Sub-Mariner Comics #38
The Sub-Mariner Strikes
With his super-human abilities fading, the Sub-Mariner is asked by Namora to return to Atlantis to meet with the Emperor. There the Emperor shows Namor that his once mighty powers have been reduced to only the ability to breath underwater and enhanced strength. The Emperor explains to Namor that they have developed a machine that will restore Namor's full strength, invulnerability and flight. However Byrrah has seen to it that it won't work after stealing the formula needed to operate the machine. Suspecting that Byrrah was responsible, the Sub-Mariner confronts him and forces him to turn over the formula.
Namor then subjects to himself the device and finds his powers restored to normal. Happy to find his experiment a success, the Emperor orders Namor to resume his one man war on the surface world. Despite Namor's pleas that he has friends on the surface (such as Betty Dean) he has no choice but to follow the Emperor's orders. On the surface, the Sub-Mariner spots what appears to be a Russian sub attacking an American ship. Disabling the sub, he witnesses Byrrah and his men and his faithful minions flee the sub, in an attempt to make Namor betray the Emperor's orders.
Namor holds the American ship together and helps it get back to port. There the Sub-Mariner informs the crew of the ship that it was he who helped keep the ship together and get them to safety. When the crew refuses to believe him, the Sub-Mariner angrily sinks it before returning home.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Namora
Holy One
Byrrah
Wings On His Feet
When the Sub-Mariner turned 14 years old, he went to the surface of Antarctica to explore the surface. A sudden earthquake causes the ice to split open and Princess Fen falls into the chasm. Namor grabs hold of the edge but this only saves him for a moment as he loses hold and falls in himself. However before he hits the ground, Namor is surprised when suddenly wings sprout from his ankles enabling him to fly. Namor them uses his newfound ability to rescue his mother and bring her back to Atlantis to treat her broken leg.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Princess Fen
Continuity Notes
The events of this story are revisited and expanded upon in Saga of the Sub-Mariner #2
The World Destroyers
The Sub-Mariner is summoned to the surface by his friend Betty Dean who asks him for his aid to stop a group who call themselves the Fatalists. A group with no official allegiance who have been trying to sell a death-ray weapon to any country willing to meet their price. However none of the governments of the world, not even communist run nations want to purchase the gun due to the fact that it is too dangerous and could wipe out the entire planet. Betty also explains that it is believed that the scientists who invented the Fatalist's weapons was an alien, but she has dismissed the notion as ridiculous. However, Namor refuses to help stop the Fatalists due to the fact that he does not believe that they could ever pose a threat to Atlantis and leaves.
However later, Namor begins to reconsider their possible threat when suddenly the Fatalists approach him and offer to sell him the weapons, asking him to use them to wipe civilization off the map. Refusing to commit planetary genocide, Namor attempts to attack them and the Fatalists try to slay him with their death-ray and seemingly slay Namor. They toss his body into the ocean and then travel to a small island nation. There they take the rulers son hostage and the Fatalists force the boy to write a ransom note ordering his father to buy the death-rays or his son will be killed. When the ruler refuses, seeing the security of the world more valuable than the life of his son, the Fatalists decide to kill the boy with their death-ray.
Suddenly, the Sub-Mariner arrives and they try to use the death-rays on him again, but find that they do not work. Namor easily disarms them explaining that the water restored his strength and then turns the death-rays on the Fatalists seemingly killing them. Namor gathers up the death-rays and returns the boy to his father and then heads back to Atlantis. Along the way he swears he could hear voices in the air but ignores them and continues on his way. Unknown to him, the Fatalists, are being pulled back to the Pluto to face their king for their failure. Namore meanwhile has returned the oceans, deciding to use the death-rays to conquer the surface world. However when he tries to use the weapons against some sharks as a test find that they no longer works. He abandons the weapons returning home empty handed.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Betty Dean
Continuity Notes
The Fatalists claim to come from Pluto. In science fiction it was common that aliens were depicted as coming from planets (or Pluto the non-planet!) because at the time these stories were written writers did not know much about the solar system. As it became widely known that Earth is the only planet in our solar system that can sustain life this changed in science fiction. How Marvel usually tends to explain these instances where the fiction defies current science is that the aliens in question did not live on said planet and either used it as staging ground or was named as a deflection from the real source of invasion.
