I love Steve Gerber, but this is not the right book for him-and Sub-Mariner had been running on fumes for a long time. He sticks around through issue #69, and then it’s a bunch of one-offs before the book finally dies. He tries hard to save the book, even begging on the letters page…
Of these final issues, the Gerber parts are the best: Namor leaves Atlantis on principle, when he learns that the Amphibian people from #62 have been put in prison camps for being different. It makes sense that Namor, with his white skin, would empathize, but he’s also always been such a nationalist that I wish we’d seen more inner conflict about this.
Anyway, he leaves Atlantis over this, taking Namorita with him, and moves to the abandoned Hydrobase.
He also loses his ability to breathe underwater, requiring him to break into the Baxter Building, and then obtain a new costume and medical care from Reed Richards.
When Gerber leaves, it moves to bimonthly publication, and it ends with him figuring out he shouldn’t be so impetuous about fighting. It’s a long story, not worth telling because he just reverts to his original personality the next time we see him.
Lots of other Marvel heroes guest star at various points. And some Namor villains. But nothing can elevate this book. It’s done. Not even a kinda cooler new costume.
Here’s the final panel…
Scripts were by Steve Gerber (#64-69), Marv Wolfman (#70-71), and Steve Skeates (#72), and art by George Tuska (#64-71) and Dan Adkins (#72).
Of all the issues put forth in Marvel Comics over the past several decades, ( at least beginning with “Fantastic Four”#1 ) this is one of my biggest three pet-peeves. As stated eloquently in Steve Gerber’s editorial from ‘Sub-Mariner’#67, by mid-1973, Marvel’s “Sub-Mariner” series was dying, and, in order to save it after a series of lackluster-to-disastrous storylines and creative teams, ( most sadly, series creator Bill Everett ) drastic action was necessary. By 1973, the Sub-Mariner, as a viable commercial concept, had grown stale to the point that Marveldom Assembled had abandoned it. The state of Atlantis, Byrrah and Attuma and Warlord Krang all taking shifts at trying to usurp Namor’s throne, snagging Lady Dorma, fighting off alien invaders and oceanic supervillains, ( Tiger Shark, Dr. Dorcas, Dr. Hydro, Llyra, Virago, etc., ) all had become stale as two-month old loaf bread. All this, in tandem with the succession of directionless writing, was slowly killing the Sub-Mariner series. The unexpected passing of series creator Bill Everett was the epiphanic catalyst which sounded the alarm that something had to be done – and FAST. Therefore, in mid-1973, Steve Gerber and Roy Thomas brainstorm the new direction that the series desperately needed. The Atlanteans, by this time, were always abstract background characters at best. We didn’t know any of them by name, except for Lord Vashti ( Marvel’s Atlantis’s version of Aquaman’s Lord Vulko ) Ikthon the Inventor, the aforementioned Lady Dorma, supervillains Attuma , Krang, and Byrrah- and that’s it. The rest of the Atlantean population were basically nameless, faceless ciphers. So- why not take advantage of this situation to actually give these ciphers something to DO in the scheme of things-?? Having a catastrophe strike the kingdom which places them all into a deathlike coma, provides the hero with something that he hasn’t had since the early days of the Bronze Age- a PURPOSE!!! A QUEST!!!! Something to DO, besides just fight off yet another coup attempt by Attuma/Krang/Byrrah, or another ( yawn ) alien invasion! This status quo gave Namor’s saga, both in the final issues of ‘Sub-Mariner’, and in the subsequent “Super-Villain Team-Up” series, an edge of tension and intrigue that it simply did not previously have! Everybody needs a purpose in life, and the reason that the ‘Sub-Mariner’ series was failing was that, prior to issue#67 and it’s new direction, Namor just didn’t have one, besides fighting off the next coup attempt/alien invasion! The thrust of the new direction was elegant in it’s sheer simplicity: Save the Kingdom!! I am fully convinced that had Namor remained on this quest across the past half-century, instead of having it completely mitigated in the unfortunate ‘Super-Villain Team-Up’#13, his story would have been infinitely more interesting, most likely being carried over back into his own solo series! As it is, Namor has misspent the past forty-four years since the events of ‘Super-Villain Team-Up’#13 floundering ( npi ) for direction, has he not?? What ELSE have the Atlanteans been good for since their resuscitation in 1978, besides nameless background players?? That’s right- nothing! The other “boost-in-the-arm” that the series was given in issue#67 was the dynamic, awesome costume- the “Reed Richards Rebreather” – that Namor recieved. Up to issue#67, I always believed that Namor, as a dignitary and Head of State, looked a bit silly and overexposed in his scaly green Speedo. The Reed Richards Rebreather not only solved THAT problem, it also had the effect of making him look like a man to be respected, instead of just a nearly-nude savage! Now, I KNOW that Namor is supposed to be the “SAVAGE” Sub-Mariner and all, but, also, as noted, Namor is the ruler of a major world nation! Shouldn’t he LOOK it??! Clothes MAKE the MAN!! Even the AQUAman!! Even the Man From Atlantis! Absolutely! Namor NEVER looked BETTER than when he sported the Reed Richards Rebreather! The costume also served ANOTHER important function, beyond the esthetics! The nerve gas attack, which plunged most ( if not all ) Atlanteans into their coma, also crippled Namor by destroying his ability to breathe air! Now, that’s a terrible thing, and I wouldn’t wish this fate on anyone, ( except those people in this world who hate me, for whatever their reasons ) but the affliction did provide Namor with a REASON to wear the suit! Up to that point, the Sub-Mariner had been missing a certain quality of character that makes most Marvel Super-Heroes unique in the annals of adventure: Tragedy! The Thing, the Hulk, and the Man-Thing are all monsters, stuck in their hideous forms, Daredevil is blind, Thor spends half his time ( at least in those days ) as a crippled weakling, Iron Man has a bad heart, Spider-Man and Captain America are hopeless neurotics, ( again, at least in THOSE days ) Henry Pym is schizophrenic, Professor X is paraplegic, Quicksilver is a jerk, the Human Torch is shallow, Mr. Fantastic is self-absorbed, Wolverine is a psychotic, ( at least in THOSE days ) Moondragon suffers from a massive God Complex, Mantis is a reformed prostitute, Iron Man hits the sauce, the Black Widow is loose, and so on, and so on! Until Namor lost his amphibious capacity, he had no tragedy, aside from being somewhat arrogant. ( couldn’t hold a CANDLE to Moondragon, though ) The limitation provided him with the element of tragedy that most of the great Marvel heroes have, which he needed, and did NOT have, up until that point! It HUMBLED him, somewhat, and BOY, did he NEED it!! In short, the new direction instituted in Sub-Mariner#67 was just EXACTLY what the series needed, and Marvel did the character NO favors by negating the new direction only four years later, in Super-Villain Team-Up#13! History has shown us that some of the most beloved-and important-television shows of all time were NOT instant hits overnight, and needed a few seasons to find traction and an audience! ( “All in the Family”, “M*A*S*H”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and “Cheers” are all good examples of this syndrome ) In closing, I would like to acknowledge that, even though I believe the Reed Richards Rebreather to be only the second-sharpest superhero ensemble ever designed, ( behind only the Angel’s classic blue-and-white with the chest-halo insignia ) it does possess a certain annoying flaw in it’s design: If the idea of the rebreather is to keep Namor hydrated when he is out of the ocean, why are the two most relevant areas of his body not covered by the suit??? Those being, his CHEST, ( respiratory ) and his NECK!!! YOU know- where his GILLS are!!! THOSE are the two areas on his body where the hydration fabric would be most needed! Also- if you examine the calf-area of Namor’s legs, you will notice that Reed Dior designed the lower legs to be mostly exposed, presumably to allow the ankle-wings to operate. That’s fine, but the ankle-wings just BARELY clear the fabric, while the apertures extend-unnecessarily- a good six inches higher than they need to! Isn’t the idea to keep the patient covered in as much of this fabric as possible???!! Of COURSE it is! But, this major technical gaffe aside, it is STILL one damn awesome -looking suit, and I mourn it’s retirement! Nuff Said!!!