Merlin (DC Comics)

Merlin
Merlin, from Madame Xanadu vol. 2 #2, artist Amy Reeder Hadley
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Comics #3 (February 1936)
Created by	Rafael Astarita (writer & artist)
In-story information
Species	Half-demon
Place of origin	Hell
Notable aliases	Merlin Ambrosius Merlinus Merloch
Abilities	Powerful infernal sorcerer Expert in Maleficium Necromancy

Merlin (Myrddin Wyllt) is a fictional character, a comic book magician published by DC Comics based on the mythical wizard Merlin. The earliest depiction of a Merlin by DC Comics was introduced in New Comics #3, (February 1936) and was created by Rafael Astarita making him the second earliest recurring character (following Doctor Occult) still published by DC Comics predating even Superman.

The character would return sporadically throughout the years. Many alternate versions and media adaptions based on the comic book counterpart would also be used.

Publication history

The DC Comics version of Merlin first appeared in a King Arthur based comic book story in the anthology comic book series entitled originally New Comics (later retitled Adventure Comics) in issue #3 in February 1936 by Rafael Astarita, kicking off a six issue adaptation of The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney by Sir Thomas Malory. He was also one of the earliest appeared recurring characters in a DC Comics title appearing only slightly after Doctor Occult and before Slam Bradley and Superman.

In a Superboy story he appears as a scientist of King Arthur's time who looks like Mr Mxyzptlk, but also has the gift of Second Sight. (Superboy #103)

The first modern version of Merlin is linked to his appearance in The Demon vol. 1 #1 (September 1972). In this series, Merlin summons the demon Etrigan to combat Morgaine le Fey, and appears in several more issues of the series. These events are shown from a different point of view in Madame Xanadu vol. 2 #1 (August 2008), a Vertigo Comics title. In The Demon vol. 2 #1 (April 1987), Merlin is established as Etrigan's half-demon brother and subsequent uses of the character have followed this back story.

Fictional character biography

Origins

Merlin is the half-demon son of the demon Belial and an unknown human woman and half-brother of the demons Lord Scapegoat and Etrigan. His very first appearance has him serving his traditional tutelary role to King Arthur in Camelot, alongside Lancelot, Guinevere, and Gareth.

Merlin had further adventures in King Arthur's court. He gave a magical suit of armor (which protects its wearer from all forms of harm) and a sword (capable of cutting any substance except the aforementioned suit), as well as a winged horse named Victory to the Shining Knight. He also guided squire Brian Kent, the young man who became the Silent Knight.

Merlin's father Belial had him trained in the arts of sorcery so that he could use his powers to control his older brother Etrigan. As a result, Merlin traveled far and wide on the mortal plane, studying various schools of magic. Eventually he became learned enough to bind his brother, and was responsible for binding Etrigan to the body and soul of the druid Iason, who would later be known as Jason Blood. Merlin employed the now controllable demon in the defense of Camelot, against his nemesis Morgaine le Fey, her army of demons, and her son Mordred. Before Morgaine le Fey's attack, Merlin subdued his other brother Lord Scapegoat and the Thing-That-Cannot-Die, banishing them to the Region Beyond, and set Sir Percival the Golden Knight to guard the Region's exit which is located in England. The Region Beyond, possibly located in the Infernal Province known as the Labyrinth, is where King Arthur had Merlin banish all the dangerous mystical entities native to Great Britain.

Etrigan was able to defeat Morgaine le Fey and her demon army, and Arthur slew Mordred. But the Phantom Stranger made sure that the fall of Camelot could not be prevented, by arranging Merlin's ensorcellment by his student Nimue Inwudu (Madame Xanadu). Merlin eventually escapes this fate and has appeared elsewhere in DC Comics, living an immortal existence throughout the centuries and aiding various heroes.

Justice League of America

See also: Justice League of America

In the pre-Crisis DC Comics universe, Merlin possessed a magical crystal ball which he allowed the Justice League of America to keep after they helped him to defeat a trio of evil sorcerers. This Merlin comes from the alternate world Magic-Land, where scientific laws do not apply but magic does. This self-same crystal ball was used a short time later to communicate across dimensions with the Justice Society of America of Earth Two. Both teams of heroes coordinated their efforts to defeat a group of villains known as the "Crime Champions". In another story Superboy, when travelling through time to find a red kryptonite meteor, meets Merlin, who looks like Mr Mxyzptlk. Merlin here uses an early form of science, but shows he is able to see into the future.

Other artifacts once owned by Merlin have shown up all over the DC Comics Universe. A time traveler named Lord Satanis and his wife Syrene both sought the "Runestone of Merlin", and manipulated Superman in pursuit of it. The "Book of Eternity" which was Merlin's book of spells, is currently wielded by Selma Tolon of Turkey, an adventurer who calls herself the "Janissary". The Philosopher's Stone was the magical focus used by Merlin to bond the druid Iason to the demon Etrigan. It later fell into the hands of Doctor Albert Desmond, the criminal known as Doctor Alchemy. The magical armor he crafted for the Shining Knight's sidekick Percy Sheldrake, the Squire, was passed on to Percival's son Cyril Sheldrake now known as the Knight.

Hunter: The Age of Magic

In the Vertigo Comics mini-series, The Names of Magic, Timothy Hunter encounters a version of Merlin still trapped under an enchanted sleep in a cave in Cornwall. Merlin explains that Tim is his creation, a spiritual successor to the title of "the Merlin" (a living conduit of magic). He created Tim with multiple contradictory origins to enhance his legend. This Merlin's connection to the mainstream DC Comics version is unclear, though it would seem that like Tim, Merlin is also a living legend of contradictory histories. In addition to sleeping in the cave, the series claims that aspects of Merlin are trapped in a forest in France, under a hill in Wales, and on an island in an invisible house of glass. In the subsequent ongoing series, Hunter: The Age of Magic, Merlin's spirit manifests through Tim's owl, Yoyo, and becomes the boy's teacher, until his body is slain by the Brotherhood of the Cold Flame and his spirit passes on.

Trials of Shazam

File:Merlindcu1.jpg

Myrddin from The Trials of Shazam! #12 (May 2008), artist Agustin Alessio

See also: Captain Marvel Jr.

As of the Trials of Shazam maxi-series, the aspect of Merlin still free in the world now exhibits a visible demonic aspect and goes by his Welsh name "Myrddin." He has also revealed the existence of several half-demon children sired and tutored by him. These descendants refer to themselves collectively as the "Council of Merlin." His favored daughter Sabina, a Creole witch, recently failed in her bid for the power of Shazam, which would have made her his anchor to Earth, and was instead killed when drawn into a portal in a battle with Freddy Freeman by Zeus.

The New 52

In The New 52 Merlin makes his debut in Demon Knights #1, again as the magician of King Arthur's court and is responsible for Etrigan the Demon and Jason Blood merging. Years later he was killed by a daemonite-controlled disciple in the city of Alba Sarum. However the Demon Knights, although betrayed by Etrigan, are able to bring his body to Avalon resurrecting the magician, who then uses his mystical powers to help defeat the invading forces of Lucifer and Queen Questing. In the present Merlin is called Adam One and is the leader of Stormwatch. But he is eventually replaced and, by the words of the Shadow Cabinet's emissary, clinically killed since this is the only way to enter the Cabinet's dimension. He later appears to Jenny Quantum in a dream and explains to her the team's origins. Later, in Stormwatch #19, extra-dimensional aliens kill Adam One at the moment of creation, averting the Demon Knights backstory for Stormwatch and effectively rebooting that comic book.

Other versions

Elseworlds

• An alternate version of Merlin appears in the maxi-series Camelot 3000. This Merlin is an immortal who calls King Arthur from Glastonbury Tor in the year 3000 to stave off an alien invasion spearheaded by Morgaine le Fey.
• In the Elseworlds story Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table, Merlin counsels a Round Table made up of setting appropriate analogs of the Justice League of America.

In other media

Television

• Merlin appears in the 1960s episode of The Adventures of Superboy called "The Black Knight." He becomes jealous of Superboy's powers at the time when he and Timmy are transported to the days of King Arthur.
• Merlin appears in The Freedom Force. He appears as part of the titular team alongside heroes such as Isis and Hercules. This segment was part of Tarzan and the Super 7, which was a continuation of The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour.
• Merlin appeared in the Justice League episode "A Knight of Shadows" Pt. 1 voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard. After Morgaine le Fey persuades a knight named Jason Blood to betray King Arthur by letting her armies into Camelot which followed up with Morgaine poisoning him, Merlin appeared during the conflict and punishes Jason Blood by binding the demon Etrigan to him.
• Merlin appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Day of the Dark Knight" voiced by David McCallum. He is a wizard who is a companion of King Arthur, the boss of Etrigan, and the teacher of Morgaine le Fey. When Morgaine le Fay was taking over Camelot and took control over Etrigan, he traveled to the present and brought Batman and Green Arrow to medieval times after they thwarted a break-out attempt at Iron Heights while dressed as an inmate. He hopes to use them to retrieve Excalibur to help defeat Morgaine. When they reached the location, he engaged Morgaine le Fay in a magic battle. When Batman broke free from Morgaine le Fay's spell, she turned into a dragon and turned Merlin and Etrigan to stone. Following Morgaine le Fey's defeat, Camelot was freed and Batman and Green Arrow were returned to the present by Merlin. In "Trials of the Demon," it was mentioned that he and Etrigan imprisoned Astaroth in the Underworld. In "The Siege of Starro" Pt. 1, the teaser shows Morgaine le Fay having trapped Merlin until he is freed by Etrigan the Demon.
• Merlin appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Dan Donohue in "Speed Demon" and by Patrick Seitz in "Hat Trick". In "Speed Demon," he is called upon by Etrigan the Demon to help empower a vehicle to help take on the Batmobile after it was enchanted by Brother Night. As Merlin attempts to use it on a police car, the enchanted Batmobile tries to attack Merlin only for him to be saved by Etrigan. As the police car was wrecked, Etrigan the Demon has Merlin enchant the nearby ice cream truck instead. In the episode "Hat Trick," Etrigan the Demon contacts Merlin to have him teleport him, Batman, and Zatanna to the Hebrides in order to reclaim Zatanna's hat from Felix Faust.
• A female interpretation of Merlin appears on the second season of The CW series Legends of Tomorrow. This version is a disguise used by Courtney Whitmore (portrayed by Sarah Grey). In 1942, Courtney was a member of the World War II-era JSA. She and the rest of the group confront the time-traveling Legends team, whom the team initially views as enemies. Stargirl and the rest of her team (excluding Vixen and Obsidian) go missing in 1956 during a mission in which everyone was assumed to have been killed in action. Instead, she escaped to the sixth century where she used a fragment of the Spear of Destiny to create the court of Camelot with herself as Merlin.

Film

Merlin appears in Justice League Dark voiced by JB Blanc.

External links

• DCU Guide: Merlin
• DCU Guide: Silent Knight
• Cosmic Teams: The Demon
• Toonopedia: The Demon
• Torregrossa, Michael A. "Camelot 3000 and Beyond: An Annotated Listing of Arthurian Comic Books Published in the United States c. 1980-1998 (Revised Edition, May 2000)." The Arthuriana / Camelot Project Bibliographies. U of Rochester, n.d.