Saturday, August 15, 2015

Daytime Heroes: Sub-Mariner (1966)

Of the five heroes who comprised the Marvel Superheroes anthology package, only the Sub-Mariner has not yet made it to the big screen. One wonders why, considering that Prince Namor's history dates back as far as Captain America's does.

Like DC's Aquaman, Namor is a mixed breed. His mother is Atlantean, his father a human. And while most of the Atlanteans in Marvel, as first envisioned by Bill Everett, have blue skin, unlike DC's Atlanteans, Namor could pass for a white man, save for his pointed ears and the wings protruding from his ankles.

In recent years, Marvel has placed Namor with almost all of their super-teams. Yes, he has served with the Fantastic Four, as well as with the Defenders, Avengers, and, more recently, the X-Men, as Marvel reclassified Namor as a mutant sometime in the last decade or so. There had been rumors of a feature film a decade ago, but nothing came of it.

In 1966, Namor was considered a big enough deal, having shared Tales to Astonish with the Hulk, to be included in Marvel Superheroes. Actor John Vernon, then relatively unknown, is the voice of Namor. Now, let's scope the series opener:



In the comics, Namor was quite the ladies man back in the day. How Dorma was able to put up with that.......!

Rating: B.

No comments: