a founding member of the Illuminati. All of this should make Namor one of the most important figures in the Marvel universe, yet he has never reached the levels of popularity or importance as DC's Aquaman. One thing comic fans do know, however, is that Namor is clearly the superior lover.
One rare moment where Namor did get to shine was in 2012's Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land. Uncanny was meant as a return to form for the X-Men after the big continuity shake-up Fear Itself ended. In the book, Cyclops assembles several high profile mutants to form an elite team of X-Men-- "the extinction team" who would do whatever it took to save mutantkind, and prove to humanity that they need Mutants to help save them from themselves.
Normally, letting a wildcard like Namor your Mutant PR team would be a horrible idea, but the Sub-Mariner is surprisingly loyal to the cause of Mutant rights. In fact, the X-Men are possibly the only superhero team he hasn't turned against in the past. Ultimately trusting Namor would pay off for Cyclops (and the world), when the Atlantean king saved the entire world by seducing a grotesque river monster.
Uncanny X-Men #8 deals with the sudden appearance of Tabula Rasa, a mysterious dome in Montana that contains a multitude of new alien species that suddenly evolved within the sphere. One of these new species is an underwater race of tapeworm monsters, so naturally the underwater hero Namor would be sent to negotiate with this new civilization. Upon meeting the River Queen in her palace, Cyclops' adopted daughter Hope tries to warn Namor that the River Queen doesn't speak english, so communicating with her won't be easy. In typical Namor fashion, he decides to resolve the conflict using his second favorite method after violence: seduction.
Aside from his anger towards the surface world and Mr. Fantastic's wife, the Invisible Woman but evidently Namor doesn't discriminate when it comes to women. Sleeping with the River Queen was all it took for him to calm her down and broker peace between her fledgling Kingdom and the world outside of Tabula Rasa, making this officially one of the oddest ways a hero has saved the world in comic book history.
After the conflict with the tapeworms is resolved, Namor and Hope sit down to talk with one another about what just happened. Hope is more than impressed with what Namor did to save the world, and she asks the King of Atlantis if she could visit his Kingdom some time in the future. The Sub-Mariner turns her down, stating that she's too young for him. In the process, revealing the biggest difference between Namor and X-Men leader Cyclops: the king of Atlantis doesn't like redheads.
