Fantastic Treasury

The first comic book I remember perusing was Marvel Treasury Edition #2 (1974). It must have been a gift from my parents. Starring the fabulous Fantastic Four, the oversized publication reprinted the team's early encounters with Dr. Doom, Sub-Mariner, the Impossible Man, Silver Surfer, Galactus, and the Watcher. I was just starting to read at the time, however, and had a hard following the stories collected inside. Even so, the visuals introduced me to some science fiction themes and two foundational members of the Defenders.

Giving Up the Glasses

The Incredible Hulk's original series cancelled after six issues and the green goliath began appearing instead in Tales to Astonish. The cover of #72 was a milestone of sorts by picturing Bruce Banner without his glasses. It wasn't long before Dr. Banner stopped wearing glasses altogether in comics. Habitually replacing the lenses may have become inconvenient and presumably he could still see well enough without any eyewear.

Sub-Mariner and Hulk appeared in separate stories in Tales to Astonish #72 (Oct. 1965).

Namor the Barbarian

Several earlier posts have described members of the Defenders as character classes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. After giving the topic even more thought, I'd like to suggest that Sub-Mariner would be a fitting candidate for the Barbarian subclass introduced by Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine #63 (July 1982). Originating from a remote area, Barbarians often fight without armor and have an aversion to magic. Additionally, Sub-Mariner's pointed ears and Atlantean background could make him a half-elf, specifically aquatic elf (even though these early rules state that only humans can be Barbarians).

Robert E. Howard deserves credit for creating Conan, the archetypical barbarian from sword & sorcery literature. Drawing inspiration from Howard's novels, Conan the Barbarian was a long-running Marvel title.

Day in the Lives

Rampage #7 (Nov. 30, 1977) included a two-page spread depicting "A Somewhat Quiet Day in the Lives of the Daring Defenders!" Valkyrie and Aragorn entered the comedic scene, which showed Prince Namor beside a "New Atlantis" fish tank, Dr. Strange practicing stage magic, and Hulk chewing on a Fantastic Four comic book with Thing on the cover.

Valiant Pin-Up

This pin-up of Valkyrie riding Aragorn comes from Rampage #11 (Dec. 28, 1977). Also pictured: Dr. Strange, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Hulk.

Daring Pin-Up

This pin-up of the Daring Defenders comes from Rampage #8 (Dec. 7, 1977). That issue of the weekly U.K. magazine reprinted the story from Defenders #7, Hawkeye's introduction to the non-team.

Pictured clockwise: Hulk, Valkyrie, Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hawkeye.

Wonder Twin

It's easy to draw comparisons between Sub-Mariner and Aquaman from DC Comics. But Sub-Mariner had another counterpart among the Super Friends. With pointed ears and black hair, Zan of the Wonder Twins physically resembled the Sub-Mariner.

Zan and sister Jayna made their debut in 1977 on The All-New Super Friends Hour. The two teens from the planet Exxor joined the ranks of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin. While Jayna could take the shape of animals, Zan could become various forms of water, including steam and ice objects. The aquatic nature of his powers strengthened Zan's similarities to Sub-Mariner. In terms of personality, however, the even-keeled Zan had little in common with the boastful Prince of Atlantis.

Defenders Trek

With his pointed ears and hybrid heritage, Sub-Mariner was compared to Mr. Spock more than once. But the Prince of Atlantis was not the only Defender with a doppleganger aboard the Enterprise. Moondragon was a shoo-in for Ilia, the bald navigator from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. An ad for the film appeared on the back cover of Defenders #74 and other Marvel Comics with a cover date of August 1979. Moondragon guest starred in #76-77 and later joined the New Defenders.

Close Encounters

Cataclysmic visions of the future would prompt Dr. Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner and Silver Surfer to quit the Defenders. According to the mysterious, time-traveling Tribunal, the four heroes would investigate a crashed starship in October 1983 (cover date of Defenders #124). The ship's passengers, followers of saintly Prince Ch'kra from the planet Kamado, would then tragically commit suicide after mistaking the Defenders for agents of King Ch'kri, their planet's warmongering ruler. In the mid 24th century, an armada of Kamado starships would eventually destroy the Earth to obliterate any historical trace of Prince Ch'kra. Only by ceasing to band together could the four heroes hope to avert this fate (#125, which retitled the series as The New Defenders).

Although the Tribunal's warning would prove spurious at best, I'd like to think that Prince Ch'kra's followers managed to safely leave Earth while leaving no evidence behind.

This vision of the 24th century comes from the closing page of Defenders #123 (Sept. 1983).

Changing Corners

Reprinting Defenders stories for readers in the United Kingdom, the weekly series Rampage followed the Marvel Comics tradition of picturing the heads of superheroes in the upper-left corner of each cover. The three founding members of the Defenders—Hulk, Dr. Strange and Sub-Mariner—appeared in there on issues #1-21.

Beginning with #22, the series replaced Sub-Mariner with Nighthawk (matching a change that took place with Defenders #19). In making that switch, Rampage added the names of the featured heroes beside their faces, something the original Defenders series hadn't done in the United States.

Aside from changing the background color behind the characters each issue, Rampage did not make other alterations to the corner design through #34, the final issue of the series.

Man from Atlantis

Back when Sub-Mariner was appearing semi-regularly in Super-Villain Team-Up, a Marvel comic book featuring another water-breather made its debut. Adapted from a live-action television series with the same name, Man from Atlantis ran (or swam) for seven issues (with cover dates Feb.-Aug. 1977). Though set outside the world of superheroes, this new Man from Atlantis shared a few traits with Sub-Mariner, the Prince of Atlantis.

When introduced on TV and in the comics, the Man from Atlantis (a.k.a. Mark Harris) suffered from amnesia—reminiscent of Sub-Mariner, who had amnesia when he resurfaced in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962). Additionally, Mark Harris was reportedly the last citizen of Atlantis, just as Sub-Mariner long considered himself the sole survivor of Atlantis. During his science-fiction adventures, Mark Harris wore only yellow swim trucks, not unlike the green trunks commonly worn by Sub-Mariner. Whereas Sub-Mariner had pointed ears and winged ankles, however, Mark Harris had webbed fingers and toes, making the characters physically distinct.

The cover of Man from Atlantis #1 (Feb. 1977) shows the character's visual similarities to Sub-Mariner, pictured here on Super-Villain Team-Up #13 (Aug. 1977).

Defenders: Tier A

To capitalize on a recent trend, I'm placing many of the Defenders into tiers based on their relative power levels during the original run of the series. From Marvel Feature #1 through Defenders #125, Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk and Silver Surfer consistently fell in the upper echelon of power and belong in Tier A. Other appearances, such as the Offenders limited series, emphasized the importance of these four characters all the more.

During his short time with the non-team, a heroic Over-Mind also operated in this tier. As a villain, on the other hand, his power level rose to the superior Tier S. Upcoming posts with discuss Defenders in Tiers B, C and D.

These images come from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Variant

As much as I might like having a choice of covers when buying comics, some variant covers are misleading. For example, this cover of Defenders #3 (December 2021) displayed Namor, who had no connection to the story. Told from the perspective of Betty Ross, the Harpy, the issue brought the latest band of Defenders back before science: to a time of unrefined magic.

Return of the Nautilus!

Like a number of other issues during the run of the series, Sub-Mariner #53 (Sept. 1972) drew upon the character's history. While the main story teamed the Prince of Atlantis with Sunfire, a relatively new hero at the time, a back-up feature reprinted a Sub-Mariner tale from the 1950s.

In that back-up story, an occult magician stole a painting from the Fictional Art Section of the Manhattan Historical Museum. The stolen painting pictured the Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Making matters worse, a ghostly submarine began appearing out of nowhere and attacking naval vessels. Sub-Mariner's investigation led him to a ramshackle shanty, where he found the magician dead from heart failure. The villain's hand clutched the stolen painting … with the image of the Nautilus inexplicably absent.

Before and after renditions of the painting appear below.

Behind the Masked Raider

Unlike many Golden Age heroes who eventually fell into obscurity, the Masked Raider remained a background figure even during his own era. The western crimefighter premiered in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), the same comic book that introduced Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch. Renamed Marvel Mystery Comics, the anthology series continued to include stories starring the Masked Raider in #2-12.

Disguised in a black mask and riding a white horse named Lightning, the Masked Raider apprehended bank robbers and swindlers under the backdrop of the California Gold Rush. Historical facts were vague within the stories, although literary character Pecos Bill made a guest appearance in #9.

Being a western hero made the Masked Raider something of an anomaly. With the notable excepction of jungle adventurer Ka-Zar, most of the other characters to appear regularly in Marvel Mystery Comics had superhuman powers and a modern setting. As such, the Masked Raider never appeared on the covers, and #8 was the only cover to list him as one of the characters featured within the publication.

The above panel comes from Marvel Comics #1, when Jim Gardley decided to become the Masked Raider.

The Golden Age crimefighter Angel, who featured prominently in the Marvel Mystery Comics, had no connection to Warren Worthington III of the New Defenders. The hero Electro, listed on the cover of #8, had no connection to the villain Electro from Defenders #63-64.

Contemplating the Titans

Conceptually, the Teen Titans and the Defenders have little in common. The founding members of the Teen Titans were sidekicks to adult DC heroes, while the founding members of the Defenders were highly powerful and individualistic Marvel heroes. After hearing the podcast Titan Up The Defense, which discusses classic issues of each team on alternating weeks, I decided to look for commonalities between the two super groups. Here are a few examples:

• Aqualad, a founding member of the Teen Titans, has Atlantean parallels to the Sub-Mariner, a founding member of the Defenders.
• Robin (Nightwing), the original leader of the Teen Titans, was the longtime sidekick to Batman; Marvel Comics patterned Nighthawk after Batman.
• Superhuman strength, weaponry, and a mythological background makes Wonder Girl analogous to Valkyrie.
• Daughter of the demonic Trigon, the mystical Raven corresponds to Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan.
• With green skin and the power of transformation, Changeling (Beast Boy) has superficial similarities to the Hulk.
• Three of the New Defenders began fighting crime as teenage members of the X-Men.

The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964) marked the beginning of the Teen Titans, when three sidekicks teamed up. The young heroes soon landed their own series, which ran 53 issues, and then found new popularity with the launch of The New Teen Titans #1 (Nov. 1980).

All Winners Squad

Sub-Mariner has never been much of a team player—for good reason. A generation before he reluctantly joined the Defenders, the Prince of Atlantis had a turbulent experience with another superhero team in All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946).

The theft of several artifacts from a major museum prompted the original Human Torch and sidekick Toro to summon Captain America (with sidekick Bucky), Sub-Mariner, Miss America, and Whizzer. Known as the All Winners Squad, the group discovered a series of riddles left behind by a criminal mastermind called Isbisa. When the word romaN appeared among the clues, Human Torch asked Namor if he had orchestrated the crime as a practical joke. Namor felt insulted by the implication; only at the urging of Toro did Namor decide to stay with the team. The All Winners Squad regrouped two issues later to thwart Future Man and Madame Death (#21).

Coincidentally, Toro wore only trunks and boots as a costume and might have been mistaken for Namor's sidekick until activating his flame powers and thereby resembling a shorter version of the Human Torch.

The historical significance of the All Winners Squad diminished when retroactive continuity placed the Invaders during World War II, forming five years before the All Winners Squad.

Sub-Mariner Meets the Creature from the Black Lagoon

In 1954, the same year that The Creature from the Black Lagoon premiered in theaters, Prince Namor faced a menace with a striking resemblance to the Hollywood monster. The story opened with Namor showing his friend Betty Dean a letter asking for help. The ambiguous letter was signed by a Professor Zunbar (Sub-Mariner Comics #35).

Going to the address on the letter, Namor entered a waterfront building only to find himself overpowered by a pair of mechanical robots. The robots reported to Professor Zunbar, who intended to surgically transfer Namor's brain in the body of Elmer, a green amphibian the professor had created. Among his character flaws, Elmer was afraid of water.

Namor narrowly escaped from the surgical table and turned Professor Zunbar over to the police. As for Elmer, the creature apparently died when a box of nitroglycerin he'd gotten hold of exploded.

Triplicate explanation points appeared at the end of several sentences of dialogue in the story, appropriately titled "Vengeance!!!"

What if ... Thor Had Joined the Defenders?

Today's blog post takes inspiration from Marvel's classic series that asked, "What if…?" In that vein, I consider how a key decision in the formation of the Defenders might have unfolded differently.

On that fateful day when Dr. Strange formed the Defenders (Marvel Feature #1), Prince Namor was his first recruit. In need of a second ally with great physical strength, the sorcerer reluctantly selected the Hulk. Dr. Strange summoned the green goliath only because Silver Surfer was trapped on Earth and couldn't travel with them to another dimension, and because Dr. Strange presumed that Thor was unavailable. But what if Dr. Strange hadn't jumped to that conclusion? And what if Thor was indeed available? In other words, What if … Thor had joined the Defenders?

In this speculative timeline, Dr. Strange, Namor, and Thor would found the non-team. During their early adventures, the thunder god would prove as capable a Defender as the Hulk had been in the original published stories.

Without the Hulk, however, the events from Defenders #7 would play out differently. In the original story, Hawkeye tried to capture the Hulk and then accepted Valkyrie's offer to join the Defenders. (Valkyrie herself joined in Defenders #4.) Yet if Hulk had no ties to the Defenders, Hawkeye would not have met the non-team at that time, much less join them.

This change in lineup would affect the crossover event spanning Defenders #8-11; Avengers #115-118, when the two teams clashed. As originally published, Thor of the Avengers battled Hulk of the Defenders, while Iron Man of the Avengers squared off against Hawkeye of the Defenders. In this alternate version, Thor of the Defenders would battle Iron Man of the Avengers. In both versions, the teams would put their differences aside at the end of the story. Not everything would balance out so evenly, however.

Nighthawk's membership into the Defenders (#13-14) would inevitably lead the non-team to meet Power Man and then battle the Wrecking Crew (#17-19). Here, fate would change irrevocably. The original story required Hulk to return to his alter ego as Bruce Banner and save the day by deactivating a dangerous Gamma Bomb. Unlike Banner, Thor's alter ego of Donald Blake was a physician, not a physicist. Without Bruce Banner's know-how, the Gamma Bomb would detonate and kill 20 million people. As a result, this story would end in tragedy, just like many tales published in the series What If…?

This panel with Dr. Strange and Bruce Banner comes from Defenders #19.

Titan, the Amphibian from Atlantis!

One month before Sub-Mariner regained his memory as the Prince of Atlantis in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962), a very different Atlantean appeared in Tales of Suspense #28 (April 1962). In that tale, a water-breathing giant named Titan communicated telepathically to the residents of Manhattan. When Titan offered untold wealth to anyone willing to describe humanity's weapons and defenses, an automobile industrialist named John Cartwright jumped at the offer. Upon arriving in Atlantis, however, Cartwright told the giant amphibians that humans possessed weapons powerful enough to destroy the underwater civilization, deterring them from attacking the surface world.

Fantasy Masterpieces #7 (Feb. 1967) and Uncanny Tales from the Grave (Oct. 1975) reprinted this creative tale, titled "Titan, the Amphibian from Atlantis!" Throughout this time period, the science fiction and fantasy titles published by Marvel Comics did not inherently occupy the shared universe of superheroes … making room for these Atlanteans to be vastly different from Sub-Mariner's people. In contrast, a prior take on Atlantis from Amazing Adventures #2 (June 1961) became Aquatica when reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #22 (May 1977), as the updated version helped establish Dr. Druid as a costumed hero.

As an aside, as compelling as Sub-Mariner could be as a character, his homeworld generally lacked the imagination of Titan's version of Atlantis or the lost city renamed Aquatica.