Namor:The First Mutant?

[The Toyroom]

Marvel today announced a new ongoing series starring "the first mutant," Namor the Sub-Mariner this August. Stuart Moore is writing, with art by Ariel Olivetti.

With Namor having joined the X-Men after first being pulled into Norman Osborn's dark version of the team, his new ongoing series will have close ties to the newest team book in the X-stable. The full press release is below:

Namor Must Save The X-Men From The Curse Of The Mutants

Vampires are hunting mutants and the only hope for the X-Men may be the Sub-Mariner, as he boldly launches into a new ongoing series with the extra-sized Namor #1! In this “Curse of The Mutants” tie-in spinning out of the hotly-anticipated X-Men #1, fan favorite creators Stuart Moore and Ariel Olivetti set the world’s first mutant on his most dangerous mission ever! Namor may be able to end the vampire threat, but is he willing to sacrifice Atlantis? And what can stop the threat of...the Atlantean vampires? With covers by superstars Jae Lee and Joe Quesada, Namor #1 marks the beginning on a new chapter in Namor’s life...or his death.

This August, dive into an all new ongoing series with Namor—and the X-Men will never be the same!

I haven't followed the mainstream X-titles for several years now...but apparently Namor has joined the X-Men? Really stupid IMO....almost seems like Marvel is admitting up front that Namor can't carry his own title unless they tie it in with mutants and X-Men.

I mean Namor has been around for ever and even though it's been mentioned in the past, this is the first time they're actually marketing him as "The First Mutant", no?

[The Toyroom]

Oh, and they're re-launching X-men again with a new #1?

[samurainoir]

I mean Namor has been around for ever and even though it's been mentioned in the past, this is the first time they're actually marketing him as "The First Mutant", no?

They did in the nineties


His storyline actually has dove-tailed nicely into the X-Men in Dark Reign/Dark X-Men, particularly with his hidden alliance with Emma Frost within Norman Osborn's Dark Cabal.

I'm not sure what happened to Atlantis (was this in Realm of Kings?), but basically Namor has rallied the last survivors of Atlantis and they are based underneath the sovereign Nation X/Asteriod M off the coast of San Francisco.

His current status with the X-Men does make sense within Matt Fraction's Uncanny run and he's with the Mutants for the survival of BOTH his "people".

[johnnystorm]

His current status with the X-Men does make sense within Matt Fraction's Uncanny run and he's with the Mutants for the survival of BOTH his "people".

Until one of the X-men takes a leak off the pier and he goes ballistic on them for soiling "his realm".

[Earth 2 Chris]

Look at that cover above. The 90s had some God-awful art. And Geoff Isherwood could do so much better. He's clearly falling Marvel's eddict of the time to "Image-ize" everything.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

^ Yeah I sense an Erik Larsen vibe with that cover....Plus the "Starblast" cross-over with the Inhumans doesn't really excite me...Not what I wanna see out of a Namor book...

What exactly DO I wanna see out of a Namor book? I'm not sure but I think that premise that John Byrne originally came up with as the CEO of Oracle or whatever was pretty cool...

[samurainoir]

Until one of the X-men takes a leak off the pier and he goes ballistic on them for soiling "his realm".

It looks like Namor's got his sights on Emma Frost, so you can imagine they are probably setting up an volatile situation once the ol' Imperious Rex soils Cyclop's "realm".

[samurainoir]

Byrne's run coined the "Marvel's First and Mightiest Mutant" tagline.

[StrangeVisitor]

The 90s had some God-awful art. And Geoff Isherwood could do so much better. He's clearly falling Marvel's eddict of the time to "Image-ize" everything.

Chris

Seconded. Makes me glad I had droppped the book before this issue.

From that treasure-trove of facts, Wikipedia:
In X-Men #6 (July 1964), X-Men leader Professor Xavier and antagonist Magneto each suspect Namor is a mutant. Later writers in the 1960s and 1970s described him as a hybrid, not a mutant, in order to distinguish him from the mutant X-Men.[24] When the series was revived in 1990, the series title logo carried the subtitle "Marvel's first and mightiest mutant!"

Because knowing is half the battle.

[samurainoir]

Seconded. Makes me glad I had droppped the book before this issue.

From that treasure-trove of facts, Wikipedia:
In X-Men #6 (July 1964), X-Men leader Professor Xavier and antagonist Magneto each suspect Namor is a mutant. Later writers in the 1960s and 1970s described him as a hybrid, not a mutant, in order to distinguish him from the mutant X-Men.[24] When the series was revived in 1990, the series title logo carried the subtitle "Marvel's first and mightiest mutant!"

Because knowing is half the battle.

I believe the official explanation is that it's his little working ankle wings that make him a mutant, since neither human nor Atlantean have them. Although I don't think anyone's come up with a reasonable explanation how the heck they can keep aloft a man with a density of mass that allows him to survive the pressures of the deep.

[kingdom warrior]

Byrne's run coined the "Marvel's First and Mightiest Mutant" tagline.
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/namor/4-1.jpg

I actually really enjoyed Bryne's run on this. He did pretty good artwork on this although i thought the printing at times was pretty muddy....