#first antihero

[comicavalcade]

SUBMARINER SUMMER SPECIAL: 85 years of Namor, 85 years of Marvel

Hello #NamorNation! Today is the 85th anniversary of Marvel Comics #1, the very first Marvel comic! Of course, this also means it is the 85th anniversary of the very first official appearance of Namor, the Sub-Mariner! So today, because no one demanded it, I rant in a special Submariner Summer 85th Anniversary Special!

(Marvel Comics #1, 1939) Namor was first slated to appear in a special promo giveaway for movie theaters named Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. The giveaway apparently never happened and the comic was unreleased. Bill Everett, the creator/writer/artist, then sold the material to a new comics publisher named Timely for their first flagship title, Marvel Comics, using the material from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly plus some additional pages which introduced his childhood friend and later love interest and eventual first wife, Lady Dorma.

Marvel Comics #1 had several stories in addition to the Sub-Mariner, including of course the original Human Torch, who featured on the cover and was an artificial man, The Angel (no relation), The Masked Rider, and interestingly, Ka-Zar, one of the few Marvel characters to get a DC-style Silver Age reboot, and who is still around in the Marvel Universe today, usually in the Savage Land.

Namor, though, was unique in several ways. For one, his people had a grudge against the surface, and specifically the U.S., because they had suffered a mass catastrophe at the hands of its explorers. So Namor was not just willing to kill, he was urged to by his grandfather, Emperor Tha-Korr, and his mother, the Princess Fen. Still, Namor would continually stop to save people along the way, and in Marvel Comics #3 had his first taste of the upcoming war when he disabled his first Nazi submarine and handed it to the Allies. This complexity of story lends him the status of superhero comics' fist antihero.

But that's not his only first. Superman had already debuted by now, of course, and was a roaring success. But as the famous refrain says, he was super-fast (Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!), super-strong (More Powerful Than a Locomotive!), aaaaaaand...could super-jump (Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound!). It would be years before his status as a flying hero was cemented. Namor, on the other hand, is described right away as "An Ultra-man of the Deep...lives on land and in the sea...FLIES IN THE AIR"! (emphasis mine) That's right, true believers, NAMOR IS THE FIRST FLYING SUPERHERO! As he demonstrates in Marvel Comics #1, flying to catch up to a seaplane with his trusty winged feet.

And last but not least...he was in fact the first underwater prince in comics. He may not always be the most well-known today, but he was in fact the first undersea royal to grace the funny books with his super feats. Nothing against any aquabros, of course.

Namor would go on to great popularity in the Golden Age of Comics, getting his own comic (Sub-Mariner Comics) as well as continuing to appear in Marvel (Mystery) Comics, and later in All Winners Comics. He is a character with eight and a half decades of history, in thousands of comics, hundreds if not thousands of stories. He's had his own solo titles not just in the Golden Age, but after being revived as a character in the Silver Age, would again have his own solo, which continued into the Bronze Age, get another in the Iron Age, and whatever Age we're in now if that's even a thing anymore, to say nothing of a veritable horde of mini-series. But that's not all! He's also a core character in team books the Invaders/All-Winners and the Defenders, and had notable runs with the Avengers and X-men. The first flying superhero, the first comic book antihero, the first sea king. There's just a huge amount of material with the character and immense historical significance.

[Covers of #1 issues from his series in 1941 (the character had already been around 2 years at that time), 1968, 1990, and 2012]

[Founding member of the Invaders/All-Winners and Defenders, member in notable runs of the Avengers and X-men] Now, you MAY ask...why the X-men? OH, well...funny story. He actually has one more notable first: First Mutant (as that last solo book up there clearly states on the cover). But how could that be? Easy! Fantastic Four Annual #1, in which Namor leads an invasion of Manhattan, was published in July of 1963. In it, Namor receives this description:

The first known MUTANT (emphasis theirs!) of our time! For reference, X-men #1 was released that same month; in tried and true Marvel fashion, an existing character in their most popular comic at the time (Fantastic Four) was used to pave the way for the new kids on the block, the X-men! And so, Namor was in fact the first mutant character published by Marvel. And just so there's no misunderstanding, he goes ahead and appears not long after in the pages of X-men itself, namely issue #6:

So his roots with the X-men actually go back farther than many might think. Frankly, I could go on and on with the many key stories and moments and actions Namor has performed and participated in over the decades. He has other firsts, other moments of historical significance. But I will wrap up by saying this: the Test of Time is a longstanding idiom for a reason. Not many things are able to maintain the necessary longevity to withstand it. There certainly aren't very many 85 year old comic book characters around. And while Namor is not as popular today as he once was, his presence is still undeniable; a version of him appeared in the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022, and there's a Namor miniseries being published right now. His appearances are still significant, in destruction and salvation, an antihero, the antihero, who stood before the rest, and flew before any other.

Godspeed, Sub-Mariner. Here's to 85 more. 🎉🎊🥳

[vertigoartgore]

1987's Hellblazer Vol.1 #1 cover by cover artist Dave McKean.

Fun Fact : "The original title for this series was Hellraiser, but it was changed prior to publication so as to not be confused with the 1988 Clive Barker horror film, Hellraiser."

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

I know we joke Lawrence Stroll is basically a bond villain, but my god, I have to take off my hat to him. Man joined this sport purely to support his son's career and dreams, and has seemingly just managed (not officially confirmed as yet) to nab the key to achieving those dreams in certified freaking car genius Adrian Newey, the man behind car designs that won 6 constructors' championships, 7 drivers championships, and earned 120 podiums to date for red bull alone. He's won 12 constructors' championships in total with 3 different Formula One teams (red bull, williams & mclaren). And now, he's apparently chasing Max too. I have to admire this man's sheer commitment, I now need him to win (sign newey & Max when the time comes) so badly now to see him rub the entire paddocks nose in it lmao.

[bumblydumbly]

All the Venom fics where they give Eddie a supplement so they dont have to eat people anymore and eddie is happy about it bc he doesnt like eating people—i love you but you clearly have never ached to rend flesh from bone with your teeth. what are you vegan

[gallifreyanhotfive]

[doctorskelegoats]

None of these quite work, but surely three thirds of a shitpost is equivalent to one shitpost. I continue to be completely fixated on Augustine and Mercymorn as the alpha couple, right down to her describing herself as unlovable. Artist credit @exmakina

[hollowboobtheory]

if your sense of taste is lost does that mean you can listen to the new taylor swift album

listen i am strictly neutral on her music. if it's playing in a room i'm in or someone is listening to her near me i don't have a problem listening to it. it's not actively offensive to my ears, i just don't really get anything out of it for the most part and it's not really my style. it's not bad its not good it's just here. and there's so fucking much of it

[francesderwent]

I think that I should try to kill my ego, 'cause if I don't my ego might kill me

[havendance]

Helena Bertinelli fans, I am curious. Note that in this case, introduction does not necessarily mean the first place you encountered her, but the first place you felt like you got to know her. So if you technically first encountered her in a cameo roll, that wouldn't count.

(If you're not a fan/haven't read her comics, please consider not voting. I didn't have enough room for a show results option.)

[yuttikkele]

ok so, dc fans, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m under the impression that Jason Todd is just c!Wilbur from the dsmp down to the white hair tuft

[icannotgetoverbirds]

In your wip, who is your favourite character to write currently and why?

I can't pick a favorite how dare you ask me to even try (lighthearted)

But I am really excited for the plans I have for Mr. Qi! It'll be the first time I'm writing a morally gray character (possibly an antihero?). I'm also planning on writing in some uh... sensual cannibalism (shoutout to @cannibalcanid for the inspiration) for him to partake in. It's gonna be so much fun and I can't wait.

Now I just need to write about a hundred more chapters so I can finally bring him into the story...

[basicallyjaywalker]

Thinking about Ivy to realize I haven't posted about her at all so have a short infodump (when I get the chance to finish rewatching S5 I'm also gonna be insufferable about her)

-daughter of Morro and wind elemental and orphan with a lot of resentment

-taken in by Ronin, no one is sure if this was the better or worse option than living on the streets

-expert forger and a sneaky little thief

-her wind element is suppressed since Morro's held onto it. It's like it's been split in half between the two of them and after he's released from the cursed realm he hogs it like a blanket

-had a mom, once.

-since i recently rewatched skybound: she definitely believed the ninja could be innocent during the bounty hunt, but probably still helped bc a payday is important

-she would be part of the ninja replacement team

-gets along shockingly well with lloyd (bonded over morro giving them irreversible trauma)

-would also get along with jay and nya and would try to learn mechanics from them (ronin tried to teach her but it failed)

-her and luna are <3 they met when Ivy tried to rob doomsday comix and luna instead infodumped on her about a magical girl series. neither knows how to address their feelings despite each being almost a year older than the ninja

-ivy loves the sea and the water, always has. the docks of Stiix are one of her favorite places to hang out

-she inherited her dad's little hair streak and she dyes it black for a long time

-i do want her relationship with morro to slightly heal and have a fic planned for how it starts, but it takes a lot of introspection and she never fully does forgive him for leaving her

[noimnotdoindthisagain]

Hi

So hey. Umm I've come over here to say that I've started to write a story about the Knitter on Ao3. I was scrolling through Pinterest one day and I saw the post of it. I've seen the post before, I knew the story, but I wanted to know more. So I researched Tumblr's First (?) Anti-hero.

From what I could find (the Knitter was created back in like 2012 please don't blame me) there was no origin story for this anti hero.

Which was weird to me, yk? People had made fanart of this character, villains and sidekicks. Someone even wrote and drew a short comic on how Purl and Knitter met. People have cosplayed and made his creatures in real life with yarn. But nowhere, that I could find, an origin story; no quick fanfic, no comic or webcomic, no talk from the og artist or from the Knitter himself about the origins. There was nothing.

[Well this is from what I could find, if there is something out there I would gladly love to see it, its just that I spent hours combing through the knitter tag to try to find an origin story, I really wanted to read it, but I couldn't find one.]

So in a sudden idea and a very impulsive move, I decided to make Knitter his origin story.

Why did I decide to do that? I have no idea. I can barely write and I have never written a story like this before. But I did it,

Sort of.

The first chapter is out so is the 'author's note' but that was awhile ago, and now I'm trying to continue the story. I've just been a little tired lately.

So if anyone actually read through this or sees it here is

[byanyan]

me, staring far off into the distance: i still really want to make magical girl byan happen........

[kraviolis]

I FINALLY WATCHED ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE!!!!!