Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
is Marvel Comics' oldest character, but unlike Superman or Batman, he has never been a pure hero who fought for what's best for us. He has often switched sides, both helping us against the Nazi's, and fighting against us when we polluted his underwater kingdom with waste.  Prince Namor was a troubled rebel with a short temper and a bad attitude. He was almost a villain, but fought to protect his people and his home from an aggressive civilization that respected neither other cultures nor the balance of nature. This mutant from the ocean floor symbolized the battle against racism, exploitation and pollution; as a result he was a particularly modern sort of antihero.

Namor was created by Bill Everett during the 1930's and first appeared in a comic called Motion Pictures Comic Weekly, a promotional magazine designed to be given away at movie theatres. This 8-page story about him was later expanded and re-printed in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939).  The Sub-Mariner and other new heroic characters quickly became popular battling evil Nazis during World War II.  After the war ended, interest in superheroes faded, sales fell and his title was cancelled in 1949.  During the 1950's, to help promote a TV series idea, Sub-Mariner comics were revived.  During this time, the best Sub-Mariner tales were produced by Bill Everett, including a series chronicling Namor’s childhood.  The TV series was never made, however, and the Sub-Mariner drifted into obscurity.  During the early 1960's, Namor was discovered in New York' Bowery slum by the Fantastic Four (Fantastic Four #4), where he had become a derelict with amnesia (see Destine).  A second Human Torch android helped Sub-Mariner regain his memory.  After several exciting appearances in popular series of the time (including a Marvel-produced animated cartoon series for TV in 1966), Marvel resumed the Sub-Mariner series in 1968, which ran for 72 issues until 1974. Thereafter, Namor appeared in various storylines and limited series joining forces with other superheroes of the day to defeat evil foes threatening mankind.  In 1990, he returned in another series of adventures under the title, "Namor, the Sub-Mariner," which ran for 62 issues until 1995.  Since that time he has made appearances in various Marvel books.  In addition, there are plans for a Sub-Mariner movie to be filmed soon.

Origin of the Sub-Mariner
After the legendary city of Atlantis sank into the sea, a race of mysterious blue-skinned water dwelling humanoids of an unknown origin found sunken Atlantis and inhabited it.  They repaired the city and became known as Atlanteans.  After several centuries Atlantis was destroyed after a war the Atlanteans fought with another underwater race.  The survivors decided to relocate their civilization to Arctic waters, where they built a new Atlantis.

Somewhere around 1920, Captain Leonard McKenzie's ship, the Oracle, was searching for the sunken Lemurian city rumored to house a mythical Helmet of Power at the behest of passenger Paul Destine.  To make its way through the Arctic ice sheet, the Oracle's crew blew up icebergs to avoid being trapped within the ice -- unaware that the city of Atlantis lay below.  In doing so, their explosions damaged Atlantis, prompting Atlantis' King Thakorr to send his daughter Princess Fen to the surface to investigate.  Fen took a drug which allowed her to stay out of water for a certain period of time.  She was supposed to form a search party to go with her, but she went on her own. Fen found the Oracle and was captured by the crew.  She fell in love with Captain McKenzie, who taught her how to speak English. They began a romance and were married on the Oracle.  When Fen went missing, Thakorr dispatched a rescue party.  A scuffle ensued between the Atlantean rescue party and the Oracle's crew and many were killed.  The Atlantean rescuers left for Atlantis with Fen, who had become pregnant by Captain McKenzie.  The crew of the Oracle, fearing more attacks from the inhuman Atlanteans, fled the Arctic waters. Nine months later, Fen gave birth to a son in Atlantis.  Her mutant child had Atlantean features but pink skin, incredible strength, could live out of water and fly.  King Thakorr named the boy Namor and taught him to hate surface dwellers.

When teenage Namor discovered humans in diving suits in the vicinity of Atlantis, King Thakorr assumed that they were advance scouts for an invasion force and ordered his grandson to attack.  Namor launched a one-man assault on New York and was dubbed the Sub-Mariner by its residents.  There, the Sub-Mariner clashed with the original, android Human Torch, who worked for the police.  Namor was befriended by comely and courageous policewoman Betty Dean who convinced Namor to redirect his rage against America’s enemies.  Shortly thereafter, Nazi troops attacked Atlantis, but were defeated by Namor.  Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch went on to serve faithfully during WW2, helping the Allies win the war by joining the Invaders, a group of superheroes of the day (Captain America and others) formed to battle the Nazi scourge.  

Upon returning to Atlantis after the war, which avoided much of the fighting during World War II, Prince Namor learned that Byrrah and Krang (two jealous childhood enemies) had turned Emperor Thakorr against him. The Emperor ruled that because Namor had abandoned his fellow Atlanteans during the war years he should be banished from the city forever.  Namor accepted his exile and returned to America to join the All-Winners Squad, proposed by the President after the war, a group of superheroes consisting of The Human Torch, Toro, Captain America II, Bucky II, Whizzer, Miss America and the Blonde Phantom.  The Sub-Mariner went on to battle surface world crime during his exile from Atlantis.  He was called upon by the American Navy to investigate the disappearance of naval vessels.  The Sub-Mariner learned the cause of the sinking ships was not the commies, as was assumed by the Navy, but were sunk by robots from the planet Venus! After Sub-Mariner defeated their commander, the robots went back to Venus, promising never to return to earth.  

When a series of severe and mysterious earthquakes damaged Atlantis, King Thakorr lifted Namor's exile and sent him to investigate. This time, Namor ran afoul of Paul Destine, who finally had obtained the Helmet of Power and was causing the tremors. Destine, now called Destiny, destroyed much of Atlantis -- killing Thakorr and Fen.  Destiny rendered Namor amnesiac and commanded him to fly to New York city, where under compulsion of the Helmet, Namor became a wandering derelict.  Meanwhile, the surviving Atlanteans decided to resettle the ruined city of Atlantis. Namora, cousin to Prince Namor (and also half Homo sapiens and half Homo mermani), left the Atlanteans to search the world for the missing Prince Namor.  Namora searched for Namor unsuccessfully for months before finally returning to her fellow Atlanteans.

Years later, another youthful Human Torch discovered the derelict Sub-Mariner in the slums of New York.  The Torch burned away the Sub-Mariner's beard and dropped him into New York's harbor.  Contact with water caused the Sub-Mariner to regain his memory.  Embittered by finding Atlantis now abandoned, polluted and in ruins, Sub-Mariner's arrogance toward the surface dwellers returned.  Depending on the conflict, he became a good guy or bad guy during this period.  He fought alongside and fell in love with members of the opposing species, including the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman. In 1971 he joined forces with the Incredible Hulk, green-skinned engine of mass destruction, and Dr. Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme to defeat the techno-wizard Yandroth and his ultimate computer, the Omegatron.  Thereafter, this loose-knit band of Defenders would unite periodically to oppose threats to humanity. However, a prophecy of doom forced the original three Defenders and the Silver Surfer, Lone Sentinel of the Spaceways, to close the books on their semi-successful partnership. The condemnation was revealed to be a hoax, but Namor did not return to the Defenders at that time, and the team eventually disbanded. The founding Defenders and the Surfer reluctantly reunited when Yandroth resurfaced to menace the world. Though the heroes defeated his plan, the techno-wizard used his pseudo-sorcery to levy a deathbed curse upon their heads, binding them to come together in times of crisis.

About DESTINY, Namor's Arch Enemy

Early in the 20th century, Paul Destine, using the stage name Mentallo, earned his living performing a mind-reading act in a carnival side show. Unlike most supposed mentalists in carnivals, however, Destine would actually read the thoughts of others telepathically. In an effort to learn more about his powers, Destine did research in a number of books on magic. From these he learned about a legendary race known as the Ancients, who had mastered telepathy. Seeking to find the site of the Ancients’ civilization, Destine joined an expedition to Antarctica aboard the ice-breaker Oracle, commanded by Captain Leonard McKenzie, in 1920. There, he and McKenzie found a highly advanced form of dynamo, which had been built by the Ancients, and which was now entombed in ice. Destine broke through the ice, intending to use the dynamo to increase his mental powers. But by activating the device, Destine unintentionally triggered an avalanche. Gravely injured, Destine revived to see the so-called Helmet of Power, which had apparently been hurled near him by the avalanche, and which was actually the disguised mystical object of power called the Serpent Crown. Apparently the Ancients were actually a colony of water-breathing Lemurians and had buried the Crown there. The Helmet greatly increased Destine’s psionic abilities, as well as healing his injuries and transforming him into a larger, physically stronger man. Destine did not return to the expedition and eventually used one of the Ancients’ devices to place himself in suspended animation, during which his powers continued to increase.

Decades later, Destine emerged from suspended animation. He now called himself Destiny, for he believed it was his fate to rule the world. Through his telepathic abilities, Destiny learned of the existence of the civilization of water-breathing Atlanteans then living beneath the Antarctic ice. As a test of his immense powers, Destiny triggered a series of immense earthquakes that threatened to destroy the Atlanteans. Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, who was the grandson of the Atlantean emperor Thakorr and the son of Leonard McKenzie and the Atlantean princess Fen, went to the Antarctic surface to investigate. There, Namor confronted Destiny but was defeated by him. Destiny psionically held Namor helpless and then used his mental powers to destroy the Atlantean settlements. Cruelly, Destiny used his psionic powers to show Namor mental images of the catastrophe, including the deaths of Fen and Thakorr. (Most of the Atlantean population, however, survived.) Then Destiny used his mental powers to force Namor to fly to New York City, to give Namor amnesia, and to dull his ability to think. The result was that Namor spent years living in New York City as a derelict, unaware of his true identity, until his memory and full mental clarity were restored through the actions of the second Human Torch. As for Destiny, he himself returned to suspended animation to increase his powers further.

After emerging from suspended animation Destiny again clashed with the Sub-Mariner in Antarctica, but in the course of their battle, Namor unintentionally triggered an avalanche of ice. By the time Namor had freed himself from the ice, Destiny was gone.

Destiny made his way back to the United States, and, under his true name, became a third party presidential candidate. Using the Helmet’s powers, Destiny rendered virtually everyone who heard his speeches submissive to his will. Destiny intended by this means to win the next presidential election, and then use the United States’ military might to conquer the rest of the planet. Destiny planned to enslave a large portion of the American populace mentally through a live television address. But just before he began this speech on television, the Sub-Mariner burst into the studio; Destiny battled and overcame Namor, and hurled him from the roof of a building to the street below. But the Sub-Mariner’s tremendous superhuman strength enabled him to survive the fall. Unable to accept the fact of Namor’s survival, Destiny went wholly insane. Irrationally claiming he did not need the Helmet. Destiny said he would levitate himself down to the cheering masses of his followers through his own powers. Destiny then jumped off the roof and fell to his death.

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(Above) Detail from the cover of All Select Comics No. 1. Art by Alex Schomburg. Copyright © 1941 Marvel Characters Inc.

Cool Subby Wallpaper
Click to enlarge

1st-ever superhero battle in the comic book world, occurring during Sub-Mariner's first visit to
New York in which he
encounters Human Torch (prelude to Sub-Mariner
comic series - Summer 1940)

The first issue of 
Sub-Mariner (1941)

War-time All Select Comics,
featured the "super three"
Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner who fought Nazis during World War II (1943)

Post-war Sub-Mariner, battling communists.  The Superhero fad had faded.  No. 41 (1950's)

Sub-Mariner No. 42 was the last issue for the "Golden Age" superhero, reduced to fighting crime and communists after  World War II.

Sub-Mariner is found
a derelict with amnesia
by another Human
Torch in 1962 New York.