Return of the Nautilus!

Like a number of other issues during the run of the series, Sub-Mariner #53 (Sept. 1972) drew upon the character's history. While the main story teamed the Prince of Atlantis with Sunfire, a relatively new hero at the time, a back-up feature reprinted a Sub-Mariner tale from the 1950s.

In that back-up story, an occult magician stole a painting from the Fictional Art Section of the Manhattan Historical Museum. The stolen painting pictured the Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Making matters worse, a ghostly submarine began appearing out of nowhere and attacking naval vessels. Sub-Mariner's investigation led him to a ramshackle shanty, where he found the magician dead from heart failure. The villain's hand clutched the stolen painting … with the image of the Nautilus inexplicably absent.

Before and after renditions of the painting appear below.