Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #34
Cover Date: Jun 54
Title: N/A
Credits:
Bill Everett - Writer
Bill Everett - Penciler
Bill Everett - Inker

Review/plot:
The Sub-Mariner's anti-hero days are put to the side for this issue.

First, Namor investigates a report of a missing sailboat full of teenagers...

...and finds that they are the captives of the leader of another sub-aquatic race. It's not really said exactly what she is; she's pink skinned...

...but her minions are colored like Atlanteans, and at least one of them is aware of Namor (although he's colored pink in the original; the reprint has all the minions colored blue, but as you can see, in the original most of the queen's minions are green and this guy is pink.).

She's possibly a ghost of some sort; she talks about being alive in the past tense...

...and in the end she "feels like she's coming apart" and we next see her as a skeleton.

Odd little tale. The color differences are somewhat interesting; i wonder if someone at Marvel was trying to "correct" this story and imply that the sub-aquatic people were Atlanteans, although Namor says he's not sure what they are ("I don't know what we've run into here, but if her pals are anything like she is, they can darn well stay in the ocean!").

My reprints don't include the second Namor story in this issue but i'm going to break my "only review issues i actually own physical copies of" policy just a tiny bit and pull some images from my scan of the original because it's a funny bit. Betty Dean is jealous of Namor's relationship with Namora...

..but after some shenanigans with man-eating octopuses, Namor lays down the law. He's a swinger and he's going to stay a swinger.

There's a caption on the opening page of the third Namor story (there's also a Human Torch story in this issue that also wasn't reprinted) that says:

Prince Namor, renowned for his natural antagonism toward the human race is, after all, part human himself, and there are days when this is brought to his attention with some poignancy.

On one such day, he is summoned to the nation's capitol, where he is met by an official of the State Department...

The story has him hunting down some Commies operating out of a neutral country. Since Namor "belongs to no recognized nation" he's able to operate where the State Department cannot.

Namor discovers that the Commies have built a tiny atomic submarine based on stolen plans. Namor retrieves the plans and the sub...

...and also sets up a sting operation to get the Commies captured.

Namor's nice-making with the US is short lived, however. An ad promises that Namor and his people will invade the Earth next issue.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Super-Heroes #14 / Fantasy Masterpieces #11