And granted, the Sub-Mariner cartoons from Grantray-Lawrence Animation in 1966 weren't likely to make anyone forget the Fleischers' Superman cartoons of the 1940s.
But still...
Moreso than his Marvel Superheroes cartoon show comrades - Hulk, Captain America (which I've covered previously), Iron Man and Thor - Namor's story really suffers at the hand of extremely limited animation.
I recently found a few episodes of Subby's cartoon in a local video store. Since I knew the shorts were part of the same show that featured the unforgettable theme songs for Hulk and Captain America, I thought these would feature a similar goofy charm.
If only I'd been right.
The only thing that really clues me in to the whole underwater mileau are the two or three bubbles that lurch across the screen from time to time.
Oh yeah, that and once or twice the picture looked kinda wavy. Whether that was the animators' intention or part of a battered videotape, I don't know.
The dialogue is very dramatic; I can't imagine kids sitting still to listen to one of Namor's soliloquys. And the way he's voiced, every line is a dramatic soliloquy.
"I can't believe it's not butter!"
You can almost hear the "DUM-DUM-DUUUUUM" trumpet in the background.
In the "adventure" I watched, some crafty type tries to usurp Namor's place on the throne to Atlantis. He does this by making it appear that Lord Vashti has betrayed the kingdom.
Namor goes after him, and, well, it's kinda predictable.
Let's just say that we saw tremendous underwater battle scenes over and over, and Namor figures everything out to save Atlantis.
He also manages to rescue the ever-lovely Lady Dorma and somehow hides in the Iron Idol of Infamy, an iron maiden of sorts.
As limited animation goes, it's at least better than Clutch Cargo.
What might have helped this cartoon is a sense of humor. The slightly less-than-snazzy theme song doesn't quite convey the Shakespearean tone of the cartoon.
I'm not asking for cute little monkey sidekicks or shape-changing teenagers from another planet, but gee whiz, Namor would seem like a stiff even if the animation didn't make him look that way.
Of course, he could have beaten up the Superfriends' Aquaman in a heartbeat.
But then, even old Lord Vashti could have done that...
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