NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER Omnibus Volume 1

Nearly all of these stories were created when Marvel was still restricted to just ten titles or so a month, under a distribution agreement that ran from 1958 to 1968. This actually resulted in the best-ever Marvel Comics material -- Stan could still write or at least oversee every single title, and cross-overs were frequent. Amazing, iconic stories were even more frequent, such as Subby's first appearances in Fantastic Four, and in The Avengers #3 and 4, in Strange Tales battling The Human Torch, in Daredevil #7...you get the idea. - Bud Created in 1939, Namor was Marvel’s first super hero, and his 1960s reintroduction linked those appearances to create the tapestry of the Marvel Universe! Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is getting the Omnibus treatment, from his very first Silver Age appearance in The Fantastic Four, joining and/or fighting with The Avengers in their first issues, and sharing the Tales to Astonish with The Incredible Hulk, to finally getting his own solo title again. This volume takes a deep dive into his first Marvel Age exploits, collecting all the rare appearances where the anarchic antihero wreaked havoc on the nascent Marvel Universe. Back then, Namor was just as likely to team up with Doctor Doom as he was to save the world, and that was a formula for great stories.And Sue Richards and he had a thing going in those early issues of Fantastic Four! When the brash monarch earned his own series in Tales to Astonish, he set out on a quest for the Trident of Neptune that would prove his status as rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. He’ll also battle Warlord Krang, defend the Lady Dorma and go to war with the Secret Empire on the way to his own solo series! The Hulk battles Subby in TTA #100, just before Subby got his own solo title. Marvel could not expand their line until 1968, and that meant only the top talent was working on a very limited number of titles. Sub-Mariner #1 was the kick off the new era; no longer held to ten titles, with heroes sharing old anthology titles like Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense and Strange Tales, all the top heroes suddenly got their own titles. Staff was expanded, new artists came on board, and things got really good for quite some time until by the 1970s, Marvel had so many titles some of that magic was gone and not-so-great writing and artists were needed to get the product out. But back in this era, man, it was good stuff every month. - Bud Collects Sub-Mariner #1; Fantastic Four #4, 6, 9, 14, 27, 33 and Annual #1; Avengers #3-4; X-Men #6; and Daredevil #7 – and material from Tales to Astonish #70-101; Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1; Tales of Suspense #79- 80; Strange Tales #107 and 125; and Not Brand Echh #1, 4 and 9, 1962-68.