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 Written by Bob Gansler |
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Written by Bob Gansler |
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1958. Communists, aliens, terrorists. As the nation faced these many dangers, President Eisenhower brought together the greatest heroes of the day as the Avengers. Together, they protect America from the threats of this world and of others.
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| Marvel Boy (Bob Grayson)
An Earthman armed with the skills and science of the Eternals of Uranus. Gorilla-Man (Ken Hale)
3-D Man (Hal & Chuck Chandler)
Venus
Captain America ('Steve Rogers')
Bucky (Jack Monroe)
Cold Warrior (Will Sinkowitz)
Namora (Aquaria Nautica Neptunia)
Toro (Tom Raymond)
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The Avengers reformed at the request of President
Eisenhower to deal with the Yellow Claw, who had stolen an atomic weapon.
The heroes decided to remain together to defend America.
The Communist super-agent, the Red Skull, tried to create economic chaos in New York City. The Avengers, with the help of the thawed out 1950's Captain America and Bucky, stopped the Skull's crime wave. Meanwhile, out on the Atlantic, Soviet war ships have been mysteriously attacked by a mysterious figure. Namora's search for her cousin the Sub-Mariner led her to one of these attacks. The President called in the Avengers to deal with these attacks. Together with Namora, they set out for the Atlantic to search for Namor. Captain America and Bucky stayed behind at FBI Director Hoover's request. Meanwhile Mary Mitchell (the former Sun Girl) contacted Toro about helping to bring in Namor. |
The Silver Bullet was hovering over the ocean about 200 miles east of New York City. Marvel Boy’s wondrous vehicle had carried the team here from the airbase where the Uranian Wonder kept the ship parked.
"Hey, 3-D Man!" Gorilla-Man exclaimed. "Look out the port side!"
3-D Man took a quick look out the window. He was still uncomfortable with the controls of the ship. Although Marvel Boy had given him a quick course on the operation of the ship, it was vastly different than anything he had flown in his test pilot days. {Chuck Chandler was a test pilot before he became 3-D Man in Marvel Premiere #35} Besides, as he checked the ship’s chronometer, he saw that he had only about another hour before his three hours expired. At that time, he would need to disappear into some strange ethereal dimension and his brother Hal, seated in the back, would return to consciousness.
The Human Triple Threat shook his head and did a double take. "It’s that what I think it is?" he asked incredulously. What his triple-powered sight told him was that there was a grey flying saucer out there. He involuntarily tensed up, remembering his first encounter with encounter with a Skrull saucer. {also in Marvel Premiere #35}
"I believe the term that you mortals use is a ‘flying saucer’," Venus suggested. "It would appear that our erstwhile leader has rejoined us."
"Oh, great," Gorilla-Man commented sarcastically. "And here I was beginning to miss the know-it-all."
"Ahoy, Silver Bullet," Marvel Boy’s voice came over the Interplanetary Cosmic Radio. "I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. It took me longer than I thought to get this old ship back into shape even with the Human Robot’s help. I haven’t used it much since I first came back to Earth." {Marvel Boy came to Earth in a Uranian saucer ship in Marvel Boy #1; he later upgraded to the Silver Bullet}
"No sweat,’ 3-D Man replied into the microphone. "It gave me some more time to familiarize myself with the controls."
"Good," Marvel Boy responded. "Namora’s been filling me in over here about her cousin Namor. He’s going to be a tough fish to bring in."
"Check," 3-D Man agreed. "We’ll split up for now until we find him. When one of us does, we’ll radio the other ship."
"Check. So be on the lookout for any ship in distress. That’ll probably be the Sub-Mariner’s doing."
"You heard the man." 3-D Man turned to address his passengers as he pointed the Silver Bullet on its course. "You to take the port and starboard sides while I keep my eyes straight ahead as I fly this crate." Venus and Gorilla-Man instantly complied.
In the Saucer, Marvel Boy was piloting it away from the Silver Bullet. He had his eyes fixed straight ahead while Namora and Gorilla-Man were on either side. He was eagerly awaiting a confrontation with the legendary Prince Namor. With the Avengers under his leadership, he was confident that they would be able to subdue the powerful hybrid. Then with his telepathic powers, he would find out the reason behind the Sub-Mariner's destructive behavior.
Toro had landed in a park not too far from the FBI Headquarters. Upon landing he had doused his flame. He was pleasantly surprised that his fiery strength had not left him after his years of inactivity. He had flown all the way from Nevada under his own power, only needing to stop once in eastern Missouri to catch his breath.
He had not been waiting long when he sighted the bright blonde hair of Mary Mitchell, the former Sun Girl turned Hoover’s executive secretary. "Mary," he exclaimed. "It’s great to see you."
She smiled pleasantly at him from a distance. "I’d give you a hug, Tom, but I can feel your heat all the way from over here."
Tom resisted the urge to make a crack at the comment, as he would have in his younger days when he was the Torch’s sidekick. "Yeah, flying cross-country kind of does that to me." His body was cooling off quickly, though.
"So what can I do to help," Tom asked.
"Well, I’m hoping that you can find Namor first and bring him in," Mary replied.
"First? Who else is after him?"
Mary began to come closer. She could no longer feel the waves of heat emanating from Tom’s body. "Those new heroes, the Avengers, are looking for him as well."
"Oh yeah, I heard about them. In fact, Ann and I were watching something about them on the tube when you called."
"Ann, your wife, you said?"
"Yeah, she and I tied the knot not too long ago." He smiled broadly. "What about you? You ever get hitched?"
"No, I never did find anybody that matched up ... " Mary sighed. "I just never found the right guy."
"Oops" Tom thought to himself. He knew that Mary had carried a torch for the Torch ever since they first met. But Ol’ Pappy would not let himself get involved with her on a personal basis. The Torch said it would not be fair to her to love an android.
"I, uh, see," Tom stuttered. "Anyway, if these new Avengers are going after him, why’d you call me in?"
"Just between you and me, I don’t know if these Avengers have what it takes," she said grimly. "They’re a bunch of misfits for the most part. The only one I really trust is Marvel Boy, but then again he had gone and disappeared after ‘51 and didn’t pop back up until this year." She paused slightly. "And then there’s something going on between this new Captain America and J. Edgar. It’s one of the few secrets Hoover’s been able to keep from me."
"Yeah, I guess these Avengers aren’t the kind of heroes we had in the Liberators or the All-Winners, but the way I hear it, they did pretty good against the Red Skull."
"True, only it wasn’t the real Skull that you fought against. This one’s some Communist agent masquerading as him."
Tom was strangely happy to hear that. He could still cling to his hopes that the original Red Skull was dead. It just would not be fair for the Red Skull to survive when his old friends, the original Cap and Bucky, perished near the end of the war. {As far as Toro knows, as shown in What If #5, Cap and Bucky are dead. Any true-believing Marvel fan should know that Cap came back in Avengers #4}. He just wished that he could have been in on the Red Skull’s demise, like he and the Torch were in on "Der Fuehrer’s" death. {The Torch and Toro incinerated Adolf Hitler in his underground bunker, as shown in the aforementioned What If #4, unfortunately, the Red Skull was still alive}
"Tom? You still with me?" Mary asked as she saw Tom’s eyes glaze over in reminiscing.
"Oh, sorry," Tom apologized. "So you want me to try to nab Namor?"
"That’s about it," Mary stated. "You and the Torch were the only ones who ever held their own against him. I figure that you could do it again."
Tom exhaled deeply. "I guess I can do that. So where are these Avengers looking for Namor?"
"In the North Atlantic."
"That’s not too specific," Tom remarked.
"That’s the best I can do."
"Well," Tom sighed. "I’ll do as much as I can until my flame burns out. I should still be good for a few hours."
"Thanks, Toro," Mary gave him a peck on the cheek. "America thanks you, too."
"That’s me," Tom began to concentrate. "The all-American boy." We waved to Mary and then ignited. "Flame on!" He shot up into the sky and launched himself towards the North Atlantic.
Mary watched the trail of fire dwindle behind Toro. Now that he was all grown up, he reminded her a great deal of the Torch. "If only things had been different," she lamented.
The Silver Bullet and the Saucer had been scouring the North Atlantic region without any success. Trying to actually find the Sub-Mariner amongst the countless square miles of sea was an impossibly difficult task.
In the Silver Bullet, Gorilla-Man was becoming increasingly agitated. "This is worse than finding a needle in a haystack," he complained. "The guy’s a fish. He could be underwater and we’d never see him."
"Patience, Gorilla-Man," Venus said soothingly. "All good things come to those who wait."
"Oh sure," Gorilla-Man retorted. "To an Immortal goddess like you, wasting a few hours flying over the ocean is nothing. But to the rest of us who are living on a clock, it means something."
"Hey, lay off Venus, you big ape," 3-D Man called back. "I have enough problems trying to fly this ship and keep an eye on the detectors without having to listen to your complaining."
"It’s all right. Ken is just a little frustrated." Venus knew that Gorilla-Man liked it when she called him by name. She knew it made him feel more human.
"OK, I just talked to Marvel Boy," 3-D Man announced. "They haven’t sighted anything in the Saucer either."
"Man, it’s gonna be a long day." Gorilla-Man rested his head in his hands as pressed his elbows against the window glass. It seemed that ever since the Avengers got back together, they spent a lot of time in mind-numbing searches - first for the Yellow Claw, then for the Red Skull, and now for the Sub-Mariner. He wondered if it really was worth it, or if he should return to Africa and try to find a cure for his condition. He knew that Jann and Lorna were willing to help him if he returned.
Gorilla-Man was broken from his self-pity by something on the horizon. It looked like a flaming streak across the sky. "Hey. there’s something over there," he called out. By the time Venus reached his side, the streak was gone.
"What was it Ken," she asked.
"I dunno. Some kind of fiery trail in the sky."
"And you thought that might be the Sub-Mariner?" 3-D Man laughed. "Sub-Mariner, water. Human Torch, fire. Remember?"
Gorilla-Man growled. "If you weren’t piloting, I’d rearrange your red and green face."
"No time for that," 3-D Man responded. "I see something up ahead." Gorilla-Man and Venus hurried to the front of the craft. They could see what appeared to be a freighter in distress. She was dead in the water, smoke and fire were erupting from all over the deck, and it looked like she was taking on water.
3-D Man picked up the microphone to the ICR. "This is the Silver Bullet. Zero in on our location. We may have an attack here." Having sent the message, he brought the Silver Bullet as close as he could to the wounded freighter. Putting the craft in hover mode, he slowly dropped the Silver Bullet onto the water’s surface. "OK, we’re down. We’ll have to swim from here." He opened the side hatch and dove out into the water. Venus followed right behind him.
"Goldarn it!" Gorilla-Man cried out as he leapt. "I wasn’t that much of a fan of the water when I was human. I certainly have gotten to like it any better since I got trapped in this monkey suit of a body." With a few powerful strokes, he had caught up to Venus and 3-D Man.
"With the way you smell when you’re wet," 3-D Man called out, "we don’t like it much either."
By the time the trio covered the hundred or so yards to the freighter, the Saucer had arrived. Marvel Boy put the Saucer down on the other side of the freighter. He, Human Robot, and Namora exited the craft and quickly boarded the freighter. The other three Avengers were already on deck assessing the situation.
There were men running everywhere, spouting Russian curses as they rushed past the Avengers. A number of the men were well-armed, which all the Avengers felt was very atypical for a freighter.
"What are these Russkies saying," Gorilla-Man shouted out. He grabbed one of the crewmen rushing by. "You speak English?"
"Nyet!" was the frightened man’s reply.
Marvel Boy came over to Gorilla-Man’s side. "I speak Russian fluently, but this will make things go quicker." He looked straight into the terrified sailor’s eyes and activated his telepathic powers. After a few seconds, Marvel Boy had all he needed to know.
"It’s a Soviet spy ship," Marvel Boy announced. "They were using it to monitor the shipping lanes. They were just attacked. Odds are it was the Sub-Mariner."
The ship was still tossing and tumbling. Whether that was from additional impacts or just from the boat taking on water, nobody could tell at this moment.
"Well, let’s find Namor!" 3-D Man said eagerly. "To heck with this stinking spy ship."
As much as he wanted to capture the Sub-Mariner, Marvel Boy knew that, ethically, he had to make a different choice. "No, first we make sure that we save the ship and its crew. Then we go after Namor."
Gorilla-Man and 3-D Man thought momentarily about arguing, but they knew that Marvel Boy was right. They waited for Marvel Boy to issue the orders, and they did not have to wait long.
"Human Robot, you check the propellers. Gorilla-Man, I want you in the engine room. 3-D Man, make sure nobody’s trapped below decks. If the ship goes down, I don’t want anybody going down with it. Venus, try to gather up the crew. Namora, take a look under the waterline and see what kind of damage we’re talking about here. I’ll take the bridge."
The crew continued to scamper about the freighter. Some were hustling towards the lifeboats while other were trying to keep the ship intact. They either did not care that the Avengers were on board, or they thought the costumed Americans were stupid for boarding a sinking ship.
The Human Robot jumped off the starboard side while Namora leapt from the port side. Gorilla-Man and 3-D Man went below deck, and Marvel Boy quickly found his way into the bridge. Soon Venus was the only Avenger on deck. She began to speak to the Soviet sailors in soothing tones.
"<Men of the sea, do not worry,>" her voice came out sounding like perfect Russian. "<My friends will help keep your boat from sinking.>"
The sailors turned in astonishment. "<You speak our language perfectly. How is that so?>" one asked.
"<I speak the language of love,>" Venus replied sincerely. "<It speaks to everyone.>" She stretched her arms out. "<Stay calm. The Avengers will save you.>"
Meanwhile, Toro had seen the Silver Bullet in the distance, although he did not recognize the craft. For a moment, he though it might have been Namor’s flagship. When he saw the flying saucer zooming by, he knew that something was up. He followed the saucer’s trail, and it led him to the disabled freighter. He could only see Venus on deck of the ship. He figured that the others were busy trying to save the ship. With all of the commotion on the ship, nobody had noticed his arrival. "Let’s see if I can find Namor," he thought.
Having reached the stern of the ship, the Human Robot was busy studying the propellers. He did not need to increase the magnification of his photoreceptors to inspect the damage. It was very clear that the propellers had been wrecked deliberately. He could detect the impressions of fingers. Obviously, the destruction had been done by humanoid hands. The mechanical marvel calculated the strength required to have twisted steel of this grade so completely. His figures resulted in a being of tremendous strength, likely surpassing his own. He set to doing what he could to return the propellers to their original form. He hoped that the metal would not crack from the strain.
Gorilla-Man and 3-D Man jostled as they went down the stairs to the lower decks. The passageway was not wide enough for two normal men, much less a brawny triple-powered man and a hulking gorilla.
"Watch where you’re going," Gorilla-Man snarled. He was not happy about this situation at all, especially being down here with the Avenger who constantly reminded him of his distressing situation.
"Watch it yourself, you big ape" 3-D Man retorted. "And try not to make so much noise. I’m trying to use my triple-sensitive hearing to listen for any cries of help."
Gorilla-Man pushed ahead of his teammate on the stairs. "Aw, shut up, or you’ll be the one crying for help." He used his own hearing to find the unmistakable hum of the engine room. He found the door and ripped it from its hinges. "I’m going in. See you later, Christmas tree."
The passageways were devoid of all signs of life. 3-D Man plodded through the water whose level was growing ever higher. It was clear that the boat was taking on water. It was getting darker as more and more lights flickered off, forcing him to strain his triple vision. "I hope Gorilla-Man can get something done in the engine room," he thought. "We’ll need power to operate the pumps, otherwise we’ll never get the water off of the ship."
It seemed that there were no more sailors on the lower decks. 3-D Man’s vision and hearing were picking up nothing. "I guess I’ll head back." That was when he heard a deafening roar coming from up ahead.
"Gorilla-Man," he exclaimed as he took off as fast as he could. He had never heard such a fearful sound before. He hoped the big lug was not hurt.
Namora was looking closely at all of the damage that had been inflicted on the ship’s hull. There were holes all over the ship. It was as if the metal sheets had been pried open like a sardine can. The work was crude, but she could recognize her cousin’s handiwork.
"Namor, where are you?" she called through the water. "Why are you doing this?" Sensing danger, she turned to see fist smash directly in her face. It sent her hurtling through the water, breaking the surface, and up into the air.
On the bridge, Marvel Boy was engaged in a heated discourse with the ship’s captain. There were warning lights flashing all over the control panels. It had taken Marvel Boy a few moments to decipher them all, but even before that he knew that the ship was in dire trouble.
"Tovarisch," Marvel Boy said as patiently as he could. "<You must allow me to pilot this ship east to New York.> {Tovarisch = friend, Russian-reciting Bob}
"Nyet," the captain refused adamantly. "<This ship returns to the Soviet Union, or she goes down to the bottom!>" {Nyet=no, if you need to knowski} He had a firm hold of the ship’s wheel and refused to let go as the lights went out on the bridge.
"Darn," Marvel Boy cursed silently. Gorilla-Man must be having problems in the engine room. He activated the light jewel on his right wristband to provide some illumination. He clenched the captain’s arm and wrenched the old sailor from the wheel. Turning the wheel hard, he set a course of due east. He knew that the Human Robot would have to get the propellers working and Namora would have to find some way to seal the leaks. Otherwise, the ship was going down like the captain wanted.
Venus was directing the sailors into the lifeboats, although she knew that there were not enough to carry the entire crew. There was not enough room on the Silver Bullet or the Saucer either. She had hope in her fellow Avengers to find a way to save the day. As it was, she used her powers to keep the men from panicking. One of them turned to her, his eyes glazed and a goofy smile plastered on his face.
"Ya loobloo tibya," the sailor mooned. {"I love you", Romantically-Russian-Robert}
"<I love you, too,>" Venus replied softly. Apparently, she had exerted too much power. She had thought that these Soviets would need a high level of application, perhaps this one was just soft-hearted. As she shuttled the lovestruck sailor into a lifeboat, she saw Namora flying unconscious through the air. "Thunderbolts of Jove!" she exclaimed. She watched as she saw Namora being intercepted in mid-flight by the blazing form of Toro. The fiery phenomenon gently caught Namora and then brought her down to the boat, handing her off to Venus.
"Here you go, miss," Toro said. "Take care of her while I go deal with Namor." He zipped back off of the ship and skimmed close to the water line. Straining his eyes, he saw a familiar dark shape beneath the water. Toro readied a fireball in his hand.
The Human Robot was carefully bending the propellers back into their original configuration. He had noticed that the rudder had been left unharmed, since the boat had been able to turn itself towards the east. However, the screw was still mangled, and he would have to deal with that in order for the ship to be mobile again. He unscrewed the third finger on his right hand and activated his acetylene torch. He hoped he had enough fuel to do the necessary welding.
In the engine room, 3-D Man was shocked to see the scene before him. One of the ship’s two boilers had broken loose from its fastening and was teetering over the strained form of Gorilla-Man. The beast man was holding up the boiler with a large support beam, but 3-D Man could tell that his teammate was slowly losing the battle.
"Gorilla-Man!" 3-D Man cried out again. "I’ll be there in a sec!" Apparently the big ape had cried out when the boiler began to topple on him.
"No," Gorilla-Man growled. "This place is falling apart." Metal support beams like the one he held were falling from overhead. "It could go at any second. The other boiler could go at any second." He stared at 3-D Man. "Tell high’n’mighty Marvel Boy to get everybody off of this ship now."
3-D Man shook his head defiantly. "I’m not letting any Avenger go down with this stinking Commie scow." He leapt through the metal that littered the floor and reached Gorilla-Man’s side. He put his hands on the bar that the man-ape held. "On three, let’s give it a big push and straighten this baby out."
Gorilla-Man took a deep breath. "OK, let’s do it. One, two, three." The two heroes exerted themselves to maximum. The heat from the boiler was conducting through the metal bar and sending painful warmth through their hands, but they did not let up. Slowly, the boiler began tilting back to its rightful position.
Both Gorilla-Man and 3-D Man bent over in exhaustion. Gorilla-Man looked over at his teammate. He knew that he would have never been able to put the boiler upright without 3-D Man’s help. "Thanks," he huffed. "Thanks ... pal."
"You’re ... welcome," 3-D Man said between gasps of breath. "You’re not too bad yourself."
Toro’s first fireball struck the water, where a spout of steam instantly erupted. He tossed another and then a third. He knew he could not hit his target beneath the surface, but he hoped to make the water too hot for comfort. The sixth fireball got the attention of the man beneath the sea. He rose up out of the water with a large splash of water. Some of the liquid splattered against Toro’s blazing form, but it was nowhere near enough to douse it. Toro recognized the man in the middle of the spraying water - it was Namor.
"Who dares attack me?" Namor demanded as his tiny ankle wings held him aloft.
"You’re acting crazy, Namor," Toro replied. "You have to be stopped!"
"Namor? But I’m ..." his response was cut off by Toro’s flaming fist. The heat of the blow evaporated most of the water on his skin, and the force of it knocked his head to one side.
"Toro! Listen to me ..." he protested, but Toro was pelting him with a flurry of fireballs. He had to strain his flight powers to keep from being struck. He did a loop in the air hoping to get behind Toro, but the veteran warrior stayed close on his tail. He headed into a climb, but Toro stayed with him. He went into a power dive, and Toro was still with him. He went straight into ocean, but Toro was able to pull up in time.
"You must be crazy if you thought I’d fall for that trick," Toro laughed. He hovered and waited for Namor to re-emerge. He heard a splash behind him and whirled around. He unleashed blazing streams of fire from both hands. It turned the water around Namor into a giant steam bath.
"Toro, it’s me," he choked. "Me … Subbie!"
Toro began to let up on his fiery flow, although a burning stream still trickled from his hands into the water. "Yeah, I know you’re Namor."
"I’m not Namor, you firebug." The steam continued to grow around him. "It’s me … Subbie. Remember, you and me and Bucky?"
Toro was dumbstruck. "Subbie? Is that really you? Namor told us all you were dead." He shut down his streams of flame.
"Let me get out this steam bath, and I’ll tell you what really happened," Subbie declared as he slowly swam towards cooler waters. Toro followed him, hovering above him in the air.
"So what gives?" Toro demanded. "Namor said you died on that Liberators submarine hunting mission."
Subbie frowned. "He lied. He had found out the truth about me, and he didn’t want me around anymore."
"You were hiding something from him?"
"No, it wasn’t that at all." Subbie said glumly. "Namor found out where I came from."
"I thought you came from Atlantis, just like Namor," Toro said in confusion. "You guys looked so similar. I figured you were a little brother or a cousin or something. You never told me or Bucky or the Young Allies if that was it."
"You might have thought that, but most Atlanteans don’t look like Namor or I do. They’re blue-skinned and look sort of fishy."
"Namora looks a lot like you, too."
"Namora?"
"You, er, Namor’s cousin that you punched out of the water."
Subbie grinned in embarrassment. "I thought she was some Commie super-underwater-agent. Oops."
"Anyway, right before that Liberators mission, Namor had found out where I came from."
"So you weren’t related?"
"Yes and no," Subbie replied grimly. "It seems that when Namor was a very young boy, he had wandered across some caves on the outskirts of Atlantis. He had picked a fight with some sharks and got cut up pretty good in the process. Luckily for him , there was someone in those caves. It was an old scientist who later banished from Atlantis for performing outlawed experiments in cloning."
"Cloning?"
"The making of duplicates, copies of people." Subbie continued, "Anyway, Vyrra, the old scientist, fixed Namor up but saved some blood samples. After his banishment, Vyrra experimented for years with those blood samples until he created a clone of Namor, namely me. He tried to make more, but he couldn’t get the process to work. When I got older, he started using me as a new source of blood. I was no more than a lab rat to him. As the years went on, I got stronger, and one day I was strong enough to break out of the cage and escaped. I came to New York where I met up with you and Bucky and Whitewash and the others. Then I met Namor."
"So Namor found out from Vyrra that you were his clone?"
"No, Namor had forgotten all about meeting Vyrra that time, but he had took a blood sample from each of us back to Atlantis to have analyzed. That proved that I was a clone. Namor explained to me what I was and told me I had to go."
"Why?"
"Because I wasn’t a real person, and he wanted nothing to do with me. He said I was a mockery of his own form. He said I had to leave and never come back to see any of my old friends. He said he was going to tell the Liberators that I died on that sub hunt."
"So where have you been?"
"I’ve been swimming around the world, trying to find a place for myself. I’ve kept my ears open. I heard that Namor disappeared a few years ago, and no one’s seen him since. I wanted to be a hero like him, but I knew I couldn’t be him. If I operated in the open, everybody would think I was him. So that’s why I’ve been wrecking the Soviet ships on the sly."
"Well, you never were that subtle," Toro laughed. "Namora’s been chasing you for a while now, thinking you were Namor."
"Namora? Gee, I’m sorry I clocked her."
"It’s all right, Namor," Namora said graciously. She swam over from the slowly moving Soviet ship. The other Avengers, except for the Human Robot, were right behind her in the Silver Bullet. The mechanical marvel was busy piloting the saucer as an aerial tugboat, helping to propel the wounded boat to American shores.
"Um," Toro said sheepishly. "As you might notice, he’s a little too young to be Namor."
Marvel Boy set the Silver Bullet down again in the water. The port side hatch opened, and Marvel Boy, Venus, 3-D Man and Gorilla-Man eagerly looked at the three figures conversing before them.
"Is that the Human Torch and Namor?" Gorilla-Man asked.
"I don’t know about the marine man, but the other one looks more like Toro to me," 3-D Man replied.
Namora looked closely at the young man. It was the spitting image of her cousin, but of a time when they both had been younger in the depths of Atlantis. "You’re right, Toro; he can’t be Namor. Who are you?"
"I’m Namor’s clone," Subbie announced glumly.
"Clone?" Namora gasped. She knew of the rumors of cloning in days past of Atlantis. The way this man before her appeared; she knew that this had to be the explanation.
"I knew him back in the war as ‘Subbie,’ Toro announced. "So what are we going to call you? You’re a little old to be called ‘Subbie’. Should we call you Gryth, like Namor did?"
"Gryth is just as bad," Subbie replied. "It’s Atlantean for ‘Little Terror’. It’s not really a name at all."
Toro snapped his fingers, and a spark erupted between them. "It got it. It’s perfect. It’s close to ‘Namor’ but not quite, and it’s got connections to the sea." He smiled broadly. "How about ... Nemo?"
"Nemo? Hmm." Subbie mused about it for a second. "Nemo? I like that." His face beamed proudly.
"Well ... Nemo," Marvel Boy proclaimed. "How about you and Namora accompany us back to the capital? You can explain this all to us, and then we explain things to the President." He paused. "Depending on how things go, he might just suggest that we increase the roll of the Avengers by a few members."
There was a junior version of the Sub-Mariner that appeared with Bucky and Toro in Kid Comics #1-2. Nothing was really revealed about him, and he was never seen or mentioned again in the Golden Age. Jess Nevins brought him back briefly in the pages of Liberators, calling the youngster ‘Gryth’. Jess was kind enough to let me develop the true story of Subbie, as presented in this tale.
Vyrra was introduced in Namor the Sub-Mariner #19. It was in that issue that Namorita was revealed to be a clone of Namora. The expanded story of Vyrra’s work and his banishment by Namor’s grandfather King Thrakkor was shown in issue #20. The incident related here about young Namor and Vyrra occurred before the banishement events depicted in #20.
TJB wrote:
Hey Bob! Well, this was a great issue of Avengers '58. I only have one question: How does Namor's appearance here fit in with his amnesia at the hands of Destiny that was undone in FF #1? Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much, TJ. I'm amazed at how quickly you wrote to me. It wasn't long after I posted the message to the MV1 list that the issue was ready. I'm gratified that you were that eager to read it.
As for Namor, the truth behind his appearance will be revealed next issue. It probably won't be the answer you expect!
Dan Capps wrote:
I have extremely enjoyed all the issues of Avengers '58. It has been great seeing a lot of the old heroes. I hadn't heard of Sun Girl, but was pleased to be introduced to her. How about seeing Golden Girl or one of the other Kid Commandos that would probably be grown up by 1958.
Will we be seeing a Masters of Evil '58 take on our heroes? How about even Baron Zemo. I am sure he would not be thrilled to see some one usurp the name of his hated enemy. Another incarnation of the malevolent android Adam would be interesting to see, especially through the photo-sensors of the Human Robot.
I am glad that you are not bringing in a whole bunch of WWII heroes. Save them for the other books.
Other character ideas: the Ancient One (Dr. Strange's mentor) might have had another apprentice that died before Strange and Mordo; Agatha Harkness is older than dirt and I am sure was around in 1958, maybe she can assist Gorilla Man in changing from man to beast (but don't let him lose his power); and don't forget the Monster Hunters that recently appeared in Marvel Universe.
Thanks for your time reading this and writing those great stories.
I have some ideas for Golden Girl. I hadn't thought of using the other Kid Commandos, but I'll think about it. I'd have to consult with others if the Kids make it through the war.
Baron Zemo? There's a Nazi-related story coming up and Zemo might get involved.
It's possible that Professor Horton might have made a spare Adam. Time will tell.
I've had some ideas regarding the Ancient One, but nothing is concrete yet. You bring up a valid notion that he might have had another apprentice. I'd have to discuss any new apprentice with some of the other authors first.
Agatha Harkness is another character that could prove interesting. I don't know if I want to make Gorilla-Man into a Captain Marvel-like character, though.
There's talk about the Monster Hunters. Stay tuned to MV1 for developments.
Thank you very much for writing!
COVER CREDITS: Manipulated from Fantastic Four #
NEXT ISSUE: The Order Changeth
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The Avengers 1958 web page is at http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~gansler/avengers58/av58.htm