SUPER-HERO 007 UPDATE: NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER 1940

He's back and newly benevolent after a five-minute speech from Betty Dean, so what does he do now?

Marvel Mystery Comics v1 005 sees Namor beg off of his eternal war on the surface (and the attitude that Emperor Thakorr gives off really implies that this was less of an Atlantean thing than a side project or Namor and his mother's). He then heads off the New York City to offer his services to humanit, and is immediately swarmed and taken into custody by some remarkably well-coordinated first responders.

Despite this harsh welcome, Namor keeps his cool remarkably well considering his prior track record. He cools his heels in jail for a few days and then gets special permission to go on a field trip to help out at a subway disaster, AND then goes on to capture the bank robbers who were responsible for the problem in the first place. I honestly wouldn't have minded if this tactical jail-based era had continued for a while.

Sadly, it was not to be, as in Marvel Mystery Comics v1 006 we learn that the State of New York has not forgotten about all of those very recent and public murders that Namor committed, and that he is going on trial. Despite Betty Dean's assurances that he will be exonerated - despite, again, the fact that he murdered several police officers in front of other police officers - he is in fact found guilty and scheduled for execution.

Now, far be it from me to suggest that the powerful should not be held to account for their crimes just as much as, if not more than, the weak, but from a purely practical standpoint this is a very bad decision on the part of New York. We'll cover the particulars in the next Namor as Villain update, but simply put they vastly overestimate their ability to actually kill the guy and so open themselves up to a lot more death and property damage. It's yet another reason to opposed the death penalty I suppose: that it might just make them mad.

Namor cools off and decides that Nazis are ultimately more worth fighting than the City of New York by Marvel Mystery Comics v1 013. He and Dorma set out to do so while clad in these stylish new battle uniforms which are armoured (questionably useful considering Namor's demonstrable toughness) and incorporate gas masks (extremely useful given how vulnerable the Sub-Mariner has proven to be to gas attacks).

Finally, Dorma casually drops the fact that she, like Namor, is now fully amphibious thanks to a surgical treatment that it's kind of weird that more Atlanteans don't get

MEDIA IN COMICS 015

Comics love to have media in them, and I love telling you about those media.

Music:

Though the radio debut Roger Midas and His Melodeers is a hopeful sign for the relationship between former absentee workaholic father and snob Harvey Midas and his progeny, one can't help but be a little cynical about the sudden success of a rich man's passion project. (Detective Comics v1 047, 1941)

When I detailed the musical output of the Murder Maestro in the last Media Round-Up I somehow missed that a) "I'm Getting Up in the World" was in fact written not by the Maestro but by Johnny Quick as part of a plan to trap the villain and b) it was performed by a radio ensemble called the Bandoliers. (More Fun Comics 072, 1941)

Newspaper Columns:

Golden Age Marvel Comics detective Ferret writes a column called "Crime Doesn't Pay" for the Tribune. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 004 1940)

Radio:

If Lester Pry's radio gossip column is called anything other than "Lester Pry" then we get no indication of it in this Slam Bradley story. (Detective Comics v1 051, 1941)

"The Scarlet Terror" is our first radio show featuring a pulp-style action hero, the eponymous "red-cloaked man from the planet Jupiter!" Sounds like a hoot. (Hit Comics 010, 1941)

"The Happy Hour" features live music to delight all (but bemuse the Shining Knight). Just why the singer is dressed in a "hack comedian" outfit is unexplained but probably would have made sense to someone from the 1940s. Featuring the real-life novelty hit "the Hut-Sut Song." (Adventure Comics 069, 1941)

I assume that "Uncle Dan's Kiddie Hour" is more than just a venue for sending messages to specific children over the airwaves, but that's the part of the broadcast that we get to see as it is used by Spy Smasher as a semi-secure channel to convey information to Eve and Admiral Corby. (Whiz Comics 024, 1941)

Alan "Green Lantern" Scott moves from radio engineer to radio presenter after his boss notices his pleasant voice and sticks him on "Man on the Street" duty. (Green Lantern v1 002, 1941)

Further Apex Broadcasting System programming includes "What's Your Trouble?" which involves a jury of smug-looking experts giving advice to those with problems (explained in All-American Comics 030 and then actually seen in action in Green Lantern v1 002, 1941)

Apex also broadcasts "You the Public," a forum for community members to tell their own stories, though only those stories that involve absolutely no controversy, as illustrated here by the unnamed Apex head choosing to let a huge slave ring go uncommented-upon rather than invite a bit of legal trouble. (All-American Comics 024, 1941)

"You the Public" returns in All-American Comics 033 as the venue for a discussion of an ongoing conflict between unionizing cab drivers and the mob.

SUPER-HERO FILE 007: NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER

(Marvel Mystery Comics 003, 1940)

Though Namor started his comics journey as an outright villain, by his third appearance, the world was ready to see a softer side of him. This journey to redemption begins when the police notice just how horny he was in his last outing and assign NYPD officer Betty Dean to capture him. On her own with no backup, of course.

Despite the fact that her boss is seemingly trying to commit murder by super-villain on her, Betty is very good at her job and puts a plan into place that theoretically has the Sub-Mariner at her mercy: she lurks around the waterfront with a swimsuit under her clothes until someone spots Namor in the vicinity and then pretends to be drowning. Once he has answered the siren call of an attractive woman in trouble, Betty employs Sherlock Holmes' favourite means of capturing someone: get close to them and then put a gun to their head.

Alas for Betty, while this plan would have worked if Namor had been an ordinary swimming murderer, he is in fact a bulletproof fish man and she ends up stranded on a buoy far out at sea. It is at this point, however that Namor performs his very first super-heroic act: when confronted with a sea battle between a British convoy and some German sea raiders, he instinctively comes to the aid of the underdog and sinks the Nazis.

Betty takes this as an opportunity to explain that Americans are, like, totally peaceful and would never blow up Atlantis on purpose, and actually manages to sway his opinion! No more will he war on the USA, unless another attractive woman takes the time to point out that maybe they would have if they thought it was a good idea or profitable enough or might have inconvenienced the English/French/Spanish depending on historical era.

Namor returns to Atlantis' cool-ass iceberg palace in Marvel Mystery Comics v1 004 and convinces the Emperor and never-before-seen Council of Three to change their minds about the US in about five minutes, then sets out with a fleet of Atlantis' finest steam-powered (I'm sorry: artificial steam-powered) aerial submarines to wage war on the Axis. I'm not going to cover a lot of it because it's pretty repetitive, but a large part of Namor's Golden Age super-heroic career consists of sallying forth with the Atlantean Aerial Navy and blowing up huge chunks of the German and Japanese Navies. Like he possibly blows up more ships than the Axis actually possessed.

Don't think that we have seen the last of the villainous Namor, by the way, because that guy is always lurking in the (small, ankle-mounted) wings.

Update 1940 

MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 004

Everyone likes a good monster now and then.

Horned Cat:

With every one of these round-ups I accrue more evidence that the Slightly Different Big Cat is one of the classic monster types, as seen here when Congo Jack is confronted with this horned green feline in the mystical Valley of Vango in the Congolese jungle.

As a bonus, a few steps later he has to deal with another classic: the carnivorous plant, or in this case flesh-eating bush. (Lightning Comics v2 004, 1941)

Croco-Tiger:

As further evidence, here's Power Nelson fending off a strangely plush-looking croco-tiger in the wilds of the planet Pluvius in the far-flung year 1982 CE. For those like me who like to see a comic book creature survive now and then, worry not for the yellow pool this beast is being flung into merely shrinks it to kitten size, which is hopefully something that it can adapt to.

Pluvius also features its own type of carnivorous plant, in this case some sort of tentacle (or possibly tendril?) based predator. (Prize Comics 003, 1940)

Cannibal Tree:

Rex Dexter of Mars and gal pal Synde have their own run-in with a carnivorous plant, the so-called cannibal tree, on an unnamed extrasolar planet. (Mystery Men Comics 018 1941)

Dodman's Serpent:

Though the practice is now frowned upon in zoological circles, I can't help but love the sound of an eponymous species name, and especially when the species in question is some sort of monster. Dodman's Serpent is great because it has the lovely rhythm of an eponym without actually being named after some guy named Dodman who will later be cancelled and require a lot of textbooks to be reprinted. Instead, it is named after its hunting grounds near Dodman's Point in Cornwall. Or its former hunting grounds, I suppose, since it made the mistake of attacking a ship containing the Black Knight. (The Funnies 049, 1940)

Dragon:

I really like this dragon, which spent its days peacefully eating maidens in an unnamed European kingdom until the Golden Knight showed up and slayed it. It has all the weird goofiness of the dragons that you see in Medieval illustrations from before the concept of what such a beast looks like was really codified. (Fantastic Comics 010, 1940)

Dragons:

These dragons, by contrast, are just a bunch of weird lizards that the Green Sorceress keeps in a cave and throws her enemies to. I really like them. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

Drazil:

Here we see Neptina associate Norma Kane be ambushed and nearly killed by a very cool-looking undersea reptile called a drazil. As is often the case with long-necked creatures, the drazil is vulnerable to having its head chopped off.

Norma really was having a day of it, as immediately before the drazil attack, she was ambushed by this heinous looking crustacean which is referred to only as a "sea-beast." (Champ Comics 011, 1940)

Dream Plants:

During one of the Green Sorceress' many attempts to conquer the whole of the underground world, she employs dark majicks and weird science to move her armies through the Fourth Dimension. While pursuing her there, Blue Bolt is nearly killed by a Dream Plant, a carnivorous plant with the ability to project sexy illusions to lure its prey closer.

Later, a second, airborne species of dream plant that forgoes the illusory lures in favour of active hunting almost does for the Green Sorceress herself before Blue Bolt spears it in its conspicuous weak point. (Blue Bolt v1 005, 1940) 

Jungle Horse:

Finally we have the jungle horse, potentially the only non-hostile species present on the Gorikon in the Negative Universe, or at least the only one encountered by Meteor Martin during his time there. These peaceful animals just hang around waiting to act as beasts of burden for passing humanoids - a truly selfless species. (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)