FANTASY 201
Arthurian tales, which began appearing at the dawn of American comic books, have
been especially prominent among those based on myth and legend. In 1936 “King
Arthur” by Rafael Astarita was serialized in two-page installments in New Comics , the
second title published by DC , then National Allied Publications. An adaptation of the
King Arthur story appeared in Classics Illustrated for the fi rst time in 1953. Al Feld-
stein and Wally Wood did their own take on Arthurian characters in two issues of EC ’s
Va l o r in 1955. Scores of comic books have utilized Arthurian characters and concepts,
though a number of these works have strayed far from the traditional lore. In the twelve-
issue DC maxi-series Camelot 3000 (1982–85) the Arthurian cast is reincarnated in
the year 3000. Beginning in 1984, Matt Wagner spent 15 years crafting two 15-issue
series, Mage: Th e Hero Discovered and Mage: Th e Hero Defi ned , about a reborn King
Arthur operating in a contemporary urban environment and wielding a magical base-
ball bat rather than a sword. Marvel UK’s early 1990s series Th e Knight of Pendragon
featured modern-day personifi cations of the “Pendragon force” protecting the environ-
ment from evil corporations and black magic. Th e various Lady Pendragon series and
specials from Image Comics alternate between the adventures of Queen Guinevere,
who, after Arthur’s death, takes up Excalibur and fi ghts to preserve Camelot, and a
modern-day novelist who fi nds Excalibur’s sister sword, Caliburn, becomes the Lady
Pendragon, and ushers in an age new age of magic.
Beowulf has also been adapted to the comics medium. DC’s six-issue Beowulf , Dragon
Slayer (1975–76) is very loosely based on the poem, as Beowulf moves on from bat-
tling Grendel and his mother to fi ghting Dracula, and by issue #5 he is contending with
space aliens. A First Comics graphic novel issued in 1984 is a more straightforward
retelling of the events in the poem. Th ree of the most notable versions of Beowulf have
appeared more recently. Th e three volumes of Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf (2007) mirror the
structure of the poem. Portions of Francis Gummere’s translation of the original poem
are melded with Hind’s inspired visual narrative in a way that not only expand on events
only suggested in the poem, but also captures the spirit of the poem. Beowulf: Gods and
Monsters (2005–6) is a sequel in which Beowulf not only survives his fi rst battle with
the dragon, but is an immortal being living in modern-day Manhattan and going by the
name Wulf. In some respects Wulf is a standard comic book hero, albeit one who uses a
sword to fi ght a dragon, but he is also a believable extrapolation of the hero in the poem.
Th e publisher, Speakeasy Comics went out of business before the story was completed.
Alexis Fajardo’s 2008 graphic novel Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath is the fi rst in
a planned series of tales about Beowulf and Grendel as brothers adventuring across the
globe and encountering other characters of myth and legend.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby re-imagined Norse mythology in a fi ve-page “ Tales of
Asgard” backup feature, fi rst in Journey into Mystery #97 (1963) and then in Th or when
the title changed with #126. Th or often operates as a straightforward superhero , but
adventures of the Asgard supporting cast are more fi rmly rooted in the mythic fantasy
milieu. Balder the Brave had his own miniseries from 1985 to 1986. Th e Warriors
Th ree, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg appeared in their own adventures in a couple of
