Fascinating topic.

I think we need to realize that some characters can start off on the "A List", but numerous factors, such as public interest, creators not knowing what to do with a character, particularly when times and reader tastes change (e.g. the dawn of the Silver Age's emphasis on science-created characters), or as you suggest, a bias among the creative and editorial staff. Green Arrow and DC's Sandman were once popular Golden Age characters, but it took a full decade after the start of the Silver Age for Green Arrow to adopt (rather, gifted) a personality so famous, few even know he was once just Batman with arrows. The Wesley Dodds Sandman--while never selling like Golden Age Sub-Mariner--was still a very popular character appearing in several titles, but that status all but disappeared in his 1960s/70s appearances, ultimately moved back toward the "mystery" character second tier during DC's brief interest in characters such as the revived Phantom Stranger and their version of The Shadow.

In other words, there's no guarantee for a character to be an "A-lister", or if he was at on time, maintain it. I do think your theory of aquatic environments not being "alien enough" is true for some fans, as they seem to think being a character who needs to live in water limits his value in a world where just about every human operates on land, leaving the random Nemo-esque character, undersea monsters/aliens, war or non-wartime submarine-based military antagonists sort of lacking the color and visual "pop" of earth-based or otherworldy creatures/tech.

In Namor's case, not only was he a water-based character, but his regal manor probably turned off Silver Age readers, since so many superhero characters were--by that time--presented as being less formal hero types, leaving little room (or patience) for a human-hating throwback. The same could be said of Thor, but his selling point was being able to mesh well with other heroes of the age, Avenger or not. The same could not be said of Namor, even after being made a founding member of the Defenders. There was just something about him that prevented the character from being one readers would want to follow in hero or (more importantly) personal life.

The fact he's survived for several decades, through endless ups and downs of the comic industry probably earns him more credit than he's getting here. Always being added to important points in Marvel history (e.g., Roy Thomas creating the Invaders, with Namor as one of the key members, serving as a retconned bridge to the Golden Age All-Winners Squad) places him on the "important" list of characters, but falls short of joining the Marvel Mount Rushmore of Spider-Man, Captain America and the Hulk.

Funny ting is, DC's Aquaman was--arguably--a "sillier", less developed character, but he's had a greater presence on the non-comic media stage than the generally respectable Namor.

A little off topic, I just wanted to ask a question. Is Sub-Mariner, the first superhero to emerge or created from Timely Comics/Marvel Comics?

He is the first of what we consider to be "Marvel characters," but his first appearances in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly were not published by Timely.


Edit: looks like Slam beat me to it.

In spite of being aware of the character for about 35 years now, Namor is still pretty much a cipher to me beyond his earliest Golden Age adventures.  The Punisher is clear to me and probably anybody who's, well, ever seen a picture of the guy - he kills bad guys.  Wolverine is an X-Man who fights ninjas.  The Hulk - who, if you're looking for someone to pin an anti-hero label on in the 1960's should probably be your guy, is a sympathetic monster who wants to be left alone but circumstances force him into unenviable situations.  To this day, I don't know what the Sub-Mariner has been up to since Johnny Storm located him (one issue before a better foil for The Fantastic Four debuted in FF 5) in that bowery other than try to marry Sue Storm from time to time and hang around with The Defenders.  I couldn't even guess how a typical comic would read for the guy.

It's been said that a good guy is only as strong as his enemies and while there are a number of successful heroes without a powerful Rogues Gallery, I honestly have no idea what even a basic outline of a Sub-Mariner foe would look like.  The Punisher is successful in spite of not having many recurring foes outside of Jigsaw, but I could certainly describe the type of enemy he faces on a day to day basis, for instance.  With Namor, I get the impression that he's just an anti-social guy who doesn't like surface dwellers.  Is there some malignant being in the Marvel Universe who only he can deal with, or is he just a pissed off guy who goes to the surface and pick fights with surface dwellers from time to time?  Sure he's a Prince of Atlantis and that would be pretty fascinating in our world, but isn't a King/Queen/Prince a stepdown from being a superhero in the Marvel Universe in terms of excitement?  Perhaps he spends his time hording off invasions from other areas of the sea and that could make for some very intriguing reading, but if this is what he does on a monthly basis, I have no idea how I'm supposed to know that.

Like The Punisher was to Spider-Man for several years, Namor was a recurring obstacle for The Fantastic Four.  Unlike The Punisher, I'm not aware of anyone taking him further than that.  Frank Miller made Frank Castle look interesting to readers of Daredevil and I believe Steve Grant and Mike Zeck followed up on that with his own series.  I suspect Wolverine benefited from similar attention by way of Chris Claremont and John Byrne and later Frank Miller, but I'm unaware of Namor making that step up from supporting player/member of a team to interesting fella in his own right.  Am I wrong?  Has there been a really good Sub-Mariner run that people rave about that I've simply missed?

A lot of people have hit on some good ideas I feel, with regard to him being one dimensional and perhaps viewed as Marvels Aquaman, even though Namor came first.

Some other things to consider perhaps. One, he relies on water for his strength. So you cannot have him venture too far from the ocean for too long. Also, his name. People know Sub Mariner but if you say Namor, there are a lot of people who don't know that name. I know it said it on the cover but just a thought. As a collector I have only read Invaders and some of his guest appearances in other titles. I have more interest in eventually trying to pick up some issues from his original run. He is more interesting to me than Aquaman by far.

I think ultimately it has to be the fact that he always be hatin on surface dwellers. I would also be interested to know if there is a great Subby run that really stands out because I don't think there is.

Great points. There are many characters from the Golden Age that didn't translate well in the Silver Age. Namor is one. I would include others like Plastic Man & Capt Marvel as well. They never recaptured their original "charm" or "magic" in the 60's & later. Part of it was the lack of the original creators. Another part is certain characters just work better in a certain age & lose something when they are "modernized".