His name was… Merlin!
Featuring: Merlin
Release: December 12, 1961
Cover: March 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
5 pages
This is a late entry. But now that Merlin’s been mentioned as the ancient enemy of Tyrannus, I realize he did have a single earlier appearance in the Marvel Age. Again, these famous mythological figures were common fodder for Marvel’s old weird tales. There’s not necessarily a connection between these isolated stories and the characters who appear in the Marvel superhero stories. But it’s not clear there isn’t. And in hindsight, I wish we had covered this way back in the beginning. It came out the same day as Fantastic Four #3.
This was a pretty standard fantasy tale in one of these anthologies. We’ve seen the exact summary before: a dishonorable man gets what’s coming to him through a mystical twist when he picks the wrong victim to mess with. We’ve seen this in an Odin story and a Medusa story.
The Great Nero was a failing magician. Audiences hated his acts; he stiffed his assistants; other magicians accused him of stealing their acts. He decides to rebrand as “Merlin the Mystic”, claiming to be a descendent of the original Merlin. It didn’t help. But then a homeless person approached and offered to teach him tricks. He accepts the lessons, but refuses to pay. Well, this fake “Merlin” cheated the exact wrong person…
Art by Steve Ditko, basically my favorite artist ever.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 55/100
Significance: ★☆☆☆☆
Characters:
- Joe Cooke/Nero/Merlin
- Merlin
#6 story in reading order
Next: Tales to Astonish #30
Previous: Fantastic Four #3
Ditto, re: Ditko. My favorite artist ever.