Fantastic Four #147
The Sub-Mariner Strikes!
The Thing, Medusa, and the Human Torch enter Reed's laboratory and find him despondent. A summons in his hand indicates that Sue has started divorce proceedings against him. Reed says that Sue is within her rights and that if this is what she wants, then he will not stand in her way. Ben becomes angry because it seems to him that no one wants to do anything about this, but when he flies from the Baxter Building on the Airjet-Cycle, the Torch goes with him. As Ben and Johnny head for Pennsylvania, Johnny says that he does not think Sue is right to file for divorce, though she seems to have a good reason. Then he flames on and flies ahead, leaving Ben to his thoughts.
Many miles pass by unnoticed beneath the Airjet-Cycle, but suddenly, as Ben soars over a Pennsylvania lake, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, flies out of the water and attacks. Ben plummets onto a rock and his vehicle is destroyed. He is totally baffled when Namor says that although he has no quarrel with him, he must strike because honor demands it. Namor tells Ben to surrender, explaining that he does not wish to harm him unless he persists in his chosen course of action. When Ben tries to defend himself, Namor carries him underwater. Ben realizes that he will have a difficult fight, because the water increases Namor's strength, but before he can do anything a sudden blow knocks him unconscious. As Namor hauls Ben onto the shore, the Human Torch attacks him with fireballs. He builds a wall of flame to keep Namor away from the water, but Namor traps Johnny with an asbestos net. Johnny realizes that Namor had been expecting them and has for some reason betrayed them. Namor says that his reason is valid, but when Johnny replies that there is no valid reason for betrayal, Namor knocks Johnny, still enmeshed in the net, into the lake. Then the Thing revives and grabs Namor by the ankle, barraging him with punches.
A powerful blow hurls Namor through the air. As Ben helps Johnny out of the water, Namor returns and warns them to make no attempt to find Sue Richards or her child. From this moment, says Namor, Sue and Franklin are under his protection, and Sue belongs to him. Ben and Johnny stand dumbfounded as Namor flies away. Soon Ben and Johnny arrive at the Landers farm, where they learn that the Sub-Mariner has indeed kidnapped Sue. Although Namor abducted only Sue, Franklin is gone as well, and the Landers assume that the Sub-Mariner took him as well. Carol says that Sue would not listen to them when they advised against suing for divorce, and now she blames herself and her husband for what has happened. Three hours and 25 minutes later, Ben and Johnny arrive at the Baxter Building, having been given a ride by a friendly New Jersey state trooper. Ben elects to tell Reed the distressing news, and he walks into the lab where Reed is working. Medusa whispers to Ben that it took her four hours to get Reed's mind off Sue, but Ben replies that what he has to say cannot wait. The shock of what happened to Sue galvanizes Reed into action.
In less than five hours, he devises a plan to determine the Sub-Mariner's whereabouts. Using a mento-scan device, Reed monitors the radiation band that surrounds the Earth, tuning into the special frequency emitted by Namor's costume. Reed reminds Ben that it was he who designed Namor's protective uniform, and he knows how to trace it. So, in just a few minutes, Reed locates Namor in the South Atlantic Ocean, six hundred miles off the African coast, and he tells his teammates that he shall be there tomorrow morning, with or without them. At 1:55 a.m., the Fantasticar, carrying Reed, Medusa, Ben, and Johnny, heads out across the ocean, and by 11:41 a.m. they arrive at their destination. Reed tells his teammates to take their oxy-pills, which will provide oxygen to their bloodstream underwater for an hour. In addition, Johnny wears a heat frame that will allow him to flame on beneath the surface. Then the Fantasti-Car dives, and the modules with Ben and Johnny detach. Reed's calculations were absolutely accurate, and within seconds, Ben and Johnny find the Sub-Mariner, ensconced in a fortress-like underwater building waiting for them, is puzzled that none of Namor's subjects is in evidence, because he does not know that many of them were felled by the nerve gas that made it necessary for Namor to wear Reed's life-support costume.
Johnny leaps from his segment of the Fantasticar and crashes it into the transparent dome housing Namor. Namor easily evades the missile and turns to face him as he flames on. But then Ben attacks from another direction, and Namor stuns him with a powerful punch. Reed can see that Ben is disoriented and that Johnny is having difficulty managing his flame underwater, so he signals them to back off and attacks Namor himself. Reed slams Namor through the wall of his fortress, but Namor remains unhurt and taunts Reed about Sue. Namor nearly drives Reed crazy when he reminds him about Franklin. Meanwhile, as Reed and Namor battle, the Thing enters the fortress, and he soon finds some rooms filled with air, not water. Curious, he starts to look around, but then a green-scaled fist shatters through the wall next to him, and one of Namor's android guards emerges. Ben puts it out of commission with a single punch, and then he enters an airlock. He finds Sue on the other side watching the battle between Reed and Namor with tear-filled eyes. Ben offers to take her away, but she tells him to stop the battle because they have all made a terrible mistake. Johnny can see that he, Medusa, and Reed cannot mount a coordinated attack against Namor because they are hampered by the water and cannot communicate. Thus it is not long before Reed lies stunned on the ocean floor. Namor knocks Johnny nearly unconscious, but before he can finish off his three antagonists, Ben and Sue, wearing an oxygen helmet, emerge. Sue tells Reed and the others that Namor did not kidnap her. He asked her to go with him, and she did. Then she declares that she is in love with the Sub-Mariner and that she will stay with him forever.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Medusa, Human Torch, Thing), Invisible Girl, Sub-Mariner, Bob Landers, Carol Landers
Continuity Notes
Sue's divorce notice comes following Sue leaving Reed over marital problems in Fantastic Four #130 which were made worse when Reed was forced to shut down Franklin's mind in Fantastic Four #141.
Johnny references the Fantastic Four's brief break-up after Reed shut down Franklin's mind that occurred between Fantastic Four #142-144.
Reed mentions he can track Namor because he designed a new suit for him that will save his life. This suit was created for Namor in Sub-Mariner #67.
This story states that the absence of the Atlanteans is because they are all dead following exposure to nerve gas in Sub-Mariner #67. However it is later revealed in Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 that his people were actually in a state of suspended animation. They are eventually restored to normal in Super-Villain Team-Up #13.
The Thing recalls their first battle with Namor, which happened in Fantastic Four #4.
The battle with the Sub-Mariner in this story is revisited in Marvels: Eye of the Camera #2
