One of the most popular mutants in the Marvel universe that isn't regularly associated with the X-Men is Namor The Sub-Mariner. Thanks to some credible rumors that Namor will be the villain in Marvel Studios' second Black Panther movie, Namor is one of the more popular characters in Marvel right now. For those who want to catch up before his MCU debut, Namor is an easy character to get to know thanks to his extensive collection in the comic book world.
Having served on teams like the Avengers, X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Defenders, and even the Illuminati, Namor is one of the most narratively diverse characters Marvel has to offer.
10 Namor's Original Comic Debut Is a Great Place To Start
Unlike most comic superheroes, Namor first appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 – a promotional comic book given away as a prize in movie theaters – before being introduced in Marvel. Along with the original Human Torch, Namor, who was initially introduced as "the sub-mariner," made his comic debut in Marvel Comics #1, which was the first comic ever printed by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics. The comic was published in 1939 and was written by the original Marvel Comic writer, Bill Everett, who also created the promotional movie theater comic books in which Namor first appeared.
9 Namor Resurfaced For His First Marvel Appearance
With his original mythos carrying over into Marvel Comics, Namor was reintroduced to Marvel readers in Fantastic Four #4 as a direct adversary to the group of heroes. In the story, after he's quit his position with the Fantastic Four, Johnny Storm (aka Human Torch) finds a new place to live in a bunk room in the Bowery.
As he sits in his bunk reading an original Namor comic from the 1940s, a man approaches him and claims there's someone in the building who's as strong as "that joker" Namor is supposed to be. After meeting this someone and telling him to rip a phone book in half to prove it, Johnny ignites the man's beard on fire, revealing the man to be Namor himself.
8 Avengers vs X-Men Gave Namor The Pheonix Force
Alongside four other characters, Namor played a critical role in Avengers vs X-Men, one of the most significant Marvel Comics events of the 21st century. Alongside Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, and Emma Frost, Namor was a member of the Pheonix Five, a group of Pheonix possessed heroes that came to be after Tony Stark split the Pheonix Force. As five highly powered beings, the Pheonix Five built Utopia: a floating fortress that welcomes all mutants. Because their incredible powers completely detached them from their human connection, the Avengers didn't trust the Pheonix Five and later had a conflict with them.
7 The Saga Of The Serpent Crown Tells The Origin Of Atlantis
One of the important stories to explore the origin of Namor is The Saga Of The Serpent Crown. Initially set in the earliest days of existence, the story told tales of gods killing gods, which caused a chain reaction of events that led to Namor's appearance in Fantastic Four #4. In the story, an elder god named Set discovered that devouring his fellow elder gods would add their powers to his own, which, in this way, made Set the first being to murder.
Set then created the Serpent Crown, which he used to control his race of Serpent-Men. Thousands of years later, when the Serpent Crown was discovered on earth, the corrupted user of the crown caused Atlantis to sink, which completely wiped the memory of Atlantis' Prince, Namor.
6 The Saga Of The Sub-Mariner Is A Namor Retrospective
Released in 1988 as a twelve-issue mini-series, The Saga Of The Sub-Mariner was created to tell the dense origin of Namor and the events which culminated in his birth. Across the twelve issues, readers were informed about Marvel's history of ancient Atlantis and how it fell deep into the ocean, which led to the rise of water-breathing Atlanteans, or Homo Mermanus. In the final issues of the series, readers saw the meeting of Atlantis' Princess Fen and Leonard McKensie, which resulted in the birth of Namor.
5 Namor: The Sub-Mariner (1990) Took Namor In A New Direction
In 1990, after years of being known predominantly as a villain, Namor began a journey that set him on becoming a hero. In the ongoing series Namor: The Sub-Mariner, Namor created an organization called Oracle Incorporated to change life on the surface world positively. In this iconic Namor book, fans got to see Namor fight alongside heroes like Iron Man and even his former foes, the Fantastic Four.
Thanks to the popularity of this Namor comic run, Namor's status as a villain is still in question today, as many now see him as someone capable of dancing the line of morality.
4 Sub-Mariner: Revolution Put Namor In The Middle Of A Huge Conflict
After playing a major role in the Marvel comic event, Civil War, Namor was back in solo format with a six-issue mini-series titled Sub-Mariner: Revolution. In this storyline, after a significant terrorist attack hits the US, S.H.I.E.L.D gathers evidence that ends up pointing the blame towards Namor and the rest of Atlantis. After denying the accusations, Namor determines that he must find who is truly responsible while evading the powerful leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, Iron Man. As the son of two worlds, Atlantis and the Surface, this storyline is critical in the history of Namor as it places him in a situation where he is forced to take sides against fellow Atlanteans.
3 Namor (2003) Gave Readers A Teenage Namor
To give Namor more emotional depth, in 2003, Marvel released a comic series about Namor as a teenager titled Namor. Along with becoming more narratively rich, this comic gave Namor something he'd never had before: a serious love interest named Sandra Pierce.
This relationship made life for Namor very complicated, as Sandra was the daughter of an oil baron who owned a giant oil rig that polluted directly into the Atlantean territory. Forced to choose between helping his people or embracing love, Namor is faced with the most difficult decision of his young life.
2 Sub-Mariner: The Depths Is A Chilling Story
In this thrilling five-issue mini-series titled Sub-Mariner: The Depths, Marvel readers were shown the perspective of Dr. Randolph Stein: a man who discovers that Atlantis exists. Though this story wasn't a straight-up origin tale, the comic provided a lot of new information that gave Namor's comic origin a much more modern feel. This comic is considered essential for Namor fans, and its also viewed as essential for horror fans as the story does an excellent job of providing the creepy tone of a submarine full of men being hunted by a water-breathing villain.
1 King In Black: Namor Gave Readers Lots Of New Atlantis Lore
In Marvel's recent comic event, King In Black, Namor was given a five-issue mini-series that featured a flashback story from Namor's teenage years. In the story, Namor recalls the banishment of the Swift Tide, a team of Atlantean warriors who had slowly devolved into murdering monsters. Namor and the Swift Tide are tasked with retrieving an ancient stone called the Unforgotten Stone, which the Swift Tide claims holds the dark power of the old gods. However, when they finally come across the stone in a large facility in the arctic, the stone explodes with dark energy, corrupting the Swift Tide and transforming them into the Black Tide.
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