Anon who sent the Dorma/Namor ask, I’m so sorry something happened when I tried to save it to drafts and it’s no longer there. I had a pretty long post and sorry it was taking so long to reply, I’ll try to sum up everything again in this post as best I can.
How was Dorma and Namor’s relationship like romantically?
So basically I love this couple, they are very pretty and very dramatic and passionate. However Dorma suffers from what all early female characters suffer from, most of her existence has been tied to a man which was her being in love with Namor. She doesn’t get any development outside of that and despite her being the second ever female character in Sub-Mariner comics and created in 1939, she does not have any background other than being a noble woman of the Atlantean Court and a distant cousin of Namor. In the Golden Age she was a companion of Namor and even goes to the surface with him to wreck a lighthouse, Marvel Comics (1939) #1. She was reintroduced in the Silver Age and it’s where we get the most Dorma/Namor interactions; from Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #1, Tales to Astonish #70-101, The Sub-Mariner (1968) #1-37, her death happens in #37. Since then she becomes the “lost love” of Namor and he grieves for her loss for decades after. Once a scientist tried to clone Dorma so she could live again but Namor was horrified because the clone bodies were empty shells with no thought or personalty. He yells that she should have been left to her rest. Namor the Sub-Mariner (1990) #19
Namor the Sub-Mariner (1990) #21
How they were romantically is that she was the one who pursued Namor and he early on often ignored her advances or didn’t give her the attention she deserves until she saved his ass (Dorma was often telling Namor she wanted to go with him and Namor would tell her it’s too dangerous then he would get into trouble and she would have followed him anyways and saved him) and then he was all heart eyes for her.
Once Dorma even rallied the Atlantean army and was about to wage war on the surface world unless they let Namor return to the sea.
The Sub-Mariner (1968) #21
He does turn around and start to be warmer towards her though eventually proposing to her. The Sub-Mariner (1968) #33
In the beginning Dorma is a very jealous woman and often thought that Namor’s fondness for Susan was an obstacle, so she tried to kill Susan.
Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 1
She has gotten less homicidal but still warns off any woman who makes eyes at Namor. I often think of Namor and Dorma as a soap opera couple with their dramatic vows of love and then thinking the other has betrayed them, and getting upset until it’s cleared up and then once again more declarations of love. They are very passionate people, but it’s Dorma who wears the pants in that relationship, literally XD.
Tales to Astonish #70, she feels slighted by Namor and imprisons him since she was in league with Krang who wanted Namor’s throne, later she frees him because she loves him.
Later Krang throws Dorma to the faceless ones because she spurned him and Namor chooses to save Dorma’s life over regaining the Trident of Neptune. This arc runs from #70-75.
Namor would always give up everything to save Dorma, and they did love each other very passionately but they were always dealing with dangers to Atlantis so there isn’t a lot of quiet moments on panel between them. Namor lost Dorma when she was murdered by Llyra.
The Sub-Mariner (1968) #37
