The Sub-Mariner Arrives in Fantastic Four #4

Issue: Fantastic Four (1961) #4

Name: The Coming of the Sub-Mariner!

Published: Marvel, May 1962

Blurb: From Marvel:

The Sub-Mariner has returned! Calling upon his mighty sea creature army, he will have his revenge on the human race. It's up to the Fantastic Four to stop him.

From Comixology:

Out on his own, Johnny encounters and helps restore the memory of a fallen hero, the Namor the Sub-Mariner! When Namor returns to his undersea kingdom and finds it decimated, he assumes the surface world is the cause and unleashes a powerful monster onto New York City and the Fantastic Four.

Creators:

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Sol Brodsky
Letterer: Artie Simek
Colourist: Stan Goldberg

Characters:

The Good: Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Invisible Girl, The Human Torch
The Bad: The Sub-Mariner, Giganto

Story (B-):

Here we see what Johnny does after he leaves the Fantastic Four, and I don't really blame him for leaving – The Thing has really been a jerk and way too violent. In any case, Johnny hangs out at a familiar and comfortable place – Swanson's Garage where he is working on cars with his high school buddies when the Thing finds him. For some reason, which I did not see explained, the Thing reverts back to human form briefly, and the Torch is able to escape the Thing's attempt at “capturing” him.

Fleeing for safety, Johnny finds himself in the Bowery where he rents a room and meets an amnesiac who turns out to bear a striking resemblance to the Sub-Mariner that is in the comic Johnny is reading. On a hunch, Johnny throws the amnesiac into the ocean where he regains his memory and realizes he is in fact Prince Namor of Atlantis. Heading home, Namor sees that his underwater city has been destroyed by atomic tests and vows to avenge his people.

To do so, The Sub-Mariner summons a huge whale with legs and arms called Giganto and sets him to attack New York while Johnny decides he needs to get back with the team so he alerts the Fantastic Four. The army and the Fantastic Four prove no match for Giganto until the Thing straps nuclear bomb on his back and does his best Jonah imitation carrying the bomb inside Giganto and blowing him up.

With The Thing knocked out by the bomb blast, Namor captures Sue and while he falls in love with her, he demands she become his bride to spare humanity. Of course this is not gonna happen and The Torch saves the day by creating a tornado that picks up Namor and Giganto and dumps them in the deepest part of the ocean where he vows to return.

Art (B-):

I still have an issue with the depiction of the Thing, but other than that, I enjoyed the art. The backgrounds of the city and all the stuff inside Giganto were pretty cool. And Giganto is also shown as being truly huge…towering above skyscrapers and with his size, I can believe he could take apart New York City. I also loved how the Torch shaved Namor…I could use a trimmer that precise for my beard. The layout and panels were well delineated and the dialog bubbles were easy to follow. On the whole, I think the art is getting better as the year continues…let's just get the Thing worked out.

Characters (B-):

This issue had the most well developed villain in The Sub-Mariner. My understanding is that he's been around for a while in comics before this, but this is his first appearance in Marvel's Silver Age and the first time I've seen him. It's interesting that once again, Johnny is reading comics that directly relate to things happening in his reality. This story seems to do more to establish Namor in the Fantastic Four's world than much character development of the team. We already know the hostility between Ben and Johnny and the concern that Sue has for her brother, but I think the threat of Giganto goes a long way to show how the team needs to be whole in order for them to be successful.

Enjoyment (B):

A few weeks ago, I read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie and at the book club reviewing the story, someone asked for the difference between fantasy and science fiction…and I said that if the guy with pointy ears is a Vulcan, it's Sci-Fi and if he's an Elf, it's Fantasy…I suppose if he is an Atlantean it's the Marvel Universe. Loved this issue and I think I like the Sub-Mariner. The animosity between Johnny and Ben seemed to serve some purpose in this issue, but I still don't appreciate how angry the Thing seems in all these issues.

Special extra (B):

This issue introduces the Sub-Mariner to the Silver Age and I like him. I suppose since he's been around for a while in previous comics, he is more developed than the other villains we've seen so far, but as I mentioned in the review of issue #3, you gotta have well developed bad guys to make the heroes better.

Overall (B+):

This was a successful issue in my view. I would say it's perhaps even better than the first issue since the villain is so much better developed.

A Rookie Perspective:

One word…Whalenado. I suppose Stan didn't know Sharknado would become a thing so many years after the Torch created a tornado to deposit Giganto and Prince Namor at the bottom of the sea, but I found it amusing. This is the first issue of the series that does not revisit the origin story and I am glad for that. 4 issues in and it's time to expect readers to know who the main characters are.

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited and Comixology.

Comics Corner 1.6