Sub-Mariner Comics
Entry updated 31 August 2026. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
US Comic (1941-1949; 1954-1955). Timely Comics, Manvis Publications, Atlas (see Marvel Comics). 42 issues. Stan Lee was editor from #18 (possibly also #17). Artists include Bill Everett, Al Gabriele, Alex Schomburg, Gus Schrotter and Allen Simon. Script writers include Bill Everett and Bill Woolfolk; Mickey Spillane wrote a few text stories, of which #6's "The Sea Serpent" was genre, featuring the titular Monster. Initially 68 pages, down to 36 from #23, usually with 3-4 long strips (all but one featuring Namor) and a short text story, plus short pieces as filler.
Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner (created by Bill Everett) was first published in Marvel Comics #1 (1939) (see Marvel Mystery Comics); aside from gaining his own comic, he would also regularly appear in All-Winners Comics and The Human Torch. Namor is a member of an Antarctic undersea race, of which his mother was a princess (though his father was human): he is amphibious, strong and can fly, but becomes weaker if out of water for too long. Namor's arrogance and his initial hostility to the USA (and humanity in general) for nearly destroying his civilization made him an Antihero during the early issues of Marvel Mystery Comics, but eventually he stands with America to fight Germany and Japan (see World War Two): this is the situation in the 1941-1949 run of Sub-Mariner Comics, with his undersea kingdom (only linked with Atlantis in #31) quickly disappearing from storylines (though his cousin Namora is a regular from #23 and they often have joint adventures). His personality becomes indistinguishable from most other American superheroes and he develops a regrettable fondness for fish-based exclamations ("Hopping haddock!", "Crawling catfish!", "Tumbling tuna!" and so forth). Most stories, aside from Namor's presence, are mundane; the few with genre elements are usually the most entertaining of his adventures. The 1954-1955 issues attempt to restore his antipathy towards humanity; these are written and drawn by Everett, who seemed to do only the occasional strip in the 1940s run.
1. #1-#32 (1941-1949): #1's opening strip has Hitler ordering a "sea blitzkrieg" on the undersea nation's capital: the U-boats' attack kills the emperor (though he is alive in the 1954-1955 issues), but they are eventually seen off by "undersea planes" (likely intended to echo The Battle of Britain) and mechanical whales. In #3 we learn that druid Scientists knew of the imminent biblical flood (see Disaster) so "made plans to live underwater ... [and] constructed a crude type of diving helmet", since when they have lived in a submerged mountain off the coast of Ireland and farm the ocean floor: unfortunately the Germans use their domain as a military base. #4 has a scientist create a giant artificial man (see Androids) which needs a human brain; he uses that of a recently executed criminal, which proves unwise. #13 finds Germans in Haiti using Zombies: Namor pleads with one zombie by referring to a conversation he had with their younger brother, and succeeds in persuading them to turn on the Nazis. One strip in #14 has tiny arrows coated in a chemical that speeds up the metabolism, causing young people to speedily age and die; another has a drug that turns single-celled protoplasmic life into giant monsters. #30 finds the villain the Iron Brain threatening to use his "Earth Mover" machine to draw the Earth into the Sun; seeing Namor and Namora approach his deep sea base he sets his new creation – the Aquasaurus Rex – on them. Though mainly flesh and blood, the top of the Iron Brain's head is metal, suggesting he is a type of Cyborg. "The Lost Land!" in #31 has Namor tell his friend Betty Dean a tall story about an Atlantean ancestor whose magnet caused the continent's sinking, then sank to the centre of the planet to become the Earth's Gravity: this strip is important as the first mention of Namor's people being connected to Atlantis. #32 consists of two Namor strips based on those in Marvel Comics #1 and Marvel Mystery Comics #2 and #3, re-telling his origin story.
Other adventures include strike-breaking (#2); zombie pirates (brought to life by an evil scientist) (#7); a Japanese scientist's Drug that destroys the Memory, making the treated obedient slaves (#8); the Japanese building a mechanical sea monster to attack ships (#12); a man dressed to look like spider with a device that fires webs as strong as steel (#20) and a growth formula (see Great and Small) (#31)
The comic's non-Sub-Mariner long strip until #21 is The Angel – first appearance Marvel Comics #1 (1939) (see Marvel Mystery Comics) – a Superhero because he wears a costume, though lacking Superpowers. He faces zombies (#1); the Supervillain and Nazi agent The Python, a snake-like human (#2); and a Robot resembling a skeleton (#6). After a few stopgap strips – including the Human Torch and the Young Allies (first appearance in Young Allies #1 [1941]), a group of teens whose members include Bucky and Toro (Captain America's and the Human Torch's sidekicks) – the Blonde Phantom becomes the regular non-Sub-Mariner strip #25-#30; then #31 has a Captain America story: #31 just has the two long Namor strips (see above).
2. #33-#42 (1954-1955): #33 opens with another re-telling of his origin story, but ends explaining how, in the present, "just a shadow of the old bitterness against the entire human race" remains, whilst another strip in the issue light-heartedly refers to his "indoctrination" into the American way of life. Nonetheless, the 1950s issues mark an (inconsistent) return to his early hostility towards humanity. This is particularly so in #36 when all the water is sucked from the Earth during an eclipse with a planet whose orbit is much slower than ours, but the Sub-Mariner is blamed; this incites his hatred for humanity again, so when the planet's inhabitants explain to Namor that the effect only temporary, he tries to persuade them to keep all the water, until he realizes his people will perish too. Earlier (in #35) Prince Byrran, the undersea Emperor's stepson, plans to attack the surface, which Namor opposes only because this is doomed to failure and their people will suffer: Byrran becomes a recurring villain and in #37 builds an android Namor to commit sabotage. Namor's hostility to humanity fluctuates from strip to strip; in #38, after the Emperor's scientists rejuvenate his flagging Superpowers, he is instructed to resume his war against the surface people, which he does with great reluctance. (Possibly the newly created The Comics Code Authority made Marvel wary of having an anti-American hero, persuading them to tone this down). Namor also fights Russians (see Cold War), who in #37 ally themselves with hostile Aliens. #35 has a Mad Scientist creating an amphibious race, who plans to transfer Namor's brain into one. There is also a series of strips about the young Namor.
Issues also had a non-Sub-Mariner strip: in #33-#35 this stars the Human Torch, initially facing an attempted Invasion from Mars; the Martians are robots ("Perhaps Evolution on Mars produced metal beings instead of flesh and blood") and their Weapons can only kill humans who are afraid. The strips from #36 are usually non-genre. [SP]
links
- Grand Comics Database – #1-#32
- Grand Comics Database – #33-#42
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