Marvel Comics #1 (Namor)

After the original Human Torch who was on the cover and the Angel, Namor is the third superhero to debut in Marvel Comics #1… on a technicality.

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Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (1939)
cover by Fred Schwab

This was 36 page promotional book that was given out to movie theaters in April 1939, which would’ve made it only 1 month younger than Batman’s publication date…

…if the book HAD been distributed, which is a bit controversial.

The idea was to distribute the book to children in movie theaters, but according to most sources it was never actually published: only a few samples were distributed to theater-owners but not to the general public.
The book was basically lost to history until it resurfaced in 1974, and allegedly there are less than 10 surviving copies.

Additionally, the claim that this book was published before Marvel Comics #1 is far from universal. For example here’s an extract on the Sothesby’s auction for a copy of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (yeah I had to go to some weird places to research this).

This book was printed completely in black and white, excluding the cover.
I did consider reviewing the B&W version, but considering the ONLY scan I could find is only for the first page of the Namor story and it looks like this…

…I’ll stick with later reprints that are in color.

Only the first 8 pages of the story were on Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, with the rest of the story finishing in Marvel Comics #1.
I’ll split my sources in the two parts: the traditionally colored version for the first 8 pages, and the modern digital coloring for the rest. This will help differentiate where one story ends.
But I’ve rambled long enough: let’s meet this Namor guy.

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Marvel Comics #1 (1939)
“The Sub-Mariner”
by Bill Everett

The traditionally colored first page already showcases the wonderful effect used for the underwater scenes, which already gives the comic a distinctive vibe.

This is why I’m not using the digitally colored version for most of it. That’s because while it’s fine for the scene on the surface, the underwater scenes are very underwhelming.

In fact, I think that overall the quality of the artwork is definitely superior to the standard of the early Golden Age.

A diver from a salvage operation is sent to inspect a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea and to admire the Everett artwork.

That’s where they spot a guy swimming without the need of a diving suit to protect him from the crushing pressure.

That’s when we meet Namor, who believes the divers are robots!

Note that Namor is depicted with pink skin. During the Golden Age, the other people from Atlantis will have blue skin while underwater and pink when they resurface; in the few Golden Age stories I’ve read, Namor is always pink as he will be during the Golden Age.
Obviously Namor was in black&white during Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, but I wonder: was he blue-skinned in the original Marvel Comics #1?
The scans I’m using are from a 70s reprint and he’s pink there, but in the digitally re-colored version on Marvel Unlimited he’s blue.

Still thinking the divers are robots, Namor cuts their air supply thinking that they’re just wires controlling them!!!

Easy mistake to make, so you might think that the comic would then show him quickly realizing these are not robots and save the divers, right?
Nope! He brutally murders them!!!

A new diver is sent to investigate, and when he finds his colleagues with their helmet crushed (!!!) the UNDERSTANDABLY freaks out and flees.

But then Namor proceeds to STOP THE BOAT WITH HIS BARE HANDS.

As if THAT wasn’t enough, he then straight up crashes the ship!!!

Yeah, uhm, Namor is the original Marvel anti-hero… but in the very first stories, he’s more of a villain than an anti-hero. I mean the first thing he does is to bring the corpses of the divers to the Emperor of Atlantis as trophies!!!

The emperor is not named in the story, being referred only as “the Holy One”. Future stories will clarify that this is Namor’s grandfather, Thakorr.

Note that while Namor didn’t know the divers were humans, he does know about humans.

We also meet Namor’s mother, who doesn’t show a whole lot during the Golden Age but who’s occasionally around.

And she’s quite brutal! Looks like Namor inherited more from her than his eyebrows.

Also you might have noticed that the men from Atlantis are ugly fish-men and all the women are gorgeous.

This is where we learn Namor’s origin story of being half-Atlantean half-human.

Namor’s human father, Leonard McKenzie, will also show up in the Silver Age. He managed to live until 1972’s Sub-Mariner #46, quite impressive considering he was old enough to have a son in 1920!
Also, notice the ship’s name is Oracle. Namor will use that name for the company he will create in the 90s.

In fact World War I is the major incident leading to Atlantis interacting with the surface world.
Apparently they used to have underwater castles, which I don’t think we’ve ever seen in later Namor stories.

It’s a good thing that the Emperor of Atlantis is not explicitly her father, otherwise choosing her to go to the surface to use “her feminine wiles to our racial advantage” would feel even worse.
Also, she was chosen because she “nearly resembles the white race”.

The comic then goes into a bit of an infodump there, summarizing the bulk of the origin story.

The princess ended up falling in love with Namor’s father, and the two even got married… I guess the Golden Age wouldn’t allow the protagonist to be born out of wedlock… even when she was still acting as a spy for Atlantis!!!

Unfortunately the damage done by the bombing from the human ships set back Atlantis for the past 20 years, and only now that Namor has shown to be absurdly strong AND able to breathe air it’s time to fight back.

This is where Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 ended. There’s a bit of a controversy on the last panel, which as you see clearly shows “More next issue!”…

…which is covered up in the Marvel Comics #1 version. The controversy is related to the question of whether Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 was actually published, and whether Namor was supposed to be a regular feature in the rest of the issues (of which basically nothing besides the planned covers survive).

Marvel Comics #1 has 4 additional pages. I will now switch to the digitally colored version since it’s all I have.

Those are VERY significant pages, since it’s where Lady Dorma first shows up! She will have a HUGE impact on Namor, especially in the Silver Age where she will be his main love interest and his first wife.
Little known fact: they’re cousins! And in her very first appearance, not only she has pointed ears like Namor…

…she ALSO has those little wings on her ankles!

Told you he doesn’t start out as an outright hero: his first goal is to destroy a lighthouse to cause the death of whatever ship passes by.

As previously mentioned, in this period the Atlanteans lose their blue skin when they go to the surface. And they can breathe just fine, at least for a while.

These last four pages have a MUCH faster pace than the quiet first eight.

Dorma is completely useless in this mission, by the way.

In fact, Namor quickly highjacks a nearby plane just to put Dorma there…

…and just asks her to go home.

And that’s how we end the story: with Namor beginning his “crusade against white men”.

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And that’s finally it with Marvel Comics #1, with THREE debuts of people who will later influence the Marvel Universe.
There were, however, ANOTHER three stories in the book: the obligatory western…

…a very generic adventure story…

…which has not aged particularly well…

…and most bizarrely, the Golden Age Ka-Zar!!!

This is bizarre because he’s NOT related in any way to the Ka-Zar introduced in the Silver Age, and because he doesn’t originate here… he’s from a 1936 pulp novel written by Bob Byrd and published by Martin Goodman: the story in Marvel Comics #1 adapts the book.
He’s a pretty blatant Tarzan ripoff. But unlike the Silver Age Ka-Zar, we DO know where he gets his name.

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Historical significance: 10/10
While Namor’s importance in the Marvel Universe waxes and wanes, he’s had an undeniable impact.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Surprisingly modern!

Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
There are some pacing issues, but honestly this holds up VERY well; it certainly has more personality than the majority of Golden Age debuts.
The story feels surprisingly modern, and the artwork is just great (although it loses more and more detail the longer it goes).

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How close is this to the modern character? 9/10
Namor is an incredibly complex character. His look is there, his powers are there, and while he doesn’t get to show any of his nobility he DEFINITELY has his ruthlessness down… although we can cut him a bit of a slack since he can’t be older than 19 and presumably has never even met a human before. All he knows about the surface world comes from what his mother and the Emperor tell him, which is all about how their civilization was bombed.

Nothing summarizes Namor’s complexity other than he was BOTH a member of a team that grouped the most influential heroes of the world (the Illuminati) AND the team that included the most influential villains (the Cabal). 

In addition to featuring prominently in the rest the series (renamed Marvel Mystery Comics from #2) and starring in the first ever crossover, Namor also got his own series that lasted from 1941 to 1955.

A couple of trivia: while Namor sports his traditional trunks-only look for the vast majority of his Golden Age stories, he also goes through a bunch of them… most of which suck.

He does have some cool robes, though.

His design would get, uhm, WEIRD from time to time.

Unlike Captain America and the Human Torch who got their own sidekicks (yes I’ll cover both), Namor escaped the treatment.
Namora will be introduced in 1947, but she’ll be more of a co-star than a sidekick (yes I’ll cover her as well).

There was, however, a character appearing in 2 issues of “Kid Komics” (that’s not a typo) who unlike Namora will NOT make the jump to the Silver Age.
“Subbie, the Sea-Going Lad”.

We don’t talk about Subbie.