Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #27
Cover Date: Jul 70
Title: "When wakes the Kraken!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
If the Red Raven's appearance last issue wasn't enough of a distraction, how about a visit from the Kraken?

If you remember, two issues ago we had a situation where Namor, fed up with pollution from the surface world, attempted to get Atlantis recognized by the United Nations. He was rejected, and his lack of a forceful response caused him to lose face with his people. That status quo is technically still the backdrop for this issue, which has the surface world blaming Atlantis for a series of attacks...

...that turn out to be the work of the Commander Kraken.

But the pressing concern is lost; the Atlanteans are as loyal as ever, and Namor is acting very passively.

Sure, he's angry about the rejection from the surface world, but what is he doing about it? At one point he declares that he'll lay the Kraken's corpse before the United Nations. Even that would have been the bare minimum of a response; it would still just be about proving that Atlantis are good guys rather than a demand to be respected as a legitimate nation. But in the end he doesn't even do that, settling instead for the poetic irony of having the Kraken defeated by an actual kraken, which is, granted, pretty awesome.

Honestly, i always get the Kraken confused with Captain Barracuda, and they're both fairly worthless characters, but i guess it will help for me to remember that the Kraken is a bit more of a dandy.

During all of this, Namor finds an excuse to go crawling in through Diane Arliss' window again.

A jealous Lady Dorma of course trails along to keep a close eye on things.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Kraken

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The real kraken that eats the Kraken's ship previously appeared in Tales To Astonish #93.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The title refers to the John Wyndham science fiction story "When the Kraken Wakes".

This story becomes much more enjoyable if you read all of Kraken's dialogue int he voice of Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane.