Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #50, Sub-Mariner #51
Cover Date: Jul 72
Title: "What am I?" / "Armageddon - at fifty fathoms full!"
Credits:
Bill Everett / Mike Friedrich - Writer
Bill Everett - Penciler
Bill Everett - Inker

Review/plot:
Bill Everett returns to write and draw the character he created beginning with the 50th issue of his modern series. Previous plot elements are discarded; the ladyfriend Namor's been dragging around abandons him on page one, and the amnesia plotline is quickly discarded. The art is surprisingly good despite the fact that Everett was aging and not in great health at this time.

Back in the ocean, Namor finds a young woman he thinks is drowing, but when he tries to give her mouth to mouth she wakes up and flees, thinking he's getting fresh with her.

Later, Namor gets into a fight with some silly looking crab men, who are guarding Namora's final resting place.

The crab men...

...turn out to be under the control of Prince Byrrah, who has also captured the young lady, who turns out to be Namora's daughter Namorita.

Llyra, the Lemurian who killed Namor's wife Dorma, shows up to attack but is seemingly killed in the fight.

Then Byrrah shows up to attack...

...but he is then teleported away by a Badoon.

A little more of her backstory is revealed in issue #51; she is described as the daughter of Namora (she will later be revealed to actually be a clone of Namora), who fled to Lemuria after the destruction of her polar Atlantis. Namora fell in love with the Lemurian prince Merro, which put her at odds with the Llyra. Namora was poisoned, and so was Merro after he married Llyra, giving her the throne. Namora was raised by Llyra and Byrrah, who came to Lemuria after being exiled from Namor's Atlantis, and eventually sent out to find Namor, which she did last issue (it doesn't seem entirely clear what Llyra and Byrrah intended to use Namorita for).

This issue Byrrah, backed by a Badoon invasion fleet, continuously attacks Namor, using alien technology and the mutated crab-men. Annoyed by his continual failures, the Badoon withdraw their support and Namor wins.

Everett's art still has a Golden Age classic feel without looking too outdated. The style is definitely distinct from the contemporary Marvel House style, and it's a nice change of pace even if it sometimes looks a little delicate (which actually has some appeal).

The technical term for Namor and Namorita's relationship (ignoring the later to be revealed clone element) is "first cousin once removed", but we'll just stick with "cousins". There's a bit of a hint of a romantic angle, but luckily it's not pursued in later issues.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 7 - first Namorita

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Subby had amnesia in Sub-Mariner #47-49
  
• The Badoon, and their leader Brother Royale, first appeared in Silver Surfer #2.
  
• Namor and Namorita return to the spot where Namor killed Llyra as revenge for killing Dorma in Sub-Mariner #37.
  
• Llyra and Tiger Shark split up after their joint appearance in Sub-Mariner #46, which was also the last time Namor saw Llyra.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

This was Bill Everett's 5th go-round on Sub-Mariner.

Curiosity question: Do we know how old Namorita is intended to be here? The way she is drawn she looks very young adolescent but I can't tell if it's due to her age or Everett's art style.

In the comments for New Warriors 1 (1990), a commenter named Steven says Namorita is supposed to be 19 in that story (I believe she is in college). If you follow the rule of 4 (4 years real time for each year Marvel time), which I do, that would put Namorita around 15 here. Based on both her personality and the art, that seems right to me.

That hair in the second scan looks really really like something from the 90s. Not the way the design but the way her hair is drawn or inked made me think this was an entry in 1990 so I was pretty surprised.

Namorita will be in college circa Sub-Mariner #57, and when Namorita goes to protest the Vietnam War, Betty Dean says to her, "Now that 18 year olds can vote, why don't you settle your differences at the polls?". So i guess she's already 18/19 at this point.

But if that's the case,then why is Namorita treated as too young to have super-strength? And why was Betty Dean able to pin her relatively easily during issues 52-54? 18 year-old girls are basically as strong as adult women.

According to an interview of (comics writer) Mike Friedrich by Jon B. Cooke in Comic Book Artist Collection, Volume 1, Bill Everett was finally sober by 1972 after a lifetime of imbibing. That surely helped his artwork. (Friedrich was Everett's roommate at the time.)

Wow, the Badoon? What a weird choice by Everett.

I get the sense that someone -- an uncredited Friedrich maybe even Stan Lee --scripted #50. The dialogue style is a lot closer to the Stan school than anything Everett had done in the past.

That is some really pretty artwork. Good stuff from Everett.