How 'Atlantis Attacks' #1 Puts the Agents of Atlas in Deep Trouble

Warning! This article contains spoilers for today's ATLANTIS ATTACKS #1, so read on at your own risk, oh frantic ones!

Last year, after a long hiatus, WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS brought together a new generation of heroes. AGENTS OF ATLAS (2019) subsequently gave the team a new purpose by establishing the Portal City of Pan, a unique link between five cities across the world. For an exorbitant price, Mike Nguyen, the CEO of the Big Nguyen Company, allows anyone free reign to be a world traveler simply by stepping through a portal.

However, in this week’s ATLANTIS ATTACKS #1, writer Greg Pak and artist Ario Anindito reiterated the dark secret of Pan... It’s existence is powered by a captive dragon stolen from Atlantis, and that has drawn the attention of Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Although ATLANTIS ATTACKS shares its name with the 1989 ATLANTIS ATTACKS crossover, their stories don’t have a direct connection at this point. If anything, Namor’s fury is far more righteous in 2020 than Atlantis’ conquest-minded assault in the earlier tale. The irony is that Namor doesn’t really want the dragon back. As he noted in this issue, the dragon “was a cruel beast.” But he simply can’t abide the surface dwellers’ latest affront against Atlantis. 

Even the Agents of Atlas openly question the morality of keeping the dragon captive. After all, it’s a sentient being and its cries have constantly summoned other dragons to attack the city. Unfortunately for the heroes, Nguyen has placed them in a tight spot by allowing refugees to enter Pan for their protection. If Pan were to suddenly no longer exist, they would face death or worse in their own countries.

The burden of finding a solution rests upon the shoulders of Amadeus Cho, AKA Brawn, and his new friends. Wave found a unique way to outrun one of Namor’s sea monsters by ushering a crowd of bystanders through a Pan portal before the water overtook them. Apparently water can’t pass through a portal, but that still leaves collateral damage behind.

As for Namor, he’s been extremely aggressive lately in the pages of AVENGERS (2018) and INVADERS (2019). The latter series explained that some of Namor’s actions were the result of mental manipulations, but he’s truly had it with the surface world. His entire kingdom is in the ocean, and the seven seas are in rough shape thanks to humanity’s pollution and misuse. In Namor’s mind, he’s still the hero. That’s why he generously allowed Amadeus and his new team a single day to release the dragon and avert a war.

AGENTS OF ATLAS (2019) #5 called into question the relationship between Nguyen and the current leader of Atlas, Jimmy Woo. Jimmy and his dragon adviser, Mr. Lao, told the new Atlas team to free Nguyen’s dragon despite the treaty between Jimmy’s organization and Nguyen’s company. Their hesitation and ultimately their refusal is what led to the current conflict with Atlantis. Now, a new war is seemingly inevitable.

If there’s a ray of hope, it’s that Jimmy is once again active with his original team from AGENTS OF ATLAS (2006). In the closing pages of AGENTS OF ATLAS #1, Jimmy introduces the new team to Venus, Namora, M-11, Gorilla Man, 3-D Man, and Marvel Boy. Namora is also Namor’s first cousin, and she may be invaluable if she can talk the Sub-Mariner down. But if Jimmy has a secret agenda, it could expand this conflict into an Agents of Atlas civil war...

Read ATLANTIS ATTACKS #1 at your local comic shop now!