Waterboys

Space is usually where the weird things come from. Giant starfish, purple planet eaters, good looking farm-boys. But strange things don't just come from the sky, sometimes they rise from the sea. Marvel's Namor The Sub-Mariner. DC's Aquaman. Today we ask the question What's The Difference!?

When you look at both characters you may have the idea that Namor is a rip-off of Aquaman, but that's not the case. Namor was created by Bill Everett in 1939's "Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly". Bill based Namor off of a Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem called "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner". The comic he premiered in was basically a prototype and when that failed to catch attention Everett used the character in "Marvel Comics #1" in 1940. Yeah, back then Marvel Comics was called Timely Comics and years later they used their first ongoing comic title as their new company title. Anyway Namor was one of Marvel's first characters next to Captain America and The Human Torch. He was also the first anti-hero in comic book history. So Deadpool and Punisher and Wolverine and all the other hardcore anti-heroes? They owe him. You see Namor's grandfather sent the princess of Atlantis to this boat to investigate humans and she fell in love with the captain of the boat. As a result Namor was born half human, half Atlantean. Marvel tried to say that makes him a mutant, but not really. Since his peers ridiculed him for being half human Namor grew up hating humans and going to America multiple times to terrorize people. When World War II started however, he agreed to work with America's heroes and form a team called The Invaders. Namor reappeared in the 60's where he fought The Fantastic Four and regained his throne in Atlantis. He has been a member of The X-Men, The Avengers, Marvel's Illuminati, and has even shared the power of The Phoenix Force. Because he is King of Atlantis he has waged battles against other countries like America, Wakanda, and Latvaria. Namor has super strength, speed, and durability, he can survive in the ocean and he can fly via tiny wings on his feet. I don't know why. His greatest power is his iron-clad leadership abilities. It is as if every awful thing he has done is forgiven once you consider how long he's been keeping mankind from destroying the ocean.

Aquaman first appeared in "More Fun Comics #73" in 1941 and was created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. Like I said most people know Aquaman over Namor simply because Aquaman got more popularity. Sadly that popularity came from the constant ridicule on the character at the expense of the modern youth. "He talks to fish? That's useful" and such. Like Namor, Arthur Curry comes from two worlds as he is Atlantean and human. Arthur's mother was the queen of Atlantis and she met a sea captain who she fell in love with. When Arthur was born his mother chose to leave him with his father and go back to leading her kingdom. Arthur's father raised him in a lighthouse in Maine and taught him how to use his powers. When he became an adult Arthur's father died and Arthur chose to learn of his Atlantean heritage. Through many hardships Arthur realized his place as Aquaman, King of Atlantis. Aquaman was a founding member of The Justice League and tutored four sidekicks, he also found the love of his life in an Atlantean named Mera who was equal to Aquaman in her strength. In past versions of the history they even had a child. Aquaman has super strength, speed, and durability. Because he is biologically built for the ocean his hearing, sight, and endurance of climate is superhuman outside of water. Add to that his magic Trident and Aquaman can even go a few rounds with Superman. His signature ability is his command over sea-life. He does not TALK to fish. It's more like mind control, most sea-creatures are small minded so he uses telepathy to make suggestions that usually work. And it applies to any animal that fares water so it works on dolphins and whales and such. Since humans evolved from sea-creatures it's possible for Aquaman to push himself to the limit and control us too. He can control the smallest amoeba to the largest krakken. In recent years Aquaman has become aware of how his two people see him. Humans mock him. Atlanteans shun him. But he endures, he leads, he shows both worlds that he does not care about shortcomings. Aquaman is a bridge between two worlds and will push past the criticisms. In essence, he don't care bout' no haters.

Aquaman and Namor. Two sides of the same coin. One side leads to a passive aggressive jerk coming out of the ocean, and the other is about a bullied promise child taking a dive into the ocean. It's interesting that both their personalities and their life paths differ so much. Their popularity differs too with Aquaman-the second Atlantean hero-being more popular. But that's kind of for the worse, after all shows like "Family Guy" and "The Super Friends" haven't helped his case. And when DC Comics tries to make Aquaman cooler you get 90's Aquaman and you get Jason Mamoa Aquaman. Namor may be obscure and delegated to a rip-off but at least he hasn't been changed for the sake of being cool. Marvel Studios can whip out Namor completely unchanged in a film and we'll all love it. If Warner Bros gave us 2011 Geoff Johns' Aquaman? I'd shut my mouth, no doubt. But that's not the world we live in. I just hope when we do find Atlantis they don't find these two offensive.

Thanks for reading.

Who's your favorite Atlantean? Comment below!