I: Feature Story: "Sub-Mariner Versus the Human Race!"

Pages: 37

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Artie Simek

First Appearance: Lady Dorma, Krang, Atlanteans, Capt. Leonard McKenzie, Princess Fen, King of Atlantis, Mister Barnes, Tele-Fish, Sprocket-Fish

Villain: Sub-Mariner/"G.W. Falton", Krang

Guest Appearance: Lady Dorma, Alicia Masters

Origin: Atlanteans, Namor

Cameo Appearance: Nikita Kruschev

Flashback Cameo: Capt. Leonard McKenzie, Princess Fen, King of Atlantis, Mister Barnes

Marvel Milestones: 1st Marvel Annual, longest single story, Namor finds his Atlantean people

Gadgets & Technology: Transparent Water Rocket, Evaporation Ray, U-Car

Synopsis: The Sub-Mariner has found Atlantis and is crowned once again by his beloved people to be their leader. Lady Dorma, his true love, goes to him but Warlord Krang holds her back. He tries to persuade herto stay with him, but she tells him that now that Namor is found, that's where her true love resides. Krangbitterly understands that If it weren’t for Namor, he would have the crown and Dorma's hand.

At the Baxter Building, Johnny annoys Thing by blowing hot air through the vents. Thing tears open the door and turns on a fire hose, spraying water at the Torch. Reed nets Torch to break up the fight and Sue breaks down crying: the water has ruined her one-of-a-kind Dior and Saks Fifth Avenue dresses! Reed suggests they all take a break from the super-hero tension with a vacation. There are reports of sea monsters in the Atlantic and there’s a cruise ship that goes into the area. They all decide to go on a working vacationto investigate the claims, and they take Alicia Masters with them.

While Thing and Alicia stretch out on deck, and Reed and Sue swim in the pool, Johnny searches the ship for girls. Just as a cutie catches his eyes, he spots a sea monster in the ocean waters. He informs the rest of the team and they take a lifeboat out into open waters to check into it.

Johnny flies over the sea until an archer fish spits a bubble at him that douses his flame and drops him into the ocean. Reed stretches down to grab him but a giant sea shell captures him. A giant squid covers the boat carrying Thing and Sue with a bubble and drags them underwater. Namor is waiting for them at the bottom of the ocean.

Namor creates a current which sweeps the cruise ship, and Alicia, back to port. He gives the Fantastic Four a message to take to the United Nations: the oceans are his and no land dweller is welcome on them, underthem, or over their air space. He fires them back to the roof of the Baxter Building in a specially designed rocket capsule that amazes Reed with its high-technology.

Reed relays the message to the U.N. and Nikita Kruschev bangs his shoe on the table in defiance. Reed assures the assembly that Namor is not bluffing. To providecontext for their discussions, the UN asks Dr. G.W. Falton to take the podium to explain the history of the Atlanteans, or ‘homo mermanus’ as he calls them. According to Dr. Falton, the Atlanteans were mammals who returned to the sea at an early stage of evolution, and their civilization evolved in much the same way as the surface dweller's did. Then, in 1920, the icebreaker ship ‘Oracle’ destroyed an iceberg that sunk into the ocean and accidentally demolished an Atlantean city. The Atlantean king sent his daughter Princess Fen on a scouting expedition to investigate. She wound up beingcaptured by deckhands and taken to Captain Leonard McKenzie. The two oppositeswound up falling in love and quickly getting married. She never returned to Atlantis so the king, suspecting foul play, sent a war party to attack. Capt. McKenzie was killed in the battle, and since then, the Atlanteans have been sworn enemies to the surface dwellers. But the offspring of Princess Fen and Capt. McKenzie became the world’s first mutant- Namor, the Sub-Mariner!

Reed adds to Dr. Falton’s lecture by relating the many times Namor has attacked the surface dwellers, and that Namor shouldn't be trusted. Reed demands that the United Nations no longerignore his warnings with deaf ears, but that they must now be resolute and fight against theAtlantean threat until he can menace surface-dwellers no more! Dr. Falton is outraged and peels off his disguise. "G.W. Falton" is really Namor, and now that he has gotten an earful of humankind'splans to stand up to him, he races to the river and unleashes his mighty forces.

Giant landing barges hit the docks, and in hours Namor’s soldiers, armed with high-tech equipmentand artillery, conquer Manhattan. They encase the Baxter Building in liquid cement, even though Johnny’s flame knocks out Namor’s attack planes. Reed mans battle stations to ward off further attack, and he asks Thing to gograb a prisoner so they can glean information from him. Thing smashes the cannons pointed at their lobby and drags in an Atlantean soldier who refuses to give any information but his name, rank and serialnumber. When Reed sees the soldier’s water helmet, however, he gleans their weakness!

The US military is planning their own response to the takeover of Manhattan, and they rule out nuclear weapons. Reed puts the finishing touches on a weapon of his own- a massive and complex decive. But the weapon is unbalanced and falls on Reed, seriously injuring him. Sue and Thing activate the weapon on Reed’s orders and it emits a ray that evaporates the water in all the Atlanteans’ helmets. They retreat back to the sea after the surprise attack, leaving an enraged Namor to seek revenge againstthe man he knows undertook it! He storms to the Baxter Building and attacks the injured Mr. Fantastic. Reed knocks him back by folding his body like an accordion and evades him by changing into a bouncingball. Namor steps on him and uses him as a punching bag until the rest of the team arrives. Thing and Torch gain an upper hand until Namor releases a gas jet in the wall and Torch’s flame sparks an explosion. Namor grabs Sue and escapes with her.

Johnny searches the ocean for Sue but she is locked in his imperial amphibious command craft with Namor, Dorma and Krang. The Atlanteans detect Johnny in flight, and Namor rises to the surface with sprocket-fish that he uses to douse Johnny’s flame. The Torch dodges them and manages to activate an underwater volcano under Namor. Namor summons a ‘huge marine vacuum cleaner’ that tries to suck Johnny in. Reed arrives to cut off its air supply and Thing, underwater with the U-Car, punches it out with his rocky fists. Namor attacks them all and summons hammerhead sharks that disable the U-Car.

Dorma learns of the bond between Namor and Sue and in a jealous rage she smashes the windows of the command craft to drown her. Thing and Namor fall into the ocean and find Sue’s body caught in kelp. She is barely alive. Namor races to the command craft, now repaired, and orders everyone off. Krang and Dorma feel betrayed but he pays them no mind. He takes Sue back to civilization where she can be taken careof by doctors.

It takes time, but the Fantastic Four fix the U-Car and race to the hospital where Sue is recovering. Namor returns to Atlantis but his people have deserted him in light of his perceived betrayal. He is man without a country once more.