Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional character featured in Marvel Comics, and one of the oldest superhero characters. He was created by cartoonist Bill Everett in 1939. more...

Like the subsequent DC Comics’ character Aquaman, Namor is an undersea hero originating from the mythical kingdom of Atlantis. Namor is the son of a human sea captain and a princess of Atlantis (although the Underwater kingdom was left unnamed until the 1960s). Possessing the super-strength and aquatic abilities of the "Homo mermanus" race, Namor was alternatively portrayed as a good-natured but short-fused superhero, and a hostile invader seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs that misguided surface-dwellers committed against his undersea kingdom. He was thus arguably the first comic book anti-hero.

Although his stature has lessened, the Sub-Mariner has remained an historically important and somewhat popular Marvel character. A Sub-Mariner feature film is in development.

History

Namor the Sub-Mariner first appeared in 1939 in the prototype for a planned giveaway comic titled Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, produced by the comic book packager Funnies, Inc. The only eight known samples among those created to send to theater owners were discovered in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. When the giveaway idea fell through, creator Everett used the character for Marvel Comics #1, the first comic book by Funnies, Inc. client Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel. The final panel of the earlier, unpublished eight-page Sub-Mariner story had included a "Continued Next Week" box that reappeared, sans lettering, in an expanded 12-page story.

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