Here we go! The difference between the previous issue and this one is night and day. Namor's creator Bill Everett returns to his creation for one last hurrah! Everett immediately dispenses with lingering plot points from Gerry Conway's period as writer and runs off in his own direction. But just look at that art! Thirty years after he first drew the one, true Sub-Mariner, Everett's art here was better than ever. He, himself, had been through a lifetime of issues and by this point his health was suffering but his hand was sure. The issue itself is filled with frenetic energy and introduces Namorita. But the splash is just lovely. Look at the detail on those hands. The swirls of the title and the stylized mists and lines elsewhere lead your eye exactly where the artist wants you to go. This is a master comic book artist at his peak, beginning his magnum opus. Wow.
Gene Colan at his best is easily outdone by Everett here.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I was shocked when he died at the time because his artwork was so vibrant and seemed the work of a much younger man.
ReplyDeleteI was a magnificent run. The sense at the time (at least that I had) was that Everett was a guy past his prime, but these Subby issues proved quite the case to be quite the opposite. There is a pre-Marvel Era goofiness to these issues, but there's no denying the craftsmanship.
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