Sub-Mariner #32
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSub-Mariner #32 marks the debut of Llyra, one of the most consequential villains in Namor's Bronze Age mythos. Her introduction sets in motion a chain of events — culminating just a few issues later in Sub-Mariner #36–37 — in which she engineers Dorma's death, robbing Namor of his bride and fundamentally reshaping his emotional landscape for years of storytelling. Roy Thomas gave the Atlantean corner of the Marvel Universe its first genuine femme fatale with an origin rooted in cross-species tragedy: the half-human, half-Lemurian daughter of a doomed interspecies marriage, whose psychological fracture over her shape-shifting nature is built directly into her debut. The issue sits at the precise hinge between the Silver and Bronze Ages of the series, launching a darker, more politically intricate era for Namor that moved well beyond the monster-of-the-month formula.
In "Call Her Llyra — Call Her Legend!", Namor ventures into the depths of the Pacific Ocean seeking an alliance with the ancient kingdom of Lemuria—only to discover it ruled by Llyra, a green-skinned hybrid with a fierce grip on the sea's creatures. With Sal Buscema’s dynamic art and Roy Thomas’s sharp storytelling, the issue unfolds as Namor confronts Llyra’s usurpation, uncovers a hidden truth through her mother, and faces a battle that leaves her fate uncertain. The cover by Sal Buscema captures the moment’s intensity, a striking visual of a 15-cent adventure from 1970.
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By late 1970, Roy Thomas had been steering the Sub-Mariner solo series — launched in 1968 after distribution restrictions finally allowed Marvel to give Namor his own title — through a run that concentrated heavily on Namor's role as monarch and his dynastic entanglements. Thomas and artist Sal Buscema, who also drew the cover, were the regular creative team at this point, with Jim Mooney on inks and Sam Rosen on letters, working under editor Stan Lee. The issue was part of a deliberate escalation of threats to Namor's personal life rather than just his kingdom, a tonal shift that would make Dorma's eventual death one of early Bronze Age Marvel's most emotionally resonant moments.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance and full origin of Llyra (Llyra Morris), introduced as the self-proclaimed Empress of Lemuria, the aquatic civilization that rivals Atlantis.
- First appearances of Llyra's parents: her Lemurian father Llyron (shown in flashback and killed in the same issue) and her human mother Rhonda Morris, owner of a Hawaiian oceanarium.
- Story title: 'Call Her Llyra — Call Her Legend!' — a 19-page lead story by writer Roy Thomas, penciler Sal Buscema, inker Jim Mooney, and letterer Sam Rosen.
- Stan Lee served as editor; Sal Buscema also drew the cover.
- Llyra is established as a half-Lemurian, half-human mutant with the ability to alter her skin pigmentation (a shape-shifting limited to coloration), telepathic control over marine life, and the amphibious ability to breathe both in and out of water.
- Her introduction directly seeds the storyline in Sub-Mariner #36–37 (1971) in which she impersonates Lady Dorma at Namor's wedding and ultimately causes Dorma's death by suffocation — one of the era's defining villain acts.
- Llyra went on to become a recurring antagonist across decades, aligning with Tiger Shark, Byrrah, Ghaur, and even the Frightful Four, and was later collected in the Marvel Masterworks: The Sub-Mariner hardcover/trade paperback series.
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Reprinted in I Fantastici Quattro #93 (1974), Submariner #5 (1977), Marvel Masterworks: The Sub-Mariner #5 (2014), Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection #4 (2024)
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