Marvel Team-Up #3 featured Kane's co-creation Morbius, attempting to bite Spidey once again.  Curses, foiled by the Human Torch!  This was the first issue of a two part story.  Spidey and the Torch subdue Morbius and take him to Professor Xavier's school, in search of a cure for the vampire.

Marvel Team-Up #4 was a landmark issue, because it featured the X-Men.  You have to put this issue into historical context--the X-Men's own title was effectively cancelled with issue #66.  The X-Men title was kept alive with reprints from issue #67 to 93.  But the mutants had been missing from the Marvel Universe for a few years until the Beast appeared in Amazing Adventures and this guest spot in MTU #4.  You had to be hardcore if your followed the X-Men at this point in time, and this issue was a real treat.

They tried something new to make the X-Men more exciting and dangerous--by putting them in street clothes instead of costumes!  Cyclops wore a suit, Jean Grey wore a sweater, and Angel stripped off his shirt when he needed to spread his wings.  They really did look cool and hip in the 1970s fashions, especially with Kane's art style--he did the interior art as well as the cover.  Nuff said.

Gil Kane's Sub-Mariner covers often paired him with that character's creator--the great Bill Everett!

Sub-Mariner #48 does not seem like a Kane cover at first.  Bill Everett had an unmistakable style, and as the creator who had drawn thousands of Sub-Mariner comics, knew exactly how he wanted Namor to look.  But Kane did pencil the cover.  Look at the stance of Namor, with his legs twisted and balancing him over the girl.  The girl is on her back in a typical Kane pose.  Dr. Doom, Namor's friend/enemy/untrustworthy ally, looks very menacing.

Sub-Mariner #52 features an attack by the Japanese mutant Sunfire.  This cover brings back fond memories of the classic Sub-Mariner vs Human Torch covers from the 1940s.

Sub-Mariner #58 is probably the first comic I bought featuring Namor.  The Red-skinned chick drew my attention immediately.  Drawn in a typical Kane pose, she taunts the reader with the line: "Come on in Namor--The dying's fine!!"  Totally illogical, but she seduced me.  This cover was also inked by Everett, as you can tell from the detail on Namor.  Nuff said.