Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #19
Cover Date: Nov 69
Title: "Support your local Sting-Ray!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Marie Severin - Penciler
Johnny T. Craig - Inker

Review/plot:
Namor wakes up on the beach where he is harassed by the cops and even by hippies before he heads back into the water.

The Alpha Centaurians removed his gills in the previous arc and he's not doing so good. He gets captured in a net and brought in to a ship occupied by Diane Arliss, Dr. Walter Newell, and some government agents. Newell now has a power suit and calls himself Sting-Ray. Even though both Walter and Diane try to say they are Namor's friends, they won't release him from captivity. However, he is revived when a janitor with some dirty mop water gets too close. Namor and Sting-Ray get into a big fight...

...but after Namor helps hold together a suspension bridge that Sting-Ray nearly toppled, Sting-Ray lets Namor go.

Marie Severin drew in a number of the Marvel bullpen on a beach scene in the opening splash panel. I can sort of recognize Jack Kirby, but the chronology project also lists Don Heck, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Marie Severin, Roy Thomas, and Herbe Trimpe.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first Sting-Ray

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Namor last beheld Dr. Newell in Sub-Mariner #16... and Tiger Shark's shapely sister the issue before (Sub-Mariner #15).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The big guy with the camera is John Verpoorten, but I can't remember the others listed right now--a character key was printed in Twomorrow's Alter Ego somewhere.

Just guessing, Stan might be the guy on the far right, standing behind Jack and wearing a sort of lime green shirt. Roy might be the guy with the glasses and orange shirt, looking at the camera, in the lower left.

I am going to guess that Stan is the guy in front of the lady in the green and white bathing suit and that Severin is the lady behind Verpoorten but those are just guesses.

Giving it a second look I am willing to bet that Roy Thomas is next to Severin and that MIGHT be Romita next to Stan.

One guy in the panel seems to be breaking the fourth wall by waving at the "camera", I wonder who he's supposed to be?

Roy Thomas lists all of the cameos in the splash page in his intro to the Masterworks volume this issue is included in.

Stan is the one on the left in front of the lady in the green and white bathing suit ("subscription gal Nancy Murphy"), the man above him I believe is Herb Trimpe, and the man below him in the tank top is John Romita. The big guy with the camera at the top is John Verpoorten, and the people behind him are Don Heck in the white T-shirt and Marie Severin herself. Roy Thomas is the blonde next to her, behind Morrie Kuramoto. The man waving out is Stu Schwartzberg, who worked on Not Brand Echh. Jack Kirby is in the lower right, next to Sal Brodsky, and the man in the lower left looking at the camera is Bill Everett.