Sub-Mariner Comics #39
The Commie Frogmen Vs. Sub-Mariner
Swimming to New York City, the Sub-Mariner spots a woman in a rowboat scanning the floor of the harbor with a magnifying box when suddenly something pulls her into the water. Diving under the water, Namor spots a bunch of men in diving gear pulling the girl away. Namor follows after them to a hideout and learn that they are communist spies who have planted bombs under the docks in an act of sabotage, and how they plan to frame the Sub-Mariner by leaving a replica of his belt at the scene of the attack.
Namor rushes out to try and stop them, but he is too late as they had an electric detonator wired back at their base. Meanwhile, the police investigate the scene and find the replica belt that they left to frame Namor. The Sub-Mariner then rushes back to the communists base just as they are attempting to escape with the girl as their prisoner. While Namor fights off the communist agents their leader escapes with the girl in a helicopter. Flying after them, Namor deflects bullets being fired at him by the police who spot him from the ground.
Namor follows the helicopter to a ship just outside of New York waters and fights the spies there, tossing their leader overboard. As the coast guard follows after, the fearful communist leader surrenders not wishing to be attacked by the Sub-Mariner and the confesses to the entire plot. Having rescue the girl, Namor returns her to the home. When he asks how she knew to find the spies, the Sub-Mariner is shocked to learn that she had no idea the spies were there as she was only trying to catch a fish.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
A Lesson in Humility from Namora
When he was 15, Namor is introduced to his cousin Namora by his mother, Princess Fen. However, Namor has no interest in playing with a girl but is scolded by his mother who tells Namor to go out and play with his cousin. However, as they leave the palace, Namor ditches her to play in a sunken submarine with Byrrah and another boy. Insulted by being so easily dismissed, Namora decides to teach young Namor a lesson that she is his equal.
Namor and the other boys go into the sub and play around, with Namor pretending that he is the torpedo man. When Byrrah suggests that Namor pretend that he is the torpedo and shoot himself out of the tube, Namor decides to do so even against his better judgement as the hatches are starting to get quite rusty. When Namor goes into the tube he finds that the exit is blocked and when he tries to go back he finds that the latch is welded shut. Facing suffocation, Namor cries for help but Byrrah and his other playmate flee in a panic.
Realizing the trouble Namora has caused, she frees her cousin and explains that she purposely trapped him there to teach him a lesson. Apologizing and promising to see Namora as his equal the two swim back home.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Namora
Princess Fen
Byrrah
The Long Night
A hypnotist named El Diablo returns to the amusement park where he works during the off season to use his parlor as his hideout as he seeks to get revenge against the Sub-Mariner. He uses his hypnotic power to reach out to the Sub-Mariner as he flies over New York City and puts him under his control. He commands Namor to go to his hideout where the hero is fully enthralled. He then orders Namor to rob the National Bank and return with the stolen money.
When Namor succeeds on his mission, the Sub-Mariner then returns to El Diablo. The hypnotist then explains the reason for seeking out the Sub-Mariner: Earlier Namor had assisted in the arrest of his brother André Lear who was executed for his crimes. Seeking the ultimate revenge, he sends Namor out to commit the same crime that led to his brother's death. Namor is then sent out to kill a police officer, however when Namor attacks an officer at the docks he cannot bring himself to kill an officer of the law and snaps out of El Diablo's control.
He flies back to the amusement park while the officer he almost kills calls in the attack. Seeing Namor's approach in his crystal ball, El Diablo attempts to escape, trying to hide in the parks mirror maze. Namor follows after him, remembering fully what happened and plows through the maze, smashing through the walls with his superior strength. El Diablo then tries to flee on a roller coaster, but it is not in proper running condition and runs off the rails. Namor saves El Diablo's life and then tosses him into the Tunnel of Mystery just as the police arrive.
Fearful of what Namor might do, El Diablo agrees to surrender and, the hero then caves in the tunnel trapping the hypnotist there. When the authorities arrive, Namor escapes, telling them they will find the one really responsible for the robberies.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Continuity Notes
In this story, Namor breaks free from El Diablo’s control because he could never bring himself to kill an officer of the law. This is not accurate at all as many early Sub-Mariner stories had Namor fighting the police and, particularly in Marvel Mystery Comics #2, he murdered a police officer. However, this is less likely an error per se and more of a plot contrivance imposed by Comic Book Authority Code which had just recently come into effect at the time this story was published. One of the early rules of the Code was that police officers were to always be depicted with dignity and respect, so having a character harm (let alone murder) or even call reference to a past instance where they had done just that would have been in violation of the Code. One could probably explain this away by saying that at the time Namor couldn’t bring himself to kill a police officer as, at this point in his history, he was an ally of the surface world.
