Dr. Merling is a Danish comic strip created by Knud V. Larsen which ran from 1970-1980 in Berlingske Tidene. At one point during its run, the comic's title was changed to Dr. Merlind for legal reasons (apparently, there was actually a family named Merling). For the purpose of this post though, I'm going to keep using its original title.
A bit of personal history, before we start (don't worry, this won't take long): My first encounter with Dr. Merling came thanks to my father's old childhood copies of Seriepressen; a Swedish comics anthology magazine which existed in the 1970's and featured quite a wide array of comics. In a poll which the magazine ran, Dr. Merling came out the winner. Quite impressive, considering that in the pages of Seriepressen one could also find such works as Herriman's Krazy Kat and Lee's & Romita Jr's Spider-Man. Clearly, the Swedish readers of the time had taken Larsen's opus to their hearts and, reading the comic several decades later, I could definitely understand why.
Sadly, Seriepressen only had the chance to publish the first two story-arcs of Dr. Merling before the magazine went under. Obviously, the comic continued for longer than that in its homeland, but unavailable to the Swedish reader, especially those of us who became acquainted with it several years after the fact.
Fortunately, works of quality have a tendency to resurface: In the 2010's the entire run of Dr. Merling was collected in three volumes by the Danish publisher Forlaens.
So, what is Dr. Merling all about? Well, in the 1870's, the family Merling; consisting of our main character Albert, the titular doctor, his wife Anita, their daughters Alice and Bettina travels the countryside of Transyldavia (no, that's not me screwing up the spelling, that's what its called in the comic. Actually, its called Transyldavien, I just translated it) with their magic show. Accompanying the family is also their assistant and coachman, Boris.
Between performances, the Merling Family find themselves involved in various adventures, often with some kind of supernatural tinge. Sometimes, there's a human hand behind the events that occur, but other times the supernatural turns out to be quite real.
In the first story-arc, titled Mesmer, Dr. Merling himself is almost a supporting character and, with the exception of Anita who has a cameo at the beginning of the arc, the rest of the core cast does not appear at all. Instead, the main focus is upon the arc's villain, Dr. Scyk; who with the help of his creation Mesmer, a reanimated corpse intends to wreak bloody vengeance upon the teachers at the universty in Uldz, who mocked his theories (classic mad scientist stuff in order words). The Faculty is eventually forced to beg Dr. Merling for help in dealing with Scyk and his creation, despite the fact that they had previously dismissed him as a charlatan.
The Stories told by Larsen vary in tone: Some of them are fun and lighthearted, while others, such as the one mentioned above, are considerably darker. However, Regardless of what kind of story Larsen tells, he never fails at making it entertaining. Of course, since the stories were originally published in a newspaper and intended to be read one strip at a time, it occasionally leads to some repetition when the characters have to summarize what has happened for the benefit of readers who come in late, but that's par of the course for serialized newspaper comics and one simply has to accept it.
Of course, a huge part of what makes this comic successful is its characters, particularly the main cast. I really like the dynamic between the Merlings; they ocasionally quarrel and tease each other, but nonetheless, have a genuine love for one another, which always shines through in their interactions. Aside from his core cast, Larsen also presents the reader with several memorable side characters, ranging from likable kooks like the two rival alchemists Fixo & Faxo to pitiable villains like the albino Count Cherzek.
During its run, Dr. Merling was cancelled twice. The First time it happened was in 1975, but it was soon brought back after the readers protested. Next time was in 1980 and this time, no amount of backlash could prevent it. Larsen never managed to get his comic picked up by another newspaper and as such, the final story-arc of Dr. Merling ends on a cliffhanger which has never been resolved. Larsen himself passed away in 2002.
Regardless of this, Dr. Merling remains, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best comics to come out of Denmark. As well as one of the most underrated comics, period. It definitely deserves to be more well-known.
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