Fantastic Four #4
The Coming of... Sub-Mariner!
The Human Torch has quit the team. Reed, Sue, and Ben use the Fantasti-Car to search the city for him. Johnny, though, has gone to Swanson's Garage to work on cars. Ben, on a hunch, goes to the garage.
Unable to use his flame because of the gasoline around him, Johnny faces an angry Ben without his power. Ben backs him into a corner, but, before the Thing can hit Johnny, he changes back to his old, human form. Johnny uses the distraction to leave the garage, flame on, and fly away. Ben immediately changes back to the Thing.
Johnny goes to the Bowery to find accommodations. Once in his bunk, he reads a 1940s comic about the Sub-Mariner. Another guest of the establishment notices what he's reading and says one of the people in the shelter has strength just like the Sub-Mariner. They prove it by having the strange man rip a phone book in half with his bare hands. Johnny discovers that this man has wandered around New York with amensia for years. Using his flame to burn away his facial hair, Johnny is shocked to discover that he looks exactly like the Sub-Mariner.
Flaming on, Johnny carries the man out to sea and drops him into the water. Back in his native element, the Sub-Mariner remembers who he is. He goes to his home, Atlantis. It lies in radioactive ruins, a casualty of atomic testing. The Sub-Mariner returns to New York and tells Johnny that he will retaliate by destroying the human race.
The rest of the Fantastic Four, back at the Baxter Building, see Johnny's flare rise from the waterfront. They take the Fantasti-Car to meet him and learn about the Sub-Mariner's revival.
Out at sea, the Sub-Mariner finds Giganto, a massive whale-like creature and the Horn of Proteus that can rouse him. He leads the creature towards New York, which begins an evacuation. The army bombards Giganto without effect. The Thing comes up with a daring plan: strap a nuclear bomb to his back, get inside the monster, and leave it there to destroy it. While Giganto takes a nap, Ben carries the bomb down its gullet.
With seconds to spare, Ben makes it out of the monster's maw. The Sub-Mariner threatens to use the horn to summon more creatures. An invisible Sue grabs the horn and runs away with it. The Sub-Mariner tackles her. She becomes visible. "If you will be my bride," says the Sub-Mariner, "I might show mercy to the rest of your pitiful race!" She responds, "How can I make such a choice?" He threatens again to use the horn. To save her teammates, Sue pleads with the Sub-Mariner, even agreeing to be his bride if he so wishes it. Johnny, though, forms a tornado that pulls the Sub-Mariner into the air and drops him in the ocean. The horn falls to the bottom. Although defeated by his new enemies, the Sub-Mariner vows to return and have his revenge.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Sub-Mariner, Giganto
Continuity Notes
Sub-Mariner #1 specifies that Namor was stricken with amnesia by Paul Destine using the Helmet of Power. Saga of the Sub-Mariner #6 specifies that this happened circa 1959. He appears to still be relatively young here because Atlanteans age much slower than normal humans.
Also in Sub-Mariner #1, it states that the ruins that Namor came upon in this issue were really part of an Atlantean outpost decimated by atomic testing. The true Atlantis resided near Antarctica until it was decimated by Destiny. As per Saga of the Sub-Mariner #7 the people of Atlantis had fled to the Atlantic to set up a new kingdom under the rule of Byrrah.
Giganto was not the only of its kind, as multiple other similar creatures have since been seen. Fantastic Four (vol. 5) #3 shows an entire thriving race. It has been explained that the Gigantos were created by the Deviants as seen in Marvel Universe #7.
The Horn of Proteus was recovered by Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine #3
Following their encounter with Namor, Reed and Sue were pulled forward in time to the future of Earth-60166 where they met numerous versions of their future selves who were gathered by their Earth-60166 counterparts to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary as seen in Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1. The Sue Storm of this era identifies herself by expressing her doubts on marrying Reed after meeting Namor. When Reed and Sue are returned to the exact moment that they were taken from, they retained no memory of the festivities.
