- Written by: Jason Aaron
- Art by: Paul Davidson, Alex Lins
- Colors by: Neeraj Menon
- Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
- Cover art by: Alexander Lozano (cover A)
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: August 21, 2024
Namor #2, by Marvel Comics on 8/21/24, sends Namor after King Attuma to get the lay of the land and stop Attuma’s quest for domination.
Is Namor #2 Good?
It’s a pretty sure bet Namor #2 is not going to be anyone’s favorite issue this week. Why? Because it’s weird, uneven, and not particularly entertaining. Jason Aaron’s attempt at building a complex, diverse underwater kingdom incorporates oddly nonsensical rituals and tiresome clichés for an issue that should be more engaging than it is.
When last we left Namor in issue #1, the deposed King of Atlantis willingly allowed himself to be imprisoned for crimes against the surface world, and his incarceration was anything but peaceful. Stingray arrived after an assassination attempt against Namor to explain the nations of the Seven Seas have fractured into warring fiefdoms, resulting in violence that’s spilling over into the air-breathing world. If the upheaval isn’t quelled, the U.N. is authorized to declare open season on any Atlantean or water-breathing person that interferes with the surface. Meanwhile, Namor recalled how he gained the respect of his peers as a school buy by playing on their patriotism.
In Namor #2, the newly freed but former King of Atlantis swims through the open oceans to assess the damage his absence has brought. He first encounters a blind old man who laments the loss of food, family, and any means of survival at the hands of scavengers. When Namor offers to provide aid, the old man asks for nothing but a swift death, a gift Namor is unable to give.
Writer Jason Aaron starts the issue on a somber note. The blind old man underscores how the infighting among many kings has sent peaceful people into despair and destitution. The old man’s plight should pull at the readers’ heartstrings, and Aaron succeeds on that point, even if it is a depressing one.
The comic shifts to King Attuma, who rallies his soldiers to find and kill Namor as the cause of all their problems. In an admittedly badass move, Namor casually swims into the middle of the rally and challenges Attuma to ritual combat, called the Crimson Swim, to settle their differences. Attuma agrees to the challenge.
Namor has a clear motive for the challenge since the Crimson Swim involves consuming large amounts of red wine before a fight. Attuma gets drunk off the wine, which loosens his tongue concerning intel on the other kings, and Namor beats him handily when the fight begins. When Attuma’s soldiers refuse to yield to the victor, Namor defeats the entire army when he witnesses one of the soldiers eating a sea cucumber, sending him into a rage.
Yeah, I scratched my head at this scene, too. Why would a warrior nation have a trial-by-combat that involves drinking a lot of wine? How did Attuma get drunk but not Namor? Why did Namore become enraged by seeing one of Attuma’s soldiers eat a sea cucumber? If Namor is still weakened by being in an open-air prison, how was he able to defeat an entire army so easily? The preceding questions are all obvious after reading Aaron’s sequence of scenes, but Aaron makes no effort to answer any of them.
The issue flashes back to young Namor as his rebellious ways prompt his parents to find him a betrothed wife. Namor would rather explore the undersea world, so he sneaks off and meets the woman who will be the first true love of his life, Keilani – a sea-dweller from the South Pacific. Namor falls head over heels for the peasant girl with a heart for the people and righteous anger towards injustice. Later, Namor comes to regret his feelings when he surprises a group of would-be kidnappers of the king in the palace, led by Keilani. She hoped to force the king to see the poverty his expansion has caused innocent people, but Namor can only accept Keilani as a traitor. Despite his soured attitude, he lets her escape while her colleagues are caught and executed.
The issue concludes with a hardened heart and the next king (or queen) on adult Namor’s visit list.
Overall, Jason Aaron turns in an uneven issue. The tropes surrounding a ruler getting in touch with his people are strong and well-constructed, but the visit with Attuma doesn’t make much sense, and casting Keilani as a kidnapping activist is a completely unsurprising cliché.
How’s the Art? Paul Davidson and Alex Lins turn in a respectable set of visuals and character designs in their respective plots. Better still, their individual styles complement the timelines, with Lins’s brighter, innocent tone emphasizing Namor’s less cynical youth and Davidson’s darker style playing up the more serious themes in the present.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Final Thoughts
Namor #2 is an oddly uneven issue. Jason Aaron begins Namor’s quest to bring peace to a fractured nation by witnessing the lows of the common folk and butting heads with one of the kings in a ritual contest that doesn’t make much sense. Jason Aaron appears to be building out the complexity of the Seven Seas as an underwater Game of Thrones, but the ideas don’t grab you. That said, the art is decent enough to keep your eyeballs engaged.
5.5/10
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