Looks as though somebody read THE SILENT WORLD, which came out in 1953; it was Jacques Cousteau who coined that unforgettably poetic term for nitrogen narcosis.
Totally agree with everything that's been said. It's those little quirks in Everett's stuff that help me realize, the more I read of his work on Sub-Mariner, that the character was one of the first truly unique and personal comics creations. Sure, some other takes on the character were smarter, or made more sense, but Everett's was truly something else
( ... )
Sub-Mariner had personality, he was not just another bored playboy putting on a costume to fight crime. You couldn't be quite sure what he was going to do, he was a loose cannon rolling wildly on the deck of the super-hero ship.
I always saw the wartime Namor as very young, maybe seventeen, with lots of adolescent over-reaction to everything. Everett introduced him as "a youth of dynamic personality," and my impression was that he had just reached an age where he could be sent on his crusade against the surface world.
Everett was so good at horror! In my fantasy history, he did a few stories for EC while taking a short break from Atlas. Those would have been something to see.
I think Bill Everett's finest art came in those 1950s stories, especially (as you say) the episodes of Namor growing up.
This is just from memory, mind you, but I think the Sub-Mariner had his origin in an unrealized film project (PRINCE OF ATLANTIS?), which explains why Everett's character had his first strip drawn for MOTION PICTURES FUNNIES WEEKLY... a comic which itself was never published. Everett expanded it to sell to Timely. If I'm remembering it right, Namor started as a character in a film or serial that was never made; then he was brought back from limbo to tie into a TV series that was also never made.
Yeah, I've also run across those stories about the Sub-Mariner originating as a film or movie serial .The earliest rendition of the story (that I am aware of) comes from Hubert H. Crawford's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMIC BOOKS. However, no reputable sources mention it. For example, the story is nowhere to be found in Blake Bell's FIRE AND WATER:BILL EVERETT, THE SUB-MARINER,AND THE BIRTH OF MARVEL COMICS.Given that, I think that the story can be chalked up as an urban legend.
Hey, you just gave me a great idea for a suggestion for Brian Cronin's Comic Book Legends Revealed!
Comments 8
Reply
Reply
Reply
I always saw the wartime Namor as very young, maybe seventeen, with lots of adolescent over-reaction to everything. Everett introduced him as "a youth of dynamic personality," and my impression was that he had just reached an age where he could be sent on his crusade against the surface world.
Everett was so good at horror! In my fantasy history, he did a few stories for EC while taking a short break from Atlas. Those would have been something to see.
Reply
Reply
This is just from memory, mind you, but I think the Sub-Mariner had his origin in an unrealized film project (PRINCE OF ATLANTIS?), which explains why Everett's character had his first strip drawn for MOTION PICTURES FUNNIES WEEKLY... a comic which itself was never published. Everett expanded it to sell to Timely. If I'm remembering it right, Namor started as a character in a film or serial that was never made; then he was brought back from limbo to tie into a TV series that was also never made.
Reply
Hey, you just gave me a great idea for a suggestion for Brian Cronin's Comic Book Legends Revealed!
Reply
And I love the idea of "Brian Cronin's Comic Book Legends Revealed." (or possibly "Exposed?")
Reply
Leave a comment