Last issue’s cliffhanger had Namor threatening to submerge San Francisco in a tidal wave and then allowing The Order to take him into custody. Every issue of The Order begins with a character interview, and this time it’s Anthem interviewing Sub-Mariner.
I now believe that Matt Fraction should write a Namor series. That’s the best characterization of him I’ve seen since…Ever. I think that’s the best ever.
The issue retcons Namor’s origin so that instead of his Atlantean mother falling in love with his human father, McKenzie is actually a rapist who impregnated Namor’s mother before the Atlanteans could rescue her. That Namor believes this to be true makes quite a bit of sense as it explains Namor’s endless war against the surface world.
Sub-Mariner explains that he has surrendered to the Order because he doesn’t want to give Iron Man the satisfaction, and because Tony Stark’s SHIELD team just bombed Atlantis into oblivion and Namor wants to reveal that story to the surface world. The tidal wave is just collateral to make sure he’s treated fairly.
While the rest of The Order evacuate the city, Anthem and Namor continue their conversation. Sub-Mariner’s accusations are not entirely true, which we see through the “what really happened” panels between Namor’s narrative.
I particularly liked Anthem’s take on Namor’s history as one of The Invaders, where Namor is compared to Stalin.
In the end, Anthem tricks Namor into admitting on camera that he’s doing all this just to become a martyr. Anthem threatens to reveal the tape, which will not cast Namor in a positive light, and Namor backs off and returns to the sea.
This is the first truly self-contained issue of this series, and it rocks. I love this book. I’m sad it’s going to be cancelled soon.