MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY- King in Black: Namor #3 Review

This is a unique book in the ‘King of Black’ crossover event because it spans not only the present-day troubles and turmoil of Earth as the galaxy’s last defense against Knull and his symbiote alien invasion. It actually goes all the way back to the days where Namor was a young prince. This time spent both in the present and in the past is very appropriate as in fact, Knull is quite literally older than memory, himself, and has been a captive at the edge of the galaxy for millennia prior to the big disaster. Now that he is freed, and in charge of more than one hundred thousand space dragons, charging through the cosmos bringing pain and suffering to all they cross, the King in Black is finally on Earth… and most of Earth is water. That’s right: Atlantis is in the crosshairs, ladies and gentlemen. Spider-Man and Venom can’t do much for the water-breathers, that’s for sure, so somebody in the deep blue sea has to step up and take charge.

OFFICIAL MARVEL COMICS DESCRIPTION:

King in Black: Namor #3

STORY BY: Kurt Busiek

ART BY: Ben Dewey, Jonas Scharf

COVER BY: Leinil Francis Yu, Paul Renaud

THE BLACK TIDE lay waste to all that lies before them, cutting a swath of devastation and death across the ocean floor. The only chance to stop them may lie with ATTUMA’s people — and if that fails, nothing stands between The Black Tide and Atlantis itself. A tragedy that will impact Atlantean history forever, and transform friendship into enmity. The secrets of THE KING IN BLACK are buried here.

SINKING SLOWLY BUT SURELY…

PROS:

• We’ve all gotten so used to seeing Namor as a confident, overbearing and arrogant king to Atlantis. Sometimes, we tend to forget that he was also a child once, a teen, an inexperienced youth learning the ropes and admiring his heroes, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yes, he was born a mutant with the powers of flight, incredible strength and durability, but as the ruler of the underworld empire of Atlantis, and changing roles between friend and foe of humanity, it drew my wonder learning about his vulnerabilities in his younger days. Physically, he was smaller, and the art team depicts this clearly, but also emotionally, psychologically he was… lesser. And this is not a bad thing in writing or storytelling… it actually humanizes the character more than usual.
• There was also the attention-grabbing psychological warfare our hero was having with himself that played a big role in the issue. Namor, being the son of an Atlantean princess and a human sailor, also suffered prosecution and hate because of his mixed race, and he was vocal about such tension in this issue. Very similar as well to the Black Panther tie-in, one can almost feel the great responsibility of being a leader of a nation. It is one thing to be a superhero in charge of saving the world, but to literally and officially be a leader of a people puts a different kind of heaviness on your duties as royalty. It’s also amazing to see the different worlds and realms affected by the major Spider-Man/Venom event. Whereas you have Black Panther defending Wakanda, the Valkyries trying to save the soul of Sentry from an evil symbiote celestial in order to bring him and other victims to Valhalla, or Manifold traversing time and space searching for any kind of reinforcements in this war being waged, a look into Atlantis and the clash beneath the ocean is a thrilling perspective of the King in Black’s wave of death and destruction.

CONS:

• In the past, the young Namor admired the group of Atlantean warriors known as the Swift Tide… unfortunately their transformation into the Black Tide was too swift as well. The Swift Tide in my opinion was not able to showcase their true power and ability as they were turned to the darkness so quickly. They could have put up more of a fight, in my humble and honest opinion. But I guess that is the terrible result and consequence when you release a dark eldritch energy… you emerge forever changed, to the point of no return.

FINAL SCORE: A

If you have Namor worried as much as he is right now during the events of ‘King in Black’… then you know there’s going to be a lot of rain before the rainbow and sunshine. I am hyped for the next couple of issues in this mini-series, and I want to see which Namor will show up to the challenge, and what he will do to save his people and prove himself worthy of their loyalty.