Namor and Human Torch: The Oldest Rivalry in Comics
The fish man versus the android
Superhero comics have a long and storied history of people with godlike powers drawing lines in the sand and engaging in titanic struggles to determine the fate of the universe. Also, sometimes a couple superheroes just get into a petty squabble that blossoms into a rivalry over time. They aren’t full blown enemies per se like Batman and Joker or Spider-Man and Green Goblin. These are characters who have butted heads because of a misunderstanding or because they land on opposite sides of an issue despite both meaning well. Usually the two sides put their differences aside and renew a friendship or at least call a truce. There are plenty of examples of this happening over the years. Batman and Superman. Captain America and Iron Man. Hulk and Thing. Namor and Black Panther. Namor and Captain America. Namor and Iron Man. Namor and Reed Richards. Namor and Thing. Namor and Doctor Doom. Namor and Professor X. Namor and Wolverine. Namor and Daredevil. Namor and Thor. Huh. Noticing a bit of a trend here.
It turns out that Namor doesn’t really have the most endearing personality. All of Namor’s decisions and actions are governed by two principles: the safety and protection of his people (Atlanteans) and soothing his massive ego. You can see how this might bring him into occasional conflict with…everyone. These character traits can be traced back all the way to his very first appearance in 1939 (officially in the uncirculated Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 and then reprinted in Marvel Comics #1) by Bill Everett wherein he murders a pair of deep sea divers and swears vengeance upon mankind (and specifically Americans) for acts of genocide perpetrated against his people in the past.
Marvel Comics #1 also features the introduction of Jim Hammond the Human Torch created by Carl Burgos. Not to be confused with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, this Human Torch was an android created by a scientist named Professor Horton meant to be a sentient exact replica of a human being. Horton nailed it other than this android would also burst into flames when exposed to oxygen and could fly and throw fireballs for some reason.
While Namor was an antihero essentially engaging in a guerrilla war against humanity, Human Torch was a much more traditional superhero. Most of his early adventures saw him thwarting various criminal conspiracies from gangsters and racketeers. He would even go on to join the NYPD. Despite being such different characters, both Namor and Human Torch became fan favorites and by far the biggest draws in the Marvel Mystery Comics anthology series. The folks in charge at Timely Comics (the predecessor to Marvel Comics) saw an opportunity to cash in on this popularity. Why not have the two most popular superheroes in their stable fight each other? Not only do they have conflicting motivations, but their power sets (fire-based and water-based) provide for a nice contrast as well.
That is exactly what Timely did. In 1940, Bill Everett and Carl Burgos worked together to compose a story that would span across Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10 in which the two characters would battle each other. It’s difficult to overstate just what a monumental moment in comic book history this was. Never before had two different superheroes been revealed to exist within the same universe. Not only that, but fans who had imagined what it would be like for their favorite characters to meet would get to see it for themselves. Every future crossover between two superheroes would take its cues from this story.
The fight itself begins in the latter part of Marvel Mystery Comics #8 with the bulk of the fighting happening in #9. It goes mostly how you would expect. The two come into contact when Namor starts releasing animals from a zoo, and Human Torch attempts to put a stop to the chaos. Human Torch tries to keep Namor away from the water where he’s at his strongest while Namor (ever the arrogant prick) lobs insults and haymakers at the Torch to try to bring him down. Ultimately the two fight to a stalemate, and they agree to go their separate ways at the beginning of Marvel Mystery Comics #10.
Though I have had no luck finding sales numbers for these issues, I think it’s safe to say that they were successful because Timely went back to this well throughout the remainder of the decade. Unlike their first fight, subsequent clashes tended to be the result of a misunderstanding or some sort of brainwashing or mind control. The two would typically join forces by the end of the story to defeat a common foe. This was especially true once the United States entered World War II. Most stories at that point would revolve around the heroes fighting against the Nazis and Imperial Japanese. They would eventually end up on the same superhero team known as the All-Winners Squad in the aptly titled All Winners Comics #19 published in 1946. Other members included Captain America, Bucky, Toro, Whizzer, and Miss America.
Namor and Human Torch would ultimately be phased out of comics when superheroes began to wane in popularity entering the 1950s. Timely Comics would rebrand as Atlas Comics and begin publishing mostly giant monster comics for the remainder of the decade. Namor would eventually be reintroduced in the Silver Age when Atlas Comics would rebrand for the last time as Marvel Comics with the debut of Fantastic Four. Namor would become a frequent antagonist of the new superheroes beginning with Fantastic Four #4 and begin popping up in multiple comics published by Marvel throughout the 1960s and continuing to present day. Human Torch was not as lucky. The Human Torch moniker had been adopted by one of the members of the Fantastic Four: Johnny Storm. While the android version from the Golden Age would eventually reappear, his role was reduced to mostly cameo appearances or flashbacks to his adventures in the 1940s.
Marvels #1 (1994) by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross is probably the best example of a flashback story featuring Human Torch and Namor. It retells the story of their earliest battles told from the view of a newspaper photographer. The gorgeous painted artwork by Alex Ross is reason enough to pick it up.
The Bronze Age had seen the creation of a superhero team called the Invaders (first appearing in Avengers #71 by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema). This team was created as a retcon reimagining the various Golden Age characters from Timely Comics as a united team that had fought the Nazis together. This team was composed of Namor, Human Torch, Toro, Captain America, and Bucky. They would later get their own series in 1975 and would periodically get new series over the years. Some were flashbacks, and some were new stories set in present day. The most recent of these was in 2019 written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Carlos Magno and Butch Guice. This series essentially sees Namor going to war with the surface world once again with his former teammates and rivals standing in his way. There is more going on than meets the eye, but regardless this leads to a new confrontation between Namor and Human Torch in Invaders #5. While these fights have always ended in stalemates and truces in the past as previously discussed, this one would take on a much more savage nature as Namor shows no mercy for his old rival.
The two would engage one another again later in the series in Invaders #9 (one thing about androids is you can rebuild them), although this encounter would somehow go even more poorly for Human Torch as his old sidekick Toro ends up in the clutches of Namor. Ultimately Namor and the other former Invaders would put their differences aside once more, but this is easily the most violent fighting amongst them.
At the time of this writing we are two issues deep into a new series called Namor: Conquered Shores by Chris Cantwell and Pasqual Ferry. The series takes place in a dystopian future where the Earth has been flooded due to a combination of climate change and an attack by the Kree. Most superheroes are dead, and the Atlanteans now rule the world. An older Namor is now trying to do right by the surviving surface dwellers who now live as refugees from the climate catastrophe. Surprisingly, the original Human Torch appears to be one of these survivors flying high above the sunken wreckage of humanity. For reasons you’ll have to read the series to find out, Namor suspects that there might be some conspiracy being set in motion by the robots that have survived into this future. It would appear another battle between Namor and Human Torch is just around the corner. It seems these two are destined to lock horns until the end of time.
