Featuring: Black Knight
Release: January 14, 1955
Cover: May 1955
10 cents
By: Stan Lee and Joe Maneely
10 pages
In the next post, we’ll be covering the battle of Giant-Man and the Wasp against a new super-villain, the Black Knight. That character will not be Marvel’s first or last Black Knight. The following iteration will be a superhero, and one of my all-time favorites.
We have already seen a version. A Merlin story in one of the fantasy backups, the ones we’ve mostly skipped, introduced a Black Knight that served Merlin, which turned out to be an empty suit of armor animated by magic. Merlin had created that Black Knight to combat the schemes of Sir Mogard.
We meet here Marvel’s original (with a caveat) Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, recruited by Merlin to combat the schemes of Modred.
The caveat. Let’s talk here about Tommy Tyme. I’m not sure I care to add his adventures into our reading order, but let’s at least have a peek. He was a time-traveling youth who appeared in a handful of 1940s Marvel comics. We first encounter both Merlin and the Black Knight in a Tommy Tyme story in Young Allies #11. I’ll confess the story doesn’t make much sense to me. There is a modern performer named Merlin, who turns out to possibly be the real Merlin. He sends Tommy back to medieval times to rescue prisoners from an evil Black Knight. Or maybe it’s all a dream.
The GCD attributes the Tommy Tyme story to Batman co-creator Bill Finger and the art to Dan Barry and Al Bellman.
That story aside, this issue represents the introduction of both Merlin and Black Knight within Marvel comics.
Marvel had mostly given up on superheroes by 1955. Sub-Mariner was the last one standing from their brief revival in 1953, and his title would be cancelled within a few months. Western heroes remained quite popular and shared some tropes in common with superheroes. Some, like the Outlaw Kid, even had a mask and secret identity.
Now, we get the Black Knight, Marvel’s attempt at a “medieval” genre. The attempt won’t go past this short-lived series. Their take on the Black Knight also borrows from superhero tropes, though many of those tropes were borrowed by superhero comics from works like The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Sir Percy pretends to be a coward in King Arthur’s court. He is often teased. Women, including the lovely Lady Rosamund, reject him, preferring brave men, like the mysterious Black Knight.
The Black Knight, for his part, keeps his true identity secret to all but Merlin, who recruited him to defend the king. In each story, he rescues King Arthur from some trap. The wicked Sir Modred is usually behind these plots, but they can never quite prove that to Arthur.
Much about the legends of Camelot is peppered into this tale. Excalibur. The Knights of the Round Table. Lady Guinevere.
Let’s review the character of Merlin. He’s a fairly significant Marvel character, based on the old character of legend. He pops up lots of places, not all of which fit well together. Some perhaps do not belong in our continuity. Some perhaps are not the same Merlin. Perhaps each appearance represents an incomplete glimpse into the enigma that is Merlin.
We mentioned above the Tommy Tyme story. Then there’s the countless fantasy/horror one-off short stories that Marvel did, often drawing from various legends. In Strange Tales #71 (1959), by the great Steve Ditko, a skeptic finds Merlin’s diary in a curio shop and is transported back in time to meet the medieval Merlin. In a twist ending, we learn the shopkeeper is Merlin himself.
We covered any of these weird Merlin tales that came out after our starting point of Fantastic Four #1. For example, in Tales of Suspense #27, we saw Merlin in the present teaching a lesson to an unscrupulous magician calling himself Merlin.
In one of the worst stories yet, Thor battled Merlin. This Merlin is straight evil, and not actually possessing of true magical powers. He is a mutant with telekinetic power who used it to impress Arthur with prestidigitation. He had been in suspended animation since Arthur’s time. It’s hard to reconcile this villain with Arthur’s trusted confidante, and I suspect he’s not the real Merlin.
We have seen two other references to the character of Merlin. In Fantastic Four #5, Dr. Doom sent the Fantastic Four to steal gems that had belonged to Merlin, which might have magical powers. In Incredible Hulk #5, we learn Tyrannus had been banished to the center of the earth centuries earlier by Merlin.
Except for the Thor tale, most of these stories can be reconciled. Merlin’s note to Black Knight that he doesn’t have long to live doesn’t quite fit, because other stories show him living to the present, but perhaps he just hasn’t yet stumbled upon the secret of immortality. Mostly he’s portrayed as fairly noble, if mildly spiteful. Though you get hints that he has his own agenda, and that there’s more to his story than we know.
There are three other stories in this comic. A prose story entitled “Excalibur” tells the classic “sword in the stone” story of how a young Arthur became king. There is also one more Black Knight tale we’ll be reviewing at a later date, when it becomes relevant to our Marvel Age reading.
The second story of the issue is the beginning of a series concerning The Crusader. It has a mind-numbingly racist premise. It begins as many tales begin, as a man-of-two-worlds story. A British man raised since childhood amongst Saracens discovers his true origins. Unlike other such tales, where a man might defend his adopted people against invaders or try to form a bridge between the warring worlds, it takes this man barely a second after learning his true heritage to switch sides to join the Christian knights and become a Crusader who goes around slaying Saracens and Mongols. The Crusader’s adventures will unfortunately continue for the rest of this series. Beautifully illustrated.
The artist on this comic is Joe Maneely. I’d like us to pause and reflect on the intricacy of the costume design. Jack Kirby has now designed for us dozens of superhero costumes, all great, but none I would call intricate. He likes the simple, the bold and iconic. Ditko peppers his designs with more details than Kirby, as can be seen in Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. But nothing to match what we see here. A chest logo, a shield, a fancy sword hilt, a helmet design, the ornament atop the helmet, the details on the scabbard, the knife, the studded belt. A lot of thought went into the details and it’s a beautiful design.
Not just the Black Knight. Look to all his designs, each with their own style, even for minor characters like that unnamed sentry in the last panel.
Maneely worked for Marvel during their break from superheroes. This comic is the closest he got to the genre, save for a few Sub-Mariner covers.
Many believe he would have been a great superhero artist. He could have been creating bold new superhero designs to rival Kirby and Ditko in the early 1960s. If only he had lived. He died in a tragic accident, falling from a train, a few years after this comic was published.
To quote Stan Lee, “…he would have been another Jack Kirby. He would have been the best you could imagine.”
Rating: ★★★★☆, 72/100
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Black Knight/Yellow Claw.
You can also find it through Kindle.
Characters:
- Black Knight/Sir Percy of Scandia
- Lancelot
- Galahad
- Merlin
- Modred
- Morgan le Fey
- Arthur Pendragon
- Lady Rosamund
- Hawkes
- Queen Guinevere
Story notes:
- Lancelot is Arthur’s right-hand man.
- Knights battled against invading Romans.
- Modred is nephew to King Arthur
- Modred is married to Morgan le Fey; Morgan le Fey is aware of his schemes.
- King Arthur, son of Uther, ruler of Camelot.
- Modred and Percy are cousins.
- Sir Percy’s land has been usurped by the Baron of Esmore; he seeks refuge in Camelot.
- Lady Rosamund finds Percy handsome, but she dislikes weaklings.
- Percy’s chambers are down below near the supply quarters.
- Merlin notes he will die soon.
- Arthur wields Excalibur and battles many men.
- Merlin observes far-off events with crystal ball.
Next: Tales to Astonish #52
Previous: The X-Men #3
