First Appearance Of
Marvel Comics #1 (1939). Bill Everett. Sub-Mariner's debut and Marvel Atlantis's first appearance. Both are introduced in the same Funnies Inc.-produced issue.

1st Appearance

First Appearance of Atlantis (Marvel)

Marvel Comics #1

October 1939 · Marvel · Golden Age

Bill Everett's 1939 Atlantean kingdom. The undersea civilization that Namor the Sub-Mariner rules. Distinct from DC's Atlantis (Aquaman's kingdom); both publishers built independent Atlantis mythologies starting in the late Golden Age.

Key Issue

Created by Bill Everett

By Atomm Updated

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Marvel Comics Place Sub-Mariner's undersea kingdom.

Atlantis (Marvel) first appears in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939), Bill Everett, alongside Sub-Mariner's debut. The undersea kingdom is ruled by Namor and has gone through multiple destruction-and-rebuilding cycles across decades. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revived the kingdom for the Marvel Age in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962). The MCU adapted Atlantis as Talokan (a Mesoamerican-derived undersea kingdom rather than Greek-mythological Atlantis) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); Tenoch Huerta plays Namor in the film.

Firsts Timeline

  1. Marvel Comics #1 cover
    First Appearance October 1939

    Marvel Comics #1

    By Bill Everett

    Bill Everett writes, pencils, and inks. Atlantis appears alongside Sub-Mariner's debut. The Atlantean kingdom is established as an undersea civilization with Namor as the half-Atlantean half-human prince. Everett's framing positions Atlantis as morally grey from the start; the kingdom blames the surface world for environmental damage to its undersea environs.

  2. Fantastic Four #4 cover
    Silver Age Atlantis Reset May 1962

    Fantastic Four #4

    By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

    Lee and Kirby. The 1962 revival of Sub-Mariner reframes Atlantis for the Marvel Age. Namor finds his kingdom destroyed by H-bomb tests when he returns from amnesia in the Bowery; the post-FF #4 Atlantis is recovering or being rebuilt across multiple subsequent storylines.

  3. Wakanda Forever Atlantis (Talokan) November 2022

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022 film)

    By Ryan Coogler

    Ryan Coogler directs. The MCU adapted Atlantis as Talokan, a Mesoamerican-derived undersea kingdom rather than the Greek-mythological Atlantis of the comics. The change preserves the structural function (undersea kingdom led by Namor) while giving the kingdom a culturally different identity. Tenoch Huerta plays Namor.

What Atlantis is

Bill Everett created Marvel’s Atlantis alongside Sub-Mariner in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939). The framing positions Atlantis as an undersea kingdom predating Marvel’s Silver Age, with Namor as its half-Atlantean half-human prince. The kingdom’s relationship with the surface world is hostile from the start; the Atlanteans blame surface humans for environmental damage to their undersea environs.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revived Sub-Mariner in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962). Atlantis in the post-FF #4 era is in a state of recovery; H-bomb tests during Namor’s amnesiac period damaged the kingdom significantly. Subsequent decades have featured multiple Atlantis destruction-and-rebuilding cycles.

The MCU adapted Atlantis as Talokan in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). The change preserves the structural function while giving the kingdom a Mesoamerican-derived cultural identity rather than the Greek-mythological-derived comic original. The MCU framing has been received well; Tenoch Huerta’s performance was widely praised.

Collector context

Marvel Comics #1 is the canonical first-appearance key for Atlantis (Marvel). The book is one of the highest-value Golden Age comics; CGC 9.0 and above is in the seven figures. Atlantis’s first-appearance value is folded into the Sub-Mariner first-appearance value.

Frequently asked questions

The questions readers and collectors ask most.

What is Atlantis's first appearance?

Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939), Bill Everett, alongside Sub-Mariner's debut. The kingdom is established as the undersea civilization Namor rules. Different framings privilege different issues; Marvel Comics #1 is the canonical first appearance.

How is Marvel's Atlantis different from DC's?

Different publishers built independent Atlantis mythologies. Marvel's Atlantis (Sub-Mariner's kingdom) and DC's Atlantis (Aquaman's kingdom) are unrelated and have different cultures, histories, and rulers. Both draw on the broader Greek-mythological Atlantis as source material; both are independent superhero adaptations of that source.

What is Talokan?

The MCU's adaptation of the Atlantean concept. Talokan is a Mesoamerican-derived undersea kingdom in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); the change preserves the structural function (undersea kingdom led by Namor) while giving the kingdom a culturally different identity. Tenoch Huerta plays Namor in the film. Subsequent MCU material uses Talokan rather than Atlantis.

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