Every now and again you get a glimpse of that.
In Avengers: Arena (a terrific comic, notwithstanding its shadowing of the Hunger Games, with some amazing characterisation of what had previously been a D-list villain, Arcade), the writer explains the origin of the Atlantean girl (can't remember her name). As a small child, her parents committed treason and were executed. She is standing in front Namor's throne, maybe 5 years old, with her parents' dead bodies in the background. Namor's guardsmen say, "And what of the girl?" Namor is showing walking to his throne with his back to her, and a hand nonchalantly in the air. "Exile her to the surface," he says without even looking at her.
Supervillain as fuck.
Hell, yeah. That's a character that would sell a book. It would also help differentiate Namor in the minds of the general public from Aquaman (whom, of course, was a rip off of the Sub-mariner in the first place, but most people don't know that).
