Once More Rises... Atlantis!

As the Sub-Mariner title in late 1973 began what seemed a steadfast march toward cancellation, writer Steve Gerber made a few changes designed to breathe new life into the book and turn around its flagging sales. That decision would translate to a world of grief for Namor, as well as for Atlantis, both of which had seen more than their share of conflict and setbacks already--only this time, what Gerber had in mind would combine their two fates by making Namor the catalyst for what would befall his kingdom. It was an unfortunate time to be an Atlantean, as well as the Sub-Mariner.

Namor's woes began when two powerful enemies, Orka and the She-Beast, joined forces to subdue him by first bringing Atlantis to near-ruin and then going on to eliminate its ruler. And when you have control over a herd of killer whales and have backed your victim against a coral reef, you'd have every reason to feel confident that victory is at hand. But Namor decides on a desperate plan of escape--one that will end up costing him in the long run.

Washed ashore and near death from his exposure to the gas, Namor is retrieved by the Inhuman, Triton, and brought to the Fantastic Four--but upon regaining consciousness, he learns that his collision with the nerve gas cannisters has indeed taken its toll on him.

Meanwhile, Orka and the She-Beast enter Atlantis (or what's left of it) in triumph. But the force of Namor's impact with the surface ship carrying the gas cannisters has caused their contents to spread--and Atlantis, and nearly all within, end up in its path.

At the Baxter Building, Reed Richards has devised a special suit that will allow Namor to remain alive when he's out of contact with water. Yet when he returns to Atlantis, he finds that everything that made his life worth living has been decimated.

However, when Namor is found by his young cousin, Namorita, who arrives with the group of amphibious humans he rescued earlier from a power-mad villain, he discovers that hope yet remains for his subjects.

After relocating to the surface facility where Croft and his fellows were transformed to amphibians, a further step is discussed which is intended to preserve the Atlanteans while the cure for their condition is being researched.

That leads to a conflict with the villain known as Force, who has other ideas for the invention that Namor needs for his people. Eventually, however, Namor prevails, and his kingdom soon lies protected beneath the depths.

By this time, however, Sub-Mariner has shifted to bi-monthly publication, which unfortunately is a fair indication that the writing is on the wall for the mag. That indeed turns out to be the case, as, three issues later, the title folds, leaving the fate of Atlantis and its population in limbo.

Which is our cue to unfold yet another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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When and how did the resurrection of the Atlanteans take place?

...In The Heat Of Battle!

In 1978, the mutant known as Mesmero successfully carried out a petty scheme which targeted the X-Men--suppressing their memories and forcing them to assume lives as members of a circus troupe. Thanks to Wolverine, who helped his comrades throw off Mesmero's control, the X-Men were on the verge of confronting their foe, when they discovered that someone had beaten them to it.

Capturing the X-Men (and subsequently dealing with Mesmero), Magneto brought the team to his complex hidden beneath a live volcano in the frozen Antarctic wasteland, where he ended the modicum of civility he'd exercised on their journey and began an all-out attack against them.

Its final moments went something like this:

Cyclops is a fine one to talk about coordination and strategy--with the exception of a single optic blast fired at the beginning of the fight, he was virtually missing in action while his team made their uncoordinated attempts to stop Magneto. How about leading your team, sport?

Following his victory lap, Magneto initiates his ultimate plan of revenge against his oldest foes--a living death from which there is no hope of escape.

Which sets the stage for the following issue, and Round Two--taking place in at the bottom of the world far beneath the surface, where no one even realizes that the X-Men are engaged in a struggle for their lives. It would become what many regard as one of the most memorable and classic battles in Marvel's history to this point--and while the issue's cover appears to have already declared the victor, there's also a strong indication that no one may make it out of this fight alive.

The Sub-Marauder--Captain Barracuda!

Take one act of piracy from a decked-out sub the likes of which no one has ever seen:

Then mix in a boarding party, whose lousy luck has them boarding the one ship on the ocean with Bruce Banner as a deck hand:

And finally, add the sub's snarling captain, who has the misfortune of not realizing just who and what he's tangling with!

Winding up our week-long look at beyond-the-norm ship captains who have crossed paths with the incredible Hulk, we conclude with a glorified pirate whose name gives you an idea of how far he would go and how many lines he would cross to gain his prize: the infamous Captain Barracuda, who got his start in 1964 in Strange Tales looting a local cruise line, but transitioned to the big leagues and began stealing technology that would allow him to overcome any other ships that went up against him, even going so far as to attempt the theft of an atomic warhead.

Then, it was the Sub-Mariner who interfered with Barracuda's plans--and now, it's Namor's fellow Titan, the Hulk, who takes on the ruthless captain and his scurvy crew, in a two-part story that has the Hulk fighting for the life of... Robinson Crusoe!?

(And if our eyes aren't playing tricks on us, doesn't it look like, from the waist up, the Hulk is striking virtually identical poses on both covers?)

The Infra-World of Captain Omen!

We've already seen the first of several encounters the incredible Hulk would have with ship captains who didn't exactly have his best interests at heart. It seems an odd combination, indeed... a raging man-monster, thrust into an environment where a human issues orders and metes out punishment if necessary--neither of which the Hulk would tolerate from any human, regardless of whatever puny rank they hold. (One has only to look at the Hulk's disregard for Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross's status as a time-tested example.) Captain Cybor, however, became part man/part machine because of the creature he hunted; and while we could categorize the Hulk's next antagonist as fully human (at least in appearance), the Hulk would discover that both captain and crew were *ahem* out of his depth, as he finds himself trapped in the strange and far-reaching infra-world of Captain Omen.

Regrettably, it looks like we need to add "hostile" to that world's description.

A Behemoth Stalks The Stars!

The incredible Hulk hasn't had the best of luck in his encounters with ship captains--that is to say, those men who fall outside of don't answer to the jurisdiction of international maritime organizations and instead pursue their own goals using their own methods. Pirates like Commander Kraken certainly fit the bill--but there are others who command vessels in pursuit of treasure and/or power, while some even seek vengeance. It's the latter which first crosses the Hulk's path, in a 1971 story which takes the concept of Captain Ahab and adapts it to outer space, and a hunt for an energy creature which has become the obsession of one who has sailed the stars to end its existence.

Arrrr... I Be The True Sub-Mariner!

When it comes to formal occasions or matters of court, we can probably picture the Sub-Mariner not only wearing his crown but also decked out in royal raiment, while also including perhaps a pendant or two along with his trident; otherwise, he can almost always be seen au naturel amongst his subjects or even when traveling to the surface world. But in early 1973, his fellow Defenders didn't even bat an eye at a new accessory he began sporting on his left earlobe:

Aye, matey, a single earring, which materialized out of the blue in the middle of an adventure without explanation--or, rather, an explanation that the other Defenders would be privy to.

And so our ear is turned to another piercing

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What was behind Namor's decision to don an earring--and what became of it?

Escape From Hades!

Aside from the fact that one of their members is an Olympian demigod, the mighty Avengers' dealings with the denizens of Olympus have been few and far between. But when Hercules had the misfortune of being critically injured by the Masters of Evil, the Avengers were forced to confront the mystery of his abduction from his hospital bed--and as Thor soon discovered, all signs pointed to the Olympians. Of course, there's little reason for Thor to become alarmed, if that was the case; the assumption could easily be made that the Olympians became aware of Hercules' state and retrieved him in order to better treat his injuries. However, writer Roger Stern instead puts the notion into Thor to investigate, at which point the Thunder God subsequently leaves his teammates behind to transport himself to Olympus in search of Hermes, the Olympian he has spotted fleeing the scene. And while we readers are probably wanting to ask Thor, "Where's the fire?", Stern uses the incident as a jumping-off point to a major story that would bring down on the Avengers the retribution of Zeus for their perceived wrongdoings against his son.

Following Thor's disappearance, the remaining Avengers are attacked on the streets of New York by a strike team of other Olympians who have been dispatched by Zeus to collar those Avengers whom he believes bear responsibility for the fate of Hercules--a directive which also includes inactive members the Wasp and the Sub-Mariner, who will be targeted immediately after the active members are retrieved. The team proves no match for the resilience of their foes--and soon enough, the Avengers awaken and find themselves the subjects of a deafening judgment.

Hercules had suffered significant brain trauma as a result of the Masters' attack, so we can assume that Zeus's fury likely stems from the incoherent mumbling of recent events uttered in his son's delirium. The Avengers try to get a word in edgewise and provide the facts--but Zeus is fit to be tied, and judging by his demeanor he's already made his decision as to their guilt, and their fate.

As to where the Avengers have been banished, we find the answer when we join Namor, who has successfully been captured as well but has managed to escape--with the mysterious help of another Olympian, Prometheus, who points the way to where the Avengers are incarcerated. Though one could make the argument that Hades itself is prison enough.

(Granted, "Fortress Tartarus" looks a bit dilapidated and ready to crumble under its own weight--possibly because artist John Buscema has only provided breakdowns on all installments of this story (leaving the finished art to Tom Palmer), and panels fall a little short on detail.)

Following his infiltration of the edifice, Namor soon comes across the sorry state of his comrades, imprisoned in ways that neutralize their abilities and verbally abused by their captors. Namor wastes no time in freeing them--and through clever means, taking full advantage of the elements of surprise and confusion.

And so the Avengers learn of the fate for them decided by Zeus: consignment to Hades, the deadly netherworld under the rule of its lord and master, Pluto. And though the team has dealt with the contingent of armed soldiers guarding them, upon exiting Tartarus they encounter the first wave of the savage hordes that Pluto commands.

The Avengers thus begin the fight for their lives, and their freedom--

while, above, the battle for their very survival awaits.

You Always Battle The One You Love

(with a nostalgic nod to Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher)


As a companion piece to an earlier post which took a look at pairings of Marvel characters that didn't quite work out romantically, it seems appropriate to flip the coin and look in on couples whose romantic ties were more stable (or in flux) but who, from time to time, were perfectly willing to take off the gloves and resort to duking it out to resolve their differences, just like any other couple. Except that when we're talking about super-powered characters, there's every chance that a fight will turn into a full-fledged battle, possibly to the death! Ain't love grand?

Yikes! You real-life husbands out there had better watch your backs!

Free At Last!

If memory serves, there were six instances* where the Silver Surfer managed to escape the barrier of Galactus while trapped on the planet Earth: (1), when Loki maneuvered him into traveling to Asgard and attacking the mighty Thor; (2) when he streaked into the future, to a time when the barrier no longer existed; (3) when Mephisto dissolved the barrier in a scheme to demoralize him; (4) through his own power, after meditating for an entire year to focus on piercing the barrier; (5) relying on the Hulk's gamma radiation to increase his strength; and (6) when Reed Richards provided him with a one-time-only opportunity to pass through the barrier in accordance with a unique planetary alignment. In one way or another, all attempts met with eventual failure, the last being made in 1982.

*Add two more to the list, if you're counting his "escape" to the Microverse or the misdirection he encountered in the dimension of the Nameless One.

But nearly five years later to the month, writer Steve Englehart, together with artists Marshall Rogers and Joe Rubinstein, launched a brand new Silver Surfer series. And in its first landmark issue, the question of whether the Surfer would still be shackled to our world or, instead, would be soaring among the stars once more is immediately settled in a bold, two-page spread which indicated an entirely new direction for the character--thanks to a single word, which spoke volumes and let the reader know that the Surfer was, finally:

Up until this time, the Surfer was in another type of void, as far as his readership was concerned--consigned to the status of guest star, with the prospect of another series for him on hold due to an informal arrangement with the Surfer's original writer, Stan Lee, to allow him to maintain creative control of the character. By 1982, however, Lee had gradually made a number of exceptions to that request vis-à-vis the growing number of writers who succeeded him**--and with Lee segueing to oversee Marvel's Hollywood projects, he formally released the Surfer to their management after his collaboration with John Byrne in the '82 Silver Surfer one-shot, ending years in virtual limbo for the character's direction.

**Circa 1971, when he was made Publisher--around the time when the "Stan Lee Presents" caption began appearing on each title's splash page.

More appearances in other titles followed, until the new series by Englehart in '87 breaks new ground for the Surfer in his own book. It's a promising first issue, where once again the Surfer received aid from the Fantastic Four to break free from his prison--this time with no cloud hanging over him that practically broadcast to readers that the attempt wouldn't succeed. Instead, we see the Silver Surfer racing toward the infinite, and, at long last, to new storylines that didn't confine him to a single world.

And yet the Surfer himself realizes that there is one loose end which he'll need to confront before moving on with his life--one being who will ultimately decide whether or not he can fully embrace his newfound freedom.

The Final Fate of The Bride of Doom!

We've taken a look at the brief story of Helena, a woman living in Latveria who was summoned by Victor Von Doom to become his bride, only to play a much larger role in a scheme that would entrap the Silver Surfer and compel him to destroy the Fantastic Four. It was Helena's uncanny resemblance to the Surfer's lost love, Shalla Bal, that allowed Doom to manipulate the Surfer, a plan facilitated by Doom suppressing her memories so that her true identity remained a mystery to her. Fortunately, her interaction with the Surfer restored those memories and allowed her to confirm that she was not the woman the Surfer believed she was, in time for the Surfer to join the FF in bringing an end to Doom's plot.

Unknown to anyone, however, was that "Helena" was part of another scheme--set in motion by Mephisto, the underworld demon who coveted the Surfer's soul. In a plan of revenge involving S.H.I.E.L.D., Mephisto had abducted Shalla Bal from her world of Zenn-La and brought her to Earth with the goal of manipulating the Surfer into killing her; but when that plan failed, he caused Shalla Bal to vanish before the Surfer could free her. Presumably, she was returned to Zenn-La--but we discovered instead that Mephisto had sent her to Latveria and given her false memories of being a local peasant girl. Still trapped on Earth, the Surfer continued to believe that Shalla Bal was lost to him forever, when in fact she was closer than he knew--and when Doom launched his own plot, it further advanced Mephisto's plan to strike another blow against the Surfer and increase his agony by dashing his hopes that Helena was more than she seemed.

Yet she was more, all along--and, with the exception of Mephisto, only you and I are aware of it.

Which paves the way for an agonizing

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Marvel Trivia Question

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Whatever became of "Helena"?