Two By Weyman

 Fame, as I trust we all know, is a fickle lover. Take for example Stanley J. Weyman (pronounced Wyman). A British author, who lived from 1855-1928. While largely forgotten today, during his life-time, Weyman was a best-selling author, whose work was admired by such names as Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde and although I've only read two of Weyman's books, so far, they were enough to convince me that his present-day obscurity is undeserved.

Out of the two books I've read: The Man in Black and Count Hannibal respectively, it is the latter which best seem to represent the type of story that made Weyman's name famous in his day. An historical adventure set during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre and featuring a complex, morally ambiguous lead character, Count Hannibal is a thrilling read, one that comes highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of the works of Rafael Sabatini and Alexander Dumas. 

The Man in Black is different. While, it too, takes place in France, this time during the reign of Louis XIII (with Richelieu making the obligatory appearance), it is not an adventure-story, though it certainly does not lack in suspense.

This time, the  story follows a young boy (age 12), who suffers mistreatment at the hands of adults, including the titular villain. Though I don't think I spoil anything if I say that things turn out well for him in the end.

With its child protagonist and relatively short length, its fair to say that The Man in Black was intended for younger audiences. However, like all worthwhile children's stories, it can easily be enjoyed by adults. This adult found it highly engaging. 

Comics That Should Be Translated: Dr. Merling

Previously in this irregular series of posts, I've focused on comics from the Southern part of Europe. This time, however, things will be a bit different. Today, we're going to move up north (though its still to the south from where I'm sitting) to Scandinavia or, more precisely, to Denmark, to talk about what I'm sure is the most obscure comic I've yet mentioned on this blog: Dr. Merling.
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.

Gallery:

The Jerusalem Quartet

There are some authors who never achieve fame during their lifetime and unfortunately, remains largely obscure even after they have passed. And yet, proving that popularity does not necessary equal quality, these authors tend to be highly regarded; both by critics and those of us fortunate to be familiar with their works. One such author was the American Edward Whittemore.

By all accounts, Whittemore; who was born in 1933 and died in 1995, lived a rich and varied life, having, during his lifetime, occupied such varied positions as reporter, photocopy assistant, US marine officer and CIA agent. What he is most remembered for though (when he is remembered) is as a writer of novels.
Whittemore's bibliography consists of five novels. Out of these five, the first one: Quin's Shanghai Circus, is a stand-alone and the remaining four form a sequence called The Jerusalem Quartet (although a few of the characters in Shanghai Circus turn up in The Quartet as well). Its the latter which is the focus of this post.

In the first volume of The Quartet, titled Sinai Tapestry, Whittemore introduces the reader to a cast of memorable, larger-than-life characters:
Plantagenet Strongbow, the British explorer who becomes the secret owner of the entire Ottoman Empire during its twilight years. Joe O'Sullivan Beare, an Irish freedom-fighter who flees his country by disguising himself as a nun. Stern, son to Plantagenet Strongbow, who grows up with a dream of creating a country where the three religious groups of the Middle East: Moslems, Jews and Christians can live in harmony. Haj Harun, an old shop-keeper who claims to have defended the city of Jerusalem for more than 2000 years, always on the losing side. Because, as Harun himself puts it, when you are defending Jerusalem, you are always on the losing side.

These are not the only characters to populate the pages of this book, but they are the most important ones and so, I mention them here.

Although Sinai Tapestry is the most light-hearted and optimistic book in the series, its not without its dark moments. The Pivotal sequence of the novel is the Turkish army's massacre of Smyrna. An atrocious event which haunts the characters that get caught up in it for the remainder of their lives and which Whittemore describes in horrific detail.

Moving on to the next novel,  Jerusalem Poker. This volume, which may well be my personal favorite of The Jerusalem Quartet, revolves around a poker-game, with the entire Holy City at stake. The Main players in this high stakes game are Joe, Munk Szondi and Cairo Martyr, a character newly introduced in this volume. However, its not long until the game attracts the attention of certain sinister figures.

One notable aspect of the Jerusalem Quarter is that, as it draws closer to the present day (meaning the 1970's, in this case), the more fantastical elements become less and less prominent. This does not mean that the remaining books aren't up to the standards set by their predecessors, but they are different in tone, belonging more firmly in the realm of mystery and spy-fiction than the books before them. Volume no. 3, Nile Shadows takes place during World War 2 and opens with a hand-grenade being thrown into a bar and the investigation into the life of the only man killed in the explosion: Who wanted him dead and why?

Finally, we have Jericho Mosiac. With one single exception, this volume features none of the characters from the previous volume, choosing instead to introduce a completely new cast. At first, the reader may feel disappointed knowing that the characters they've come to know and care about during the course of this series are absent from its ultimate installment. However, the new characters soon prove themselves to be just as compelling as Joe, Harun and the others.
This final volume revolves around Halim, a Syrian businessman who returns to his homeland after having lived most of his life in Argentina. In Syria, Halim's likable personality soon earns him the friendships of several people in high circles. No-one suspects that this Syrian patriot is in fact, a deep-cover spy for the Mossad, operating under the code-name The Runner.

As a whole, The Jerusalem Quartet definitely ranks among my favorite works of literature and I recommend it strongly to everyone who is a fan of historical fiction, spy-fiction, magic realism or just great storytelling in general. Hopefully, this post has made at least some of you interested in checking it out, because it and Quin's Shanghai Circus, deserves to be more widely known.