Fantastic Four #149
To Love, Honor, and Destroy!
As Namor, Sue Richards, and an Atlantean warrior stand on the back of a giant sea monster, Namor angrily declares that he will invade the surface world. He wants revenge for the evil that Reed Richards has done to Sue and her son, he continues. Ben Grimm watches the Sub-Mariner and his monsters swim upriver, and he declares that Namor "means business." Reed is furious, for not only has Namor stolen his wife, he is flaunting it in Reed's face. Medusa suggests that perhaps there is some other explanation for Namor's actions, but Reed tells her to stay out of his affairs. Johnny and Ben decide to take Reed's side against Namor, but Medusa says that something is bothering her about the way Namor is acting, and she walks away. Soon Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Thundra take the Fantasticar and head off to battle Namor. At the same time, Namor commands the Atlantean warrior to drive the sea monster onto the shore. As the lumbering creature crushes a dock, a group of riot control police opens fire. Just as Sue erects a force field to protect herself and Namor from the bullets. The Fantasticar flies up and Reed stretches out toward Namor, angrily declaring that he is still Sue's husband and will not let anyone take her from him. Namor retorts that Reed lost Sue when he put Franklin into a coma. Then, as another sea monster rises behind him. Namor punches Reed and nearly knocks him out of the Fantasticar.
Ben pulls Reed back into the vehicle, but Namor continues his tirade, and Thundra points out Namor's advancing sea beasts. Then the Torch takes his turn at Namor, but Namor quickly knocks him into the water. Sue asks Johnny not to anger Namor, because she does not want Johnny hurt, but Namor leaps into the harbor and catapults Johnny out of the water with a double-fisted punch. Thundra snags him with her chain and she and Reed pull him into the Fantasticar. Then Ben starts to pummel Namor and Namor falls onto the back of his sea beast. Now Sue is alarmed that Namor might be injured, so she erects a force-field barrier in front of the Fantasticar, and the vehicle smashes to bits. Thundra, Reed, Ben, and Johnny fall into the water, and Namor declares that he and Sue have defeated the Fantastic Four. As Ben bobs in the water, he recalls how the Fantastic Four first met the Sub-Mariner, when Johnny found him in a flophouse with his memory gone. Johnny then dropped him into the Atlantic Ocean, and his memory was restored. Namor soon discovered that a catastrophe had befallen his people, and he blamed mankind But when Namor returned for his revenge, he met Sue Storm and fell in love with her. When Sue turned him down he declared war on the human race and used his Proteus Horn to summon a huge monster to devastate New York. Fortunately, Ben was able to carry an atomic bomb into the creature's belly, and the explosion killed it. Namor halted his battle, but he promised to return at a later date and win. As Ben concludes his reminiscence, he notes that Namor tried to invade the surface world a number of times, but each time he was stopped by the Fantastic Four.
Namor then commands his sea creatures, including the child of Giganto—the creature that Ben, killed with the bomb—to destroy the surface world. To Ben, it seems as if Namor has gone berserk and he swims to the shore and starts hauling the creatures back into the river. Then Namor leaps onto the dock, and Thundra challenges him to battle. Reed warns that Namor is too powerful for her, but she replies that she fears no male. Then she and Namor collide, wrecking the dock with the force of their impact, and Namor hurls her away. Meanwhile, the Thing is being strangled by the tentacles of a sea beast, but he flexes his muscles and tears the creatures away. The Atlantean warrior then informs Sue that Ben is approaching, so she tells Ben that she never meant to hurt anyone. As Ben talks to Sue, Thundra charges Namor, saying that all men are cruel: but Namor, in coming between two lovers, is the cruelest of all. Sue asks Ben to try to convince Reed that further battle is useless because Namor will not rest until they have all surrendered or been destroyed but Ben says that since Namor is her sweetheart, she should call him off.
He tells her that she has put Reed through enough already without asking him to surrender to the person who has robbed him of everything that makes life worth living. Sue does not believe Reed loves her, but Ben says he does. Reed was always so distant, muses Sue, yet the look on Reed's face as he was battling Namor makes her think she might be wrong after all. Thundra then smashes Namor into a wall, but as she advances toward him, Reed tells her to stop. He cannot let her carry his fight any longer, he says, because battling the Sub-Mariner is his responsibility. Ben tells Sue to ponder Reed's words, and after some agonizing soul-searching, Sue realizes that she loves Reed and always has loved him. Then she runs to Namor and Reed and tells them to stop battling because she was wrong to idealize love excessively. When her relationship with Reed did not meet her expectations, she continues, she thought their love was over. Namor held out the offer of romantic love to her once, so she went back to him when he offered it again.
Then Sue embraces Reed. Ben then informs Namor that he is not wanted there anymore. Surprisingly enough, Namor flies back to his sea monsters, saying that he will gladly leave. As he lands on his sea beast, he tells the warrior that Project Revival was a complete success. None of the Fantastic Four suspected that the whole thing was an act and that he never intended to actually invade the surface world. Then the warrior removes his cowl and reveals himself as Triton, the Inhuman. He remarks that Black Bolt will be pleased that they have brought their friends together, even if they had to use a little deception. Then he radios the Baxter Building to tell Medusa of their success, and she comments that although Namor may be persona non grata with the Fantastic Four until they are told the truth, in this case, the end seems to justify the means.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Medusa, Human Torch, Thing, Invisible Girl), Thundra, Sub-Mariner, Triton, Giganto
Continuity Notes
The Thing recounts the Fantastic Four's first encounter with the Sub-Mariner back in Fantastic Four #4 when the Human Torch revived his memories. It was revealed in Sub-Mariner #1 that Namor was stripped of his memories in the late 1950s by Destiny. Saga of the Sub-Mariner #6 places the year at 1959. This story states that when Namor was first revived he came across Atlantis after it was destroyed in undersea atomic tests. Sub-Mariner #1 clarified that Namor did not come across Atlantis itself, but one of its outposts. A fact that this story neglects to remember.
This issue ends the long separation between Reed and Sue. Sue left Reed after marital problems in Fantastic Four #130. These problems were magnified when Reed was forced to shut down the mind of their son Franklin in Fantastic Four #141. Sue then tried to form a romance with the Sub-Mariner in Fantastic Four #147, something that Namor has pursued since he first met Sue in Fantastic Four #4 but somewhat given up on after Sue choose Reed over him after the events of Fantastic Four Annual #1 (A fact confirmed in Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1).
Although Reed and Sue reconcile in this story, Sue does not go back to fully active status with the Fantastic Four until Fantastic Four #159.
This mock battle on was the culmination of the Inhumans "Operation: Revival" first mentioned in Fantastic Four #145.
