Issue
– 30
Issue
– 30
Title - Black Harvest
Writer – John Byrne
Art – Jae Lee
Summary:
Caught in the fishing net of a vessel at sea, Namor and his mother Fen are taken aboard by fishermen. After one of the crew attempts to help Fen, she throws the man overboard leading to his death. The crew prepares to turn against when Namor, mute and enraged begins to fight them. Eventually the crew overpower him and chain him and his mother. The captain of the ship appears and attempts to discover who Namor's companion is. Finally, the true master of the ship appears, Doom.
Notes
Last page appearance only.
Issue – 31
Title - Plunder
Writer – John Byrne
Art – Jae Lee
Summary:
As Doom attempts to discern why Namor is mute, the anger filled Atlantean breaks free of his shackles and ferociously attacks the crew of the ship. Meanwhile, Doom investigates the woman whom Namor called mother, a woman he believes could not be Namor’s mother Fen. To her he reveals the purpose of his ship. It is the first of a fleet of ships that he has designed to take over the fishing lanes. Equipped with a sonic ram, the ship can harvest much more than a normal ship. This of course horrifies Fen, she reminds him that the oceans are already over-fished and that her people are already on the brink of extinction. Namor suddenly leaps between them and attacks Doom, but Doom fires a blast from his gauntlet sending him overboard.
Notes
Issue – 32
Title – Blood of the Warrior
Writer – John Byrne
Art – Jae Lee
Summary:
Flung from the ship Namor crashes into the water and
swims under the ship to rips off its propeller. The ship lurches and is suddenly
hit by a colossal wave. The water nourishes Fen and allows her break free from
her chains. Underwater, Doom seeks Namor out. Fen comes
between them and Doom turns his full force against her. As he strangles the life
from her, she calls Namor by name. Her call breaks the spell which muted him and Namor speaks
again. Namor tackles Doom and together with Fen, pound him until Namor punches Doom
clear through the hull of his ship. On deck, Namor challenges Doom, but
suddenly the ship is swallowed whole into a portal. After the ship comes to a
halt, they all realize the ship is now inside a bottle in the hands of the
sorcerer Master Kahn.
Issue – 33
Title – Time in a Bottle
Writer – John Byrne
Art – Jae Lee
Summary:
In the offices of Oracle Inc, the sorcerer Master Kahn holds Namor, his allies, and Doom prisoner inside of a glass bottle. With his mutant strength, Namor breaks through the wall of the bottle freeing them all and retuning them to their proper size. Doom attempts to avenge himself on Master Kahn but Namor intercedes because Kahn’s feud is with him. Ultimately Namor kills Kahn by ripping his head off.
Comments:
Although I find in many cases Jae Lee’s art is both beautiful and cool, it can also make the story difficult to follow. So while there are some impressive visuals of Doom here, you may find yourself scratching your head at times figuring out how things got from point A to point B, or what the heck point B is exactly. The story actually suffers a bit because of the art. At four issues, it seems like remarkably little happens and it feels dragged out. Plot-wise, taking over the fishing lanes may seem like “small fish” for Doom, but I find it is as actually thinking out of the box. I find it preferable to the typical “destroy the Fantastic Four” story. For that matter it beats having Namor and Doom going back and forth over whether or not they should be allies or not. Which if this has been the 70s that’s that it might have been. Bottom Line: *** out of 5