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Mariner, sometimes called Aqua-Mariner, is a fictional character and Amalgam Comics superhero, whose true debut was in JLX #1 (1996), though his (metafictional) Amalgam Universe debut was in Marine Mystery #1. He is a combination of DC Comics' Aquaman and Marvel Comics' Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Character history
Early years
Prince Namor was born as a metamutant in Poseidonis, an underwater city. He was the only survivor when Poseidonis was destroyed, which is still under unknown circumstances. It is presumed that Namor's wife and son were killed in the event that destroyed Poseidonis. Namor left his former home for the surface world, above ground. Taking the name of Arthur McKenzie, he also took on the name of the Aqua-Mariner, becoming a superhero. The Aqua-Mariner was a bit of a rebel, his only wish to protect the oceans from surface-dwellers in any way possible.Later in his superhero career, the Aqua-Mariner reluctantly joined forces with The Whiz and American Belle to found the All-Star Winners Squadron, a team of superheroes. However, the Aqua-Mariner always found it hard to relate to his fellow heroes. Eventually others like Super-Soldier and Brooklyn Barnes joined the team as well. Aqua-Mariner and Super-Soldier seemed to be somewhat bitter to each other even from the beginning, with the Aqua-Mariner always resentful of having to work with land-dwellers.
The Aqua-Mariner eventually left the All-Star Winners Squadron to search for Atlantis, the lost home of metamutants. He crossed paths with Mister X, who was working with Project Cadmus at the time under the name of Marko Xavier. Xavier agreed to assist the Aqua-Mariner in searching for Atlantis. Unfortunately for Namor, Cadmus eventually abandoned their efforts to find Atlantis and began working with genetic experiments.
Searching for Atlantis
The Aqua-Mariner, taking the name of the Mariner in this day and age, met the Challengers of the Fantastic. Sue "Ace" Storm was quite smitten with the Mariner, though she stayed with her then boyfriend Reed "Prof" Richards.The Mariner eventually came across the Serpent Crown, which held the secrets to Atlantis, including the mysterious location's whereabouts. However, the clues inside of it were difficult to decipher, making it a serious challenge for the Mariner to find his way to his rightful home. He later joined the Judgment League Avengers, hoping that they would be able to help him in his search for Atlantis.
Mariner soon found himself in a battle with Will Magnus on Krakoa the Living Dinosaur Island, and Will Magnus stole the Mariner's prized Serpent Crown from him. Will Magnus found that Mariner was a worthy enemy, and decided to take him down. Magnus framed the Mariner for the destruction of some Roxxon oil tankers. This event led to the JLA turning on Mariner and imprisoning him. He was released by most of the other metamutant members on the JLA team, who had been assembled by the Mariner's former associate, Mister X.
Together, this new team, calling themselves the JLX, recruited the Mariner and fought in a battle against the JLA, which was stopped after Angelhawk, secretly a metamutant himself, feigned an injury. With the help of Mister X, the JLX were able to unlock secrets hidden in the Mariner's mind that revealed where Atlantis truly was. The metamutant team was shocked to discover that the famed city was empty.
Paradise lost?
The team was ambushed by Will Magnus and his robot Jocasta. The JLX defeated Magnus and his robot and vowed to discover where the inhabitants of Atlantis had gone to. The Mariner himself eventually discovered the lost population of Atlantis. Unfortunately, during the Armageddon Agenda, which was a government authorization allowing Will Magnus to wage war on metamutants, many of the Atlanteans were killed. Because of this, he was banished by the Atlanteans, and left them.The Mariner may have left the JLX after these events, as he did not appear in their later series, JLX Unleashed. It is known, however, that he temporarily teamed up with Iron Lantern to fight against the supervillain H.E.C.T.O.R. in a successful attempt to keep the villain from taking over the planet.
Resources
"Mariner (comics)"