Marvel Preview Presents: Merlin the Magician, a saga of epic beauty by John Buscema (Conan the Barbarian, Mephisto vs., Weirdworld: Warriors of the Shadow Realm...), Doug Moench (Batman, Weirdworld: The Dragonmaster of Klarn, Master of Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes...), Tom Palmer (The Avengers, Tomb Of Dracula, Star Wars...) and John Tartaglione (The Life of Pope John Paul II).
Arturus Rex (King Arthur) Pendragon of Camelot finds a seriously wounded Knight.
Arthur tells his traitorous nephew Mordred to notify the castle.
King Arthur asks for Merlin's help to heal the youthful Knight (Beliar (not Belial))... who is too handsome to die.
Merlin the Sorcerer is suspicious, Beliar is just too good-looking to be good.
Beliar (son of Asmodiar (not Asmodeus), a baron of the "Nether"lands) tells his tall tale: Beliar kills his brother (Asmodiar's eldest son) by mistake. To atone for his blunder, Beliar tries to right wrongs across the land as a Knight-Errant. Beliar kills an enormous fire-breathing dragon, but gets severely injured.
Merlin is positive that Beliar is lying.
Beliar sneaks into Merlin's inner sanctum, Merlin shocks the wicked Beliar by making him aware that he knows who he truly is.
To disturb Beliar's calm demeanour, Merlin conjures arcane demons.
Sir Pellias strikes Beliar for disrespecting King Arthur.
Beliar requests a trial by combat, Beliar puts a spell on Pelleas and strikes him dead.
The jousting tournament commences, Sir Gawain defeats Sir Kay, Beliar humiliates Sir Lancelot du Lac (of the Lake).
For his lack of chivalry, King Arthur banishes Beliar from his court.
Beliar kidnaps Queen Guinevere (the wife of King Arthur).
King Arthur and Merlin are attacked by a rock spewing tornado.
A bridge mysteriously collapses, Arthur and Merlin lose their steeds.
A dragon attacks, but it is just an illusion.
Arthur and Merlin enter the castle of Beliar's father (Asmodiar the Prince of Evil (not Darkness)) and decide to check out its hellish cellar.
Arthur is a force of good (an homage to Silver Surfer (1968) #3) therefore Asmodiar wants the King of the Britons to die in a dual.
Beliar fights Arthur, Asmodiar transfers his devilish strength to his son, Merlin does the same for his king, Asmodiar makes his son grow in size and transforms his sword into a blade of flame, Merlin collapses, Beliar disarms Arthur, Asmodiar asks his son to fetch Guinevere.
Merlin knocks Beliar out, shapeshifts into Beliar, frees the Queen of Camelot from her shackles and beheads The Prince of Evil.
What I did like:
Big John Buscema's version of The Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur and Merlin the Wizard.
We get to see Goldenwing (King Arthur's favourite falcon)! The Merlin (Falco columbarius) is a species of falcon.
Fans of medieval fantasy fiction, British folklore, Arthurian mythology, The Sword in the Stone (1963), Excalibur (1981), Black Knight (Dane Whitman) and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant comic strip will love this.
55 pages of art drawn and inked by human hands!
A tale of sorcery nicely translated into French by Alice Ray.
The foreword: Let's Talk a little about Magic -- Real Magic by Ralph Macchio is present.
Asmodiar will reappear in Journey into Mystery (2011) #627.
What I did not like:
The Earl Norem cover (chosen by editor Lynn Graeme) was not reused.
The two articles commissioned by Lynn Graeme: "The Ages of Arthur" by Bill Mantlo (with an illustration by Marie Severin) and "Looking for the Real Arthur" by Steven Grant (with another illustration by Severin) were not included.
I give it a 9.5/10. A masterpiece! The Arthurian legend never looked so magical! From the summer of 1980, for the first time ever in France in a gorgeous limited edition (of only 600 copies) in A4+ format, it's the translated version of Marvel Preview (1975 Magazine) #22 featuring Merlin from Neofelis Editions. The perfect way to brush up on your French.
