“Tales of Atlantis” was a five part back-up feature in Sub-Mariner #62-66 (June-October 1973). The comic, written by Steve Gerber and Howard Chaykin, shows how much Marvel wanted to exploit their new darling, Conan the Barbarian. The opening words of this comic are:
Journey back through mist-shrouded ages to a time 500 years after the reign of King Kull– 8000 years before the coming of Conan…back almost 20,000 sun-cycles for this first in a series of…Tales of Atlantis!
Clearly the creators wanted to sell this comic to Conan fans. The fact that the lead feature was about Namor and Tamara fighting Dr. Hyrdo wasn’t important. (There were a few superfluous swords in this one, too.) If Howard readers wanted an extra bit of Sword & Sorcery, they could find it here, though only in five or six page bits. (Gerber would later use Sword & Sorcery elements in the opening chapters of Howard the Duck in 1976.)
The story begins with Atlantis under siege by Lemurians, who come in sky boats right out Thongor or Edgar Rice Burroughs (take your pick). Emperor Kamuu and his bride, the very feisty warrior-queen, Zartra, take on the foe! (Zartra was a Lemurian by birth but her heart belongs to Atlantis and Kamuu.) The Atlanteans win but not before the enemy installs a weird drill that bores into the magma below the city.
The artwork by Howard Chaykin is reminiscent of the early stuff he did for DC in 1972. Veteran Joe Sinnott’s inking may have been chosen to give Chaykin a more professional finish. (Howard was drawing Sword of Sorcery for DC around the same time and gaining in experience with each new comic.)
The Atlanteans are doomed. They can not stop the erupting volcano that devours the city. The emperor tells everyone to go home and make peace with their end.
While he and Zartra are doing that, Nolem of Lemuria sneaks in and kills the queen. Kamuu slays Nolem. Before Zartra dies, she takes the jewel from behind her eye-patch and gives it to Kamuu. He places it on his sword. He sits on his throne and waits for the explosion that destroys Atlantis.
The timeline shifts 5000 years into the future. The oceans are inhabited by underwater Atlanteans now. Two tribes vie for power, those of Tanas of the Western Sea and Stegor of the Eastern Sea. The dolphin-riding kings joust for the throne.
Elanna, Tanas’s queen, knows her husband has fallen. Elanna calls the troops to her and battles in her husband’s place. Later she will place the banner of Tanas in Stegor’s heart. Meanwhile, in Stegor’s camp, Orrek, the king’s brother, engineers a way to get rid of the heir apparent, Kamuu. Orrek sends him on a scouting mission to the ancient ruins of Atlantis.
Jim Mooney took over penciling with Issue#65. And I can’t believe I am saying this, being a big Chaykin fan, but the art got better. Or maybe it was the story, which shifted from big battles to the individual story of Kamuu, son of Stegor. The scenario becomes very Lin Carter’s Conan with a scene that could have been from “The Thing in the Crypt” though Conan would never had fled the way the young warrior does.
We follow Kamuu into the ruins where he meets Shabarr, the guardian of the ruins. Kamuu fights but his sword breaks. He flees the skeletal guardian, searching for a weapon. He finds Emperor Kamuu’s sword.
Now armed with his ancient namesake’s sword, Shabarr quits his attack. Kamuu has a vision in which he meets the Emperor and Zartra. They show him (most Howard-like or is it Jim Starlin-esque?) a vision of the future glory of Atlantis.
Kamuu goes to battle Elanna but meets Zartra, her daughter. She is not there to fight. Elanna, being a wise seer, sees that Kamuu is destined to be king. Zartra offers peace.. and more. So ends “Tales of Atlantis” with a note telling fans to write in and demand more tales. Obviously not enough people did because the back-up feature ended here.
As a Sword & Sorcery piece, “Tales of Atlantis” offered many things that S&S fans crave. There were lots of sword fights and strife. The last two episodes gave us a more personal tale of Kamuu and a quest. Was it particularly good? Spread out over five issues, I doubt anyone was that impressed. If they had shortened the beginning and made Kamuu the focus earlier, there might have been some traction. Obviously, they were hoping for that after the letter campaign. We can only surmise…
DC Comics did a six-part mini-series in 1990 called The Atlantis Chronicles. It was written by Peter David and drawn by Esteban Maroto. (Could you have a more S&S choice than Esteban Maroto, who created Dax the Damned, Red Sonja’s steel bikini and did the illos for The Magic Goes Away and certain Conan books?) The comic tells of how the Atlanteans are driven underwater and become water-breathing sword-fighters. I don’t know if Peter David ever read Marvel’s “Tales of Atlantis” but some similarities are inevitable. This comic deserves an article all its own so watch for it.
Adding Sword & Sorcery elements to an underwater superhero wasn’t the province of Marvel alone. In 2006-2007, Kurt Busiek and Butch Guice did the same for Namor’s competition, Aquaman. “Sword of Atlantis” was 18 issue run with more swords and not so much sorcery. With issue #50, Tad Williams, the Fantasy bestselling author, took over the writing. Shawn McManus took over the art. Sword & Sorcery has been good to the undersea folk. Even the film, Aquaman (2018) had its share of imperial politics and battling. We saw that here first at Marvel.
