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King Arthur (Arthur Pendragon) is a legendary figure used commonly in comic books.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2020) |
King Arthur (Arthur Pendragon) is a legendary figure used commonly in comic books.
King Arthur was first used in New Comics #3 ("The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney") and appears alongside his wife Guinevere, his friend Merlin, Sir Lancelot, and Gareth. [1]
King Arthur is present in Batman #36, a possible fantasy entitled "Sir Batman at King Arthur's Court" in which Professor Carter Nichols uses his "Time-Ray Machine" device to send Batman and Robin back in time using "time travel hypnosis" to Arthur's court at Camelot. [2]
King Arthur reappears in Adventure Comics #66, a tale in which Merlin gives the Shining Knight a magical suit of armor (which protects its wearer from all forms of harm), a sword (capable of cutting any substance except the aforementioned suit), and a winged horse named Winged Victory. [3] The Shining Knight later delivers the Holy Grail to King Arthur at Camelot. [4]
In Marvel Family #70, Merlin sends armor to the future, where it is worn by Sterling Morris, a descendant of King Arthur, and sends him back to Camelot. The Marvel Family follow him back in time and find while Arthur is away on a crusade, Queen Guinevere, who was left to rule the Kingdom, has been captured by the Black Wizard, who seeks to seize the Kingdom. Merlin has brought Morris back to rule the Kingdom while Arthur is away. The Marvels rescue Guinevere and retrieve Arthur from the Crusades. Arthur's Knights defeat the Black Wizard's forces and he is captured by Sterling. [5]
Arthur reappears in Brave and the Bold #1, a story where Merlin acts as a guide to young squire Brian Kent, who later becomes the Silent Knight. [6] [7]
In World's Finest Comics #42, comic figures Doc and Fatty travel back to King Arthur's court using a unique device called a "Time-Typer", which is basically a souped-up typewriter. Doc and Fatty meet the King and are told that they need to kill a dragon to earn a seat at the Round Table. They later pilot a robot dragon and attempt to scam Arthur. [8]
Green Arrow and Speedy travel to the jungle planet of Tropicus in World's Finest #52; there Green Arrow meets both Arthur and Daniel Boone in a story titled "A Sword, a Rifle and a Bow". Green Arrow, Arthur, and Boone are forced to duel in an alien arena against numerous Tropican warriors. At the end of the story, both heroes are returned to Earth as the capital city of Tropicus is destroyed by a volcanic eruption. [6]
Arthur also appears in World's Finest #162, a story in which both Superman and Batman are dragged through time to Camelot through the use of a "Time Mist", by a race of purple shapeshifting aliens, who trick Batman and Superman into helping them overthrow Camelot. The disguised aliens state that Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table are alien impostors who have driven them away from Camelot. With their help, Arthur and the Knights are defeated; during the fight, Superman is stunned by Arthur wielding Excalibur and Batman is wounded by Sir Galahad's magic spear. Batman and Superman later aid in their rescue when the deception is revealed and with the help of the magically empowered knights' powers such as Sir Bors' ring of fire, Sir Bohart's super-speed, Sir Kay's cloak of invisibility and growing powers, Sir Lancelot's invulnerable armor, Gawain's belt that gives him superhuman strength, and Merlin's magic spells, the aliens are ousted from Camelot. At the story's end, Superman and Batman are both knighted by Arthur. [9]
Arthur makes a tangential appearance in The Demon #1, a story where Merlin enlisted the demon Etrigan in the defense of Camelot, against the coming of Morgaine le Fey, her army of demons, and Arthur's son Mordred. Later, in The Demon (vol. 3) #16-20, Merlin set Percival to guard the Region Beyond, where Merlin banished all the dangerous mystical entities native to Great Britain. [10] [11]
An alternate version of Arthur appears in the 1982 maxiseries Camelot 3000 , where characters from Arthurian myth have no contact with DC superheroes in present day. He sleeps beneath Glastonbury Tor, but is awakened in the year 3000 to stave off an alien invasion spearheaded by his sister Morgan le Fay. [12]
An alternate Arthur also appears in the 1992 miniseries Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table.
King Arthur has appeared in Marvel Comics' comic books various times. Examples include the Black Knight and Captain Britain comic book series. The first version of Arthur Pendragon was in Black Knight #1 (May 1955) by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely. [13] [14] Captain Britain got his superpowers from the Arthurian magician Merlyn and his daughter Roma, not attested in the original legends.
King Arthur appears as an unlockable playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 , voiced by Cian Berry. [15]