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1970-08-01 00:02:30
Previous:
Amazing Spider-Man #87
Up:
Main

1970 / Box 5 / Silver Age

Next:
Captain America #129

Sub-Mariner #29

Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #29
Cover Date: Sep 70
Title: "Fear is the hunter!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
On his way home from New York, Namor is lured to a coral reef by some sirens...

...and then possessed by the Olympian Huntsman and forced to go fight Hercules.

Luckily the fight doesn't last too long...

...before Namor snaps out of it, and then the two have a really enjoyable team-up...

...fighting some creatures that the Huntsman summons plus the Huntsman himself.

Zeus, watching Namor standing up for Hercules, realizes that mortals aren't really all that bad, and so he forgives his son for abandoning Olympus for Earth. Hercules decides to give some ground as well and returns to Olympus for the time being.

Unfortunately, Zeus then wipes the minds of all mortals involved in the conflict, including the Sub-Mariner.

Awwwww! Namor and Hercules had a great little time together and it's a shame that Namor loses his memory of the incident. I hate stories like that; it's one stop above a What If? At least Hercules remembers, i guess.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This probably takes place the same night as the end of the previous issue; a scene in the beginning has Diane Arliss and the protestors from that issue waving Namor off. Takes place after Hercules' appearance in Ka-Zar Quarterly #1, although not necessarily directly after.

References:

  • This issue picks up on a story that was set up in Ka-Zar Quarterly #1. Which surely pissed off anyone (e.g.: me) who skipped that issue since it mostly contained reprints of stories they already had (until i eventually tracked it down, of course).
  • Hercules recognizes Namor from his time with the Avengers. Their fight in Avengers #40 isn't specifically referenced.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Inbound References (3): show

  • Avengers #262
  • Champions #1-10
  • Ka-Zar Quarterly #1 (Hercules)

Characters Appearing: Diane Arliss, Hercules, Huntsman, Lady Dorma, Sub-Mariner, Vashti, Zeus

Previous:
Amazing Spider-Man #87
Up:
Main

1970 / Box 5 / Silver Age

Next:
Captain America #129

Comments

I'm surprised that history-buff Roy Thomas got the mythological details so wrong for this story. He usually tries to use some factual details.
Scylla was a "she", not a he, as that's the pronoun Thomas uses. She certainly wasn't turned in to a big lizard either.
I thought Thomas would do better playing in the playground of the Odyssey.

Posted by: ChrisKafka | January 5, 2014 4:47 PM

More evidence that Marvel-Zeus is as much of a control-freakish prick as Marvel-Odin. It's a skyfather thing.

Posted by: James Holt | October 30, 2016 10:30 PM

The more I read this site (great work btw fnord), the more conflicted I become about Roy Thomas as a scripter *gulp*

Posted by: Wis | November 22, 2016 11:39 PM

This seems like an effort to hastily wrap up the Hercules plotline that started in Ka-Zar Quarterly.

Posted by: Omar Karindu | June 4, 2017 6:59 PM




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