Sub-Mariner #48

Cover date: April 1972

Writer: Gerry Conway

Artist: Gene Colan

Inker: Mike Esposito

The quest for the Cosmic Cube has led Doctor Doom, Namor and Cindy Jones to the Mississippian Bayou, but Doom isn’t convinced that Cindy should accompany them any further. This does not sit well with Namor so he leaves, taking Cindy with him.

Landing in New Orleans, Cindy immediately recognises the dwelling where she once lived and hints at the unhappy reasons she left. We soon discover that this place is, in the words of her old roommate - hippy Johnny - a “happy little drug-pushing nest”, which seems a contradiction.

Johnny threatens Namor with a gun, which is never a good thing; in the confusion one of Doom’s henchmen appears and kidnaps Cindy, and as the police arrive so does Doom, to collect his ‘friend’ Namor. He makes it clear that Cindy is his hostage and will remain so until Namor has fulfilled his part of the bargain.

Sometime later, Doom’s jet is over the Gulf of Mexico and Namor is tasked with scouting out the underwater den of the criminal organisation A.I.M.

Doom believes M.O.D.O.K., A.I.M.’s erstwhile leader, to be dead - following the events of Captain America #133 - a mistake M.O.D.O.K. plans to use to his advantage with his Android Army.

It’s clear that Conway still doesn’t have a solid handle on the direction he wants to take this title, and the inclusion of Doctor Doom almost relegates Namor to a supporting role in his own comic. There are still some dodgy allusions to Doom’s nobility, especially in his prevention of the rape of Cindy by one of his henchmen, and the internal monologue he is given on page 10:

“Doom…you are a fool. Once more your clever manipulations have alienated a man who might have been an ally…a man you might have called your friend! Namor hates you now… and though it pains you to admit it, Von Doom – he hates you with good reason.”

Don’t you just feel sorry for the ol’ terrorist?

The interlude in New Orleans also came across as padding, adding nothing to the plot, but highlighting Doom’ stupidity; if he hadn’t demanded that Cindy go no further with them, then he wouldn’t have had to organise Cindy’s subsequent kidnapping to ensure Namor’s co-operation.

The art was disappointing, Mike Esposito not being a particularly sympathetic inker for Gene Colan, but Colan’s storytelling is, as always, clear and distinctive.

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Marvel Feature #2

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Ross Andru

Inker: Sal Buscema

If it’s Halloween, we must be in Rutland, Vermont. Cue the obligatory Bronze Age cameos for Tom Fagan and a Marvel writer; in this instance Roy Thomas (with wife Jeanie)*.

It’s the night before All-Hallows Eve, and some witchy folks in robes are summoning The Dread Dormammu. When he shows up he isn’t too pleased. What he needs is the vessel to escape his otherworldly dimension, and in this instance that would be Dr. Strange (just his body will do). Some of those same witchy robed folks have journeyed to New York’s Greenwich Village and the good doctors Sanctum Sanctorum, where they trick Dr. Strange’s astral self from his body so they can kidnap it before returning to Rutland. Wong puts up a good fight but soon succumbs; luckily he was on the telephone to Clea at the time. She soon arrives, and after Wong fills her in decides she better summon some help. Interestingly, it appears that Stephen Strange and Clea are on the outs at this time, and her powers have waned somewhat.

Using the Eye of Agamotto, Clea manages to broadcast an image of Dr. Strange to two recent allies, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk, and both answer the summons to New York and a dark alley where Clea and Wong are waiting. After dressing Namor in some civilian wear, Clea hypnotises Hulk into transforming back into Bruce Banner and gives him some tranquilisers to keep his mood swings in check. They then catch a bus to Rutland to rescue Dr. Strange’s body.

Up on Bald Mountain, proceedings have begun to release Dormammu so he can reside in Dr. Strange’s body and conquer our dimension. Our intrepid band of rescuers climb the mountain, battling witchy robed folks on the way, and when they reach the summit, just as Dormammu appears, Dr. Strange’s astral self shows up - he was hiding within Wong. A battle ensues, and Dormammu is once more banished.

Roy Thomas’ script is efficient at bringing these three very different characters together, but if The Defenders are to continue as a team, a less convoluted means will need to be found to accomplish that on a regular basis. The concept does have a lot of potential though, and I enjoyed the interaction between the three leads (+ Clea). Ross Andru, inked by Sal Buscema, captures the mood necessary to this type of story, filling the pages with an eerie atmosphere and strong storytelling (and his Clea is a delight too -weird hair and all).

*last seen in The Avengers #83

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There’s also a ‘fabulous Fifties featurette’, from Sub-Mariner Comic #36, showcasing Namor’s astute Atlantean intelligence. After helping an alien world drain the Earth of its water, Namor suddenly realises...

“Ah...good! Now the sun will go to work, and the world’s population will perish without water!! Oh, what sweet revenge! At last I’ve gotten even! But...WAIT!!! What have I done??? Without water, my own race will die off, too!!!”

Oh, Namor...

Sub-Mariner #47

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Gerry Conway

Artist: Gene Colan

Inker: Mike Esposito

Essentially, this book moves in an entirely different direction from the previous issue (in which Subby’s Dad died), and introduces a new cast member. I get the feeling Gerry Conway just wanted to move on from all that stuff, so he has Namor riding a freight train suffering from amnesia (supposedly from the shock of his Dad snuffing it) and fighting a few bums before ending up in Chicago.

There’s a brief interlude with Diane Arliss - Namor’s “true love” - and Walter (Sting-Ray) Newell, lamenting how Subby is just so cold and distant, and Senator Winters in Washington cursing the day he took up Namor’s cause, trying to establish him as an ecological symbol.

Back in Chicago, Subby encounters a young girl – Cindy Jones – before collapsing. Uh oh, Namor doesn’t realise he’s being shadowed by some cloaked figure.....

So, Cindy brews up some good herbs and things for Namor, and Namor makes some polite chit-chat about her book-reading prowess, when suddenly there’ a knock at the door. Any other night it might be the Avon Lady calling, but wouldn’t ya know it? It’s DOOM!

Time for a fight, and an amusing sequence in which DOOM! And Namor crash into another apartment, wherein an elderly couple wonder if they’re from the Census Bureau! Make no mistake though, this is NOBLE DOOM! who extinguishes a flaming sofa so his reputation won’t be tarnished by the death of the old couple.

We also get to see POETIC DOOM! :

“...THERE! The repelling rays from my finger-tips form a suitable cushion beneath us, waves of energy spreading rapidly outward...like the ripples in a stone-struck pool! Poetic, is it not, my loud and boisterous friend?”

Unsurprisingly, Namor doesn’t answer. He was probably too embarrassed.

Anyway, DOOM! is up to his old tricks, bamboozling Namor into believing they’re both cut from the same cloth, and with Cindy in tow they set off for an A.I.M base in New Orleans – in search of a fantastic weapon. I’m only guessing, but going by the final panel that would be the Cosmic Cube, and MODOK has it.

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Sub-Mariner #46

Cover date: February 1972

Writer: Gerry Conway

Artist: Gene Colan

Inker: Mike Esposito

Namor’s father, Captain Mackensie, has been captured by Tiger Shark and Llyra, prompting the Avenging Son’s rescue bid. Namor and Tiger Shark slug it out while Llyra pontificates on the side-lines, before both combatants are knocked out and strapped into some machine or other to leech energy from Subby to Tiger Shark. Meanwhile, Walter Newell - The Stingray - suits up to go to Namor’s aid. There’s some more fighting, Namor’s long-lost father ends up feeding the fishes, Llyra and Tiger Shark sneak off, and Namor has a bit of a mope about finding and losing his dear old dad.

Please note, contrary to Namor’s exclamation marked word balloon on the cover, Stingray didn’t do it!

Conway’s script is especially purple, none more so than when Namor laments in the last two panels, holding his father’s body before swimming away, “They? Who are they? They are but dream-like devils...of no lasting importance...gone...at the end...of an evening rest.”
I suppose a simple “They are of no importance” wouldn’t suffice.

I have to admit, I always thought Stingray had a particularly striking costume, but Colan and Esposito don’t do it justice here– his full page costume reveal is especially shoddy. In fact, I don’t think Esposito was particularly suited to inking Colan’s pencils at all based on this issue.

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