#golden ager

[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' first 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.

🎉🎊🥳

[sweetfoxmojis]

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday I was busy, have some of these, and have a good Christmas if u celebrate it!

[little-pup-pip]

Hello!!! could you do a pastel blue and yellow golden retriever puppy moodboard? gender neutral please with a paci preferably deco but it’s ok if not!! with a theme of stars, pompompurin, and sleepiness?

Yes!!

[chewtoypuppy]

puppies at the beach :3

[sleepystarb0y]

hiiii!!! can you do a bunny/golden retriever pet regression board? when i regress, im kinda both of them(?) and id really appreciate it :D

awwwes i sure can :>

[pawtrolling]

this is me if you even care /ref

[plusie]

[bugsb1te]

  zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ

ᯓᡣ𐭩 cute pictures i found of me on pinterest  ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

[wolfenpupr]

Moodboard based on my stuffies!!: Felix

Felix has been with me since I was in the 6th grade! I happened upon the fellow at six flags with my friends, there was a penguin one and another one I forgot what animal but when I saw Felix, I knew he was the one. Now I take him almost everywhere, and he has quite the personality, he does contract injuries every now and then but i sew him up everytime so he okii 🐾

I named him Felix because of a friend of mine that unfortunately is not longer here with us but at the time I found this bear, my friend joked about naming it after him and I was like “why not” and now he’s named Felix! Though people keep assuming I named him after Felix from Skz, which no I didn’t but I love Felix from skz too!

This moodboard is filled with things that reminded me of this bear and I will probably do more later on my other stuffies !!

Edit: I was in 6th grade in 2018 and I find that crazy

dividers & dni , Da iorek byrnison tingy ish made by meh!

[snowwangel]

31 days of agere stimboards

day 22: your favorite dog breed, any/all !

i love all dog breeds and i couldn't pick just one, so just a general puppy themed stimboard

🦴🐾🦴-🐾🦴🐾-🦴🐾🦴 divider

[cutiepieautistic]

Source

[earlgrreytea]

gold retruvr stimbord arfarfarf

[little-pup-pip]

i was wondering about a fem golden retriever stim board..? thank you :3

Here you go sorta!!

[deadboystims]

golden honey bear 🍯🧸(link) - credit if used !

[zack-agere]

Golden retriever stimboard !

requested by anon !

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[plastic-rainbows]

Little Golden books