The Black Knight Rides!

The Black Knight was getting a push with a Marvelmania poster all his own back in 1971. The poster featured the art of Howard Purcell. Since the poster captures a scene from the story which focused on the Knight, I'd imagine the scene was a rejected cover. 

 

There was something about the stories of the Black Knight which were special, and that was the artwork of Joe Maneely. I first fell in love with the original Black Knight in the pages of Fantasy Masterpieces and Marvel Super-Heroes when the Atlas-era adventures of Sir Percy of Scandia were reprinted alongside those of other Marvel heroes. Joe Maneely was immediately one of my favorite artists, as his nearly glowing pages, filled with detail told stories with economy and potency. He was a deft hand, and I wondered why he was not doing more, then I read of his tragic accidental death. He was reputedly Stan Lee's favorite artist and if he had not passed away, it's entirely likely that instead of Jack Kirby, Stan might've gone a different way when he decided to give the world of superheroes another shot. 

When the Black Knight as a hero was revived by Roy Thomas in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes Howard Purcell was selected as the artist. Purcell an artist from the Golden Age of comics who had spent most of his time at DC on things like the original Green Lantern and later the Sea Devils. He co-created Sargon the Sorcerer and the Enchantress so he was a good pick to handle the heavily mystical yarn about the legacy of Dane Whitman. The Black Knight's legacy was further developed in the pages of The Avengers as Roy Thomas brought the character back as a hero. The Black Knight had been a villain, but Thomas gave us a scientist who became a practitioner of sorcery when got the ebony blade of his ancestor Sir Percy. 

The Black Knight always seemed to be on the perimeter of the Marvel Universe, an Avenger but rarely seen. He was even turned to stone for several years. He eventually became a mainstay, and I have to say I usually liked his appearances.

When he is transformed to stone by the Enchantress only to become the impetus for the great Avengers-Defenders Clash, then gets trapped in time during the Crusades, later appearing in British comics getting involved with Captain Britain, and even journeys across dimensions to lead Malibu's Ultraforce. Here are some key covers from across the decades featuring the Black Knight.

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The Black Knight In The Marvel Age!

After the cancellation of The Black Knight in 1955 no single story with the character appeared for over twelve years.

After the demise of Atlas and the rise of Marvel, the Black Knight character was dusted off and brought back as a villain to confront Giant-Man and the Wasp in the pages of Tales to Astonish in 1964. This Black Knight had no apparent connection to the classic Atlas version, but rather was Nathan Garrett, a scientist with criminal tendencies who used his talents to create weapons and breed a flying horse and so fashion the guise of the Knight. Later he appeared in The Avengers as a founding member of The Masters of Evil.

This Black Knight though died a few years later after a confrontation with Iron Man in the pages of Tales of Suspense in 1966. His death left the role open, but only briefly.

Dane Whitman, a scientist too and nephew of Garrett discovers his uncles materials and continues his work along similar lines but with a different motivation. This Black Knight who debuted in the pages of The Avengers was a hero, though the reputation as a villain served him well when the Masters of Evil recruited him. He was able to turn the tables and eventually earned a spot on the roster of the team. But not before the true origin was revealed in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes in 1968.

In this yarn by Roy Thomas and Howard Purcell, we discover at last that the Black Knight from Camelot does indeed connect with this more recent techno-knight. Whitman goes back to the the family castle and learns that it was his destiny as a descendant of Sir Percy of Scandia to become the Black Knight, and he gets a boon, the Ebony Sword which Merlin presented to Percy way back in the heyday of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Modred returns too, but somewhat changed. The read this fabulous origin tale check out this link to the habitat of the Groovy Agent .

I was aware that the Black Knight was appearing regularly in the Marvel UK comics, specifically in issues of The Hulk's comic book.

But back then getting hold of such material was not realistic. I've always wanted to read those stories and some years back Marvel reprinted them as part of their effort to put the Captain Britain stories in a more permanent form.

The Knight's story is rambling one, told in three and four page bits over the course of many weeks. His mission, his quest is a mystery but he soon enough hooks up with a stranger who is pretty much obviously an amnesiac Captain Britain. The duo stumble along for a few chapters, hooking up with a peculiar chap called "Walker". It's at this point that similarities to another great fantasy saga begin to surface in the series, specifically the Middle Earth tales of J.R.R. Tolkien.

There's no out-and-out theft of ideas, but the Knight and Britain find themselves battling elves and trolls and such, many with names which evoke the classic fantasies by Tolkien. A master villain called Necromon appears after a time as do mysterious riders and other echoes of the Tolkien mythos.

But the Black Knight's focus is on his quest which takes him ultimately into another dimension dubbed "Otherworld" where he battles against his old foe Modred, somewhat redesigned for this storyline and now a servant of Necromon. Without spoiling it too much, it's sufficient to say that eventually the Knight and his ally Captain Britain save the day as heroes ought.

It was neat to finally read this storyline, one of the few which the Black Knight was offered over the decades, at least solo. He doesn't often sound like the Black Knight I know from the U.S. appearances, his Dane Whitman identity largely ignored, but he's the Knight nonetheless.

This storyline and much much more are available in the second Captain Britain reprint titled The Siege of Camelot. 

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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The Black Knight Five!

The fifth and final issue of Black Knight sees yet another change. After only one issue Fred Kida is replaced by Syd Shores who does all of the stories in this issue including The Crusader tale. He is inked by Christopher Rule. This issue is dated April, 1956 and is five months removed from its predecessor.

Joe Maneely produces his final Black Knight artwork though, an excellent and dynamic cover for the issue.

The Black Knight faces a dragon when Modred plots with a disloyal knight named Sir Gilles to capture one of the legendary beasts and bring it to Camelot. After facing off against Gilles, the Black Knight attacks the "Dragon" revealing that it is merely a fake operated by a gang of soldiers.

Sir Percy is waylaid by a gang of robbers who are upset that King Arthur is taxing them so heavily. Percy tells them that the taxation they suffer from is the result of Sir Costain the Sheriff and not the King. Later as the Black Knight he goes to the Costain's castle and is captured but the robbers rescue him and together they bring about the fall of the evil Sheriff.

"The Invaders" is a two-page text story tell the story of Viking leaders who appear in force before Camelot, but who rather than seeking violence seek peaceful trade with King Arthur. 

The Crusader is forced once again to go in disguise to rescue King Richard when he is kidnapped by De Montfort who uses men dressed up as Moslems. El Alamain finds the King in a cave and rescues him after a fierce battle, but there is no solid evidence left that De Montfort was behind the plot.

Merlin warns Sir Percy not to take a pilgrimage along with Rosaumund and King Arthur. But despite these warnings they do go and are waylaid by Tartars who warriors under Mohar Jinn. The prisoners are taken aboard a ship but manage to escape thanks to some rotten wood. Sir Percy rescues King Arthur and they return to shore where Percy becomes the Black Knight and follows Arthur to Camelot where they defeat the Tartar invaders. Later to preserve his dual identity Percy arrives at Camelot on a donkey.

Apparently, the production of this issue was a chore since it didn't appear for several months after it should have. Syd Shores is a terrific artis,t and he brings a lush consistency to the pages here. On some pages I can even detect a desire to evoke the Maneely feel, but still it falls short of the magnificent work which appeared in the first three pages. Sir Percy gets some more time on the page in these stories it seems, but sadly looks a bit goofy to be honest.

The Black Knight would go away for many years after the cancellation of this series, not to be revived until the early days of what would become the Marvel Universe. But that was a different time and as it turns out a different Knight. More on that next time.

The second Black Knight story is reprinted.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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