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| Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Hell's bells, I just received a bit of a shock, Crivvies. I mentioned in a previous post that I'd recently purchased Prince Namor, The Savage Sub-Mariner #67, and that I had a reprint of the comic given away with a figure of ol' Subby a few years back. I'd have guessed around 7 or 8, but looking at the indicia after digging it out 10 minutes ago, I see it was published in 2002 - 20 years ago. The original mag came out in 1973 and I had a copy of it at the time (and by copy, I don't mean reprint, facsimile, or replica), so I bought the one with the action figure (no, Melvin - it's not a doll) nearly 30 years after the first printing.
So, where does the shock come in? I just can't believe it was 20 years ago I bought the one shown below, as it doesn't seem like anywhere near that time - how wrong can a fella be? (Though it's always possible I didn't obtain it 'til a year or two after it came out.) I'm not quite sure whether the interior pages were printed from scans of the published '73 issue, or the original colour negatives (or maybe a bit of both), but the reproduction is bright and clear, and renders my acquisition of the original almost redundant if I just wanted the story to read*. However, it's the ads and letters page which makes the difference, as all true collectors know.
(*Update: Actually, the original ish prints a couple of pages out of sequence, whereas the reprint has them in the proper order, so that's a plus.)
Anyway, thought I'd let you see both versions, along with the figure (again). Any of you Crivvies got either of these comics, and what did you think of Namor's new costume? And have you ever been astonished to discover that something which you thought was a relatively recent acquisition has actually been in your possession for a far longer part of your life than you realised?
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| This version of the cover was how it was originally drawn, but was amended to make Namor's costume in the published cover (first image) slightly darker and give it more visual impact |
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| For a better comparison, click to enlarge, then click again for optimum size |
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| I suspect (can't remember) Namor's belt and wrist bracelets were once the same gold colour as his trident, but have 'tarnished' over time. Whaddya think, Crivvies? |
12 comments:
I absolutely loved this costume on Namor. It's another outstanding design by Johnny Romita and Namor kept it for quite a while. Those green trunks got so humdrum after a while.
Did you know, RJ, that when Namor appeared in FF #4 & #6, his trunks were originally red? I presume they were changed to green because it was more of a 'sea' colour.
While I preferred Subby's classic look, the costume was not bad of its type. But I don't think it was likely to have boosted the sea-prince's sales, and apparently it didn't.
Might've boosted them ever-so-slightly for a short while, GP (though, to be honest, I don't know), but I think it was a good look for Namor. After all, it made him look more regal, and he stopped being the only Atlantean who pranced about in swimming trunks.
I thought his costume was OK but I don't know why he's billed as The "Savage" Sub-Mariner.
Read the cover, CJ - he's just declared war on the human race. That's fairly savage, is it not?
Kid, I seem to remember that whenever Namor declared war on the human race it was because we humans were threatening Atlantis in some way or other, with pollution or nuclear testing etc so Namor was just defending his people rather than being savage and aggressive. I admit that my memory of Namor's motives might be faulty!
Well, what you have to remember, CJ, is though that may be Namor's perception, pollution and nuclear testing are also a danger to humans, so Atlanteans don't have a monopoly on being threatened by the excesses of us air breathers. And what about those Atlanteans p*ssing and sh*tting in the sea all day, every day, and exposing us humans to their germs, dirty b*ggers. We don't declare war on them. And just look at Namor on the cover - he's just an aggressive, sh*t-stirring hooligan spoiling for a fight because he can't get his end away with Sue Storm ('cos she's mine). And remember, defending his people and being savage and aggressive are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Anyway, the covers really symbolic of a change in direction for the mag - the story ends with Namor thanking Reed Richards for creating his new costume and thereby saving his life. (He's still a troublemaker though.)
I always liked that costume as well.I still have my original copy but the comic itself was a disappointment for me, a striking Romita cover but the interior art by Don Heck wasnt great(and I like Hecks art). Yeah the years just seem to fly past the older you get things that only seemed 5 years ago were in reality 10-15 years ago.
Yeah, I dunno what happened to Heck, McS, 'cos his '60s Iron Man and Avengers were great - far more detailed and the characters seemed to connect to the ground instead of floating several inches above it. He really needed a good inker (like Wally Wood or Neal Adams), though I don't think as he later did that some inkers were letting him down.
Don Heck seems to have lived mostly on piecework assignments from the seventies on until he passed in '95, with the exception of a fairly long stint on The Flash, of which I may be the only fan.
I quite liked his Batgirl work, but can't recall whether I saw any of his Flash strips or not, GP. I must admit, thinking about it, his style doesn't immediately strike me as being suitable for The Flash, though I may be doing him an injustice. I'll know when I've seen some.
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