While I suppose that in this day and age they aren't read nearly as often as they might've been in the past, the Three Musketeers were the first team of what we could term "mystery-men" to ever appear in literature. Their identities were known to all, but they had the heroic spirit that later helped inspire the creators of the great comics of the Golden Age. Surprisingly though, while the Musketeers have been used often with success in the movies, they haven't appeared very often in comic books, other than in straight adaptations of the original novel.
The great novel by Alexandre Dumas was adapted in the first issue of Classic Comics in 1940, the series that eventually became the legendary Classic Illustrated that helped oh so many kids through their literature courses at various levels of education.
The group also made a few appearances in mainstream comic books, particularly as a feature that ran for twenty-six chapters in More Fun Comics #11-36. The Three Musketeers also met the Dynamic Duo in Batman #32 (in which the hypnosis of Professor Carter Nichols allows Batman and Robin to join the Musketeers back in time), Green Arrow and Speedy in Leading Comics #8, and Batman and Robin again, though this time with Superman, in World's Finest Comics #82. The team also made appearances in Mr. Justice and Kid Eternity. Marvel Classic Comics #12 was the home of the modern comic incarnation of the original novel, and the Musketeers were featured in a sixteen-issue black and white series from Eternity Comics in the early nineties, but the four characters didn't make the cut anywhere else as a stand-alone feature before their brief run as "The 3 Musketeers and Robin Hood" in DC Special.
"The 3 Musketeers" half of the title was the only new material in the book, with the "Robin Hood" stories being reprints from The Brave and the Bold and Robin Hood Tales from the mid-fifties. Oddly, the Musketeers were about the only genre of characters that hadn't been revisited by DC Comics (then National Periodical Publications) during that rather super-hero-free era, which saw the popularity of Robin Hood rise with that of the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, Tomahawk, The Silent Knight, Strong Bow, and many other more reality-based heroes. One would've thought that any heroic personas that were in the public domain would've enticed the DC Editors, but the Three Musketeers must've slipped through the cracks somewhere ...
Which is a shame, since launching a super-hero-less feature, even in the seventies, was an endeavor that was usually doomed to failure. DC was really the last of the majors to readily try that sort of thing, at least up until Warner Brothers looked at the books in 1978 and turned the "DC Explosion" into a legendary implosion. As much as I hate to admit it, the simple fact is that you almost always have to have a super-hero in the mix to sell a comic book. Every other genre is pretty much dead, outside of the rare special series (just as the Vertigo Jonah Hex series or Marvel's Blaze of Glory for the western, Sandman and Swamp Thing for the horror story, etc.) that has something else going for it to make it grab readers' attention. "The 3 Musketeers and Robin Hood" lasted a bare four issues of DC Special, which I personally thing was an admirable run, considering the times and the fact that the book was only a third of new material (usually one new Musketeers story to two Robin Hood tales). The fact that DC Special was known only as a reprint title to begin with (though it did reprint some great stories in its varied existence) didn't help matters.
The tenets of the Three Musketeers legend are probably pretty well known by now. The series is set in the early 17th Century in France. King Louis the XIII sits upon the throne, advised by the sinister Cardinal Richelieu. The King is protected by his loyal Musketeers, named for their firearm but really known for their skill with a sword. Among his favorites are Aramis, Athos and Porthos, who were joined by a young farmer's son named D'Artagnan, who proved himself worthy to join their number in battle (though not as a full Musketeer ... the others believed he needed more experience first). And, of course, there was their rallying cry - "All for one and one for all!"
The four "3 Musketeer" stories featured some very adequate and competent artwork by Jorge Moliterni and Lee Elias. Elias in particular was able to invoke memories of his earlier work in the same genre, some of which was found in the Robin Hood stories that were reprinted in these same issues. I don't know what else Moliterni did, but he had a very clean, comic -strip-like style that reminded me a lot of Dick Giordano and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Both men were able to the difficulties of a period piece quite well.
The scripts were also fairly good as well, considering the limited scope of the series. DC stalwarts Denny O'Neill (best known for his work with Neal Adams on Batman), Bob Haney (known for his work on The Brave and The Bold, creator of Metamorpho, and co-creator of the Doom Patrol), and perennial DC editor Murray Boltinoff all provided stories for the short-lived series. Denny O'Neill's story in the first issue was perhaps the weakest tale of the four, simply because he added a somewhat unnecessary element of the actual (rather than implied) supernatural to it. Your average super-hero might not think twice about seeing mystical transformations, but I think even a heroic figure in the 17th century would have a different reaction than simple acceptance. The other three stories were all cut from the same, more believable cloth, and read as period fantasies.
You're not really going to see this sort of material made in the future anymore, simply because there's really no money to be made in it for the comic book companies or the creators. Why work on something that you didn't create and have a hand in the piggy bank, when you can usually pretty easily have a piece of the pie with any of the major comic companies nowadays? With the practical end of the independent comic movement of the eighties and nineties, there is no niche market to delve into with literary adaptations ... I don't even think Tome Press is around anymore with their fairly high-brow line of comics. Which is all very sad, since we've got yet another generation with no real knowledge of literature, and no comics to lead them on to real literature anymore.
Whatever happened to kids learning to read using comic books?
Below are the covers and story synopses of the four issues of DC Special that featured The 3 Musketeers and Robin Hood.
DC Special #22
The 3 Musketeers in "A Monster Met on the Road to Calais"
Script by Denny O'Neill
Art by Jorge Moliterni
Cover by Luis Dominguez
The four Musketeers, while journeying to Calais to deliver an important scroll to the Spanish Ambassador (to secure an alliance with Spain against the English), came upon a coach being attacked by brigands. Charging into the fray, the four make short work of the robbers (though Athos is slightly injured by a bullet), and D'Artagnan reins in the coach. The leader of the brigands told them that they had been forced to attack the coach by a giant monster. The unbelieving Frenchmen scoffed until they saw the giant creature standing at the edge of the forest. Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan pursued the creature into the woods, but discovered only Genevieve Du Bois in the woods, the woman whose coach had been hijacked. The Musketeers decided to ride along with Genevieve to Calais.
The party stopped at an inn for the night, with Genevieve going immediately upstairs to sleep. The Musketeers had dinner and as Athos retired to find a doctor for his wound, the monster reappeared, falling from the ceiling and attack Aramis, who had been waving the scroll that was in their protection. Aramis was astonished to find that his blade was unable to penetrate the creature's hide, and his sword was plucked from his hand and broken in two by the monster. Aramis tossed the scroll to D'Artagnan, who crashed through the inn's window. He then climbed up atop the inn's sign before the monster could see him, watching as the beast lumbered off in pursuit. There he stayed until the other Musketeers awoke and prepare to leave in the morning. After his very uncomfortable night on the sign, D'Artagnan asked to be made a full Musketeer, but Aramis and Porthos said that he needed more experience. As Genevieve was leaving the inn, the others wouldn't listen to D'Artagnan, who said he had discovered something about the monster.
As they boarded the coach for the journey to Calais, D'Artagnan mentioned that the monster reminded him of the tales of witchcraft that his grandmother had told him when he was a child, in which charms and amulets were used to transform humans into creatures of darkness. Once again, Porthos wouldn't listen to him, and the journey to Calais continued uneventfully.
As Genevieve disembarked from the coach, D'Artagnan protested, saying that there was a great danger, but again he was ignored. The three men continued on to the residence of the Spanish Ambassador, where D'Artagnan was sent in to deliver the scroll. The young man was attacked by the monster again, who quickly knocked him out and took the scroll. The other Musketeers were forlorn at the disgrace of failing in their mission, but D'Artagnan said he know who and where the monster was. They sped back to the pier to find Genevieve's ship just pulling away from the dock. Their horses sped and leapt onto the deck, where they discovered Genevieve to be holding the scroll the monster had stolen. They watched in awe as she touched the amulet on her neck and transformed herself into the hairy creature that had attacked them. Aramis and Porthos distracted the beast while D'Artagnan climbed the rigging and then swung down and plucked the scroll from the monster's grip. The monster climbed the mast and chased him out onto the yardarm, but the young man was able to avoid the beast and it was sent plunging into the sea. Aramis dived in and recovered the unconscious form of Genevieve. The woman had actually been a British spy who was trying to foul the negotiations between France and Spain. Her fate was left to the authorities, and D'Artagnan tossed her magical charm into the fire.
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DC Special #23
The 3 Musketeers in "Secret of the Spanish Blade"
Script by Bob Haney
Art by Lee Elias
Cover by Luis Dominguez
Aramis and Porthos were attacked while they rested at the Purple Rabbit Inn by Dulac and his men, all working for the Duc de Corbeau. During the course of the battle, Porthos ended up entering a wager with Dulac, betting 1,000 gold florins that he couldn't go in and pull the beard of the King of Spain. The other Musketeers were somewhat upset at the seemingly impossible nature of the wager, but they all stood firm together. D'Artagnan woke from a pleasant afternoon in a park with a young lady to find both the girl and his sword gone. Aramis suggested the young man replace his sword in Toledo, the place he had gotten his own blade from.
As the Musketeers headed toward Spain, Corbeau and a group of French nobles forged an agreement in which King Louis would be assassinated and Corbeau would be declared King of France, all with Richelieu's unwritten approval. Unfortunately, one of Corbeau's servants thought that the agreement had been a dispatch and sent the scroll to Count Valois, their ambassador in Spain. Corbeau angrily killed the servant, since Valois was a friend of King Louis and would naturally betray Corbeau to him. He sent Dulac and his men to retrieve the scroll. Valois had already read the incriminated document and, believing that Corbeau would already be sending men after it, devised a unique way for it to get to King Louis. The method cost him his life when he wouldn't reveal the scroll's whereabouts to Dulac.
In the meantime, the four Musketeers had gotten across the Spanish border and into Toledo, where they went to the swordmaker Pedro de Diego to get a sword for D'Artagnan. Dulac's men attacked them there, resulting in the death of the swordmaker. D'Artagnan also found that his new sword was slightly unbalanced, making combat a bit difficult.
After an unsuccessful attempt to gain access to King Phillip of Spain in the Escorial (dressed as laundresses petitioning for a decrease in the price of soap), the Musketeers finally got in with by hiding in the cart of Sancho, the famous Barber of Seville. Porthos snipped off the tip of the King's beard and the four Frenchmen fled the Escorial and sped on their way back to the French border.
On their way, they fell into an ambush by Dulac. Aramis was injured and fell to the wayside. Dulac captured him and immediately pulled the hilt off his sword, looking for something and becoming irate when he didn't find it. Dulac's men continued to pursue the others, and Athos lay back to allow Porthos and D'Artagnan to rest their weary horses enough to continue their flight to France. Athos was also captured and his sword checked. The remaining Musketeers were again ambushed in the forest of Orleans, and Porthos was unhorsed. He urged the younger man on to collect his bet for him, though D'Artagnan was wounded by a bullet as he sped off. Dulac found nothing in Porthos' sword hilt either, and a final trap was laid out for the young Musketeer, who was finally captured as he neared Paris.
Dulac brought D'Artagnan before Corbeau, who bid his servant to leave. D'Artagnan saw the reason for his unbalanced blade, as the Duc removed a parchment scroll from the hilt. He was about to burn it in a candle flame when a swift blade put out the candle. Aramis, Athos and Porthos stood before the Duc de Corbeau, and took the scroll from him. After taking the man and the evidence to King Louis, Corbeau and his accomplices were sentenced to hang for treason. The Musketeers also caught up to Dulac in the Purple Rabbit Inn and demanded payment for successfully completing the wager.
Reprints
DC Special #24
The 3 Musketeers in "The King and the Red-Skinned Savage"
Script by Murray Boltinoff
Art by Lee Elias
Cover by Luis Dominguez
The third adventure of the Musketeers begins with the four Frenchmen being led to the gallows. The machinations of Cardinal Richelieu had caused them to fail in their responsibility to protect King Louis, and the monarch was missing. At the last moment, the Musketeers freed themselves and fled in the hearse that had been intended for their bodies, ending up at a hunter's lodge. Porthos broke down the door looking for food, and a man ran out past them and stole the hearse, fleeing into the night. Inside Porthos found food and they also found a unique ring that they recognized as belonging to the King, so they headed off on foot after the hearse.
Meanwhile back in Paris, Richelieu was having an audience with Captain Mayberry, who had brought a group of natives from the British Colonies in the Americas. The Indians (who are presumably Mohican from their looks) were there to trade their skins for gold, lace and tapestries, but the Cardinal had a better idea, hiring Motawa and his three trackers with a chest of gold to find and kill the escaped Musketeers. The Indians were able to track down the quartet almost immediately, but were prevented from killing them when they took flight by diving over a waterfall (much to the chagrin of the rotund Porthos, who couldn't swim). Reaching shore, Aramis and Athos went in one direction and Porthos and D'Artagnan in another to continue searching for the King. They planned to meet at the house of farmer Dupres later.
Porthos and D'Artagnan arrived at the farmhouse first, where the older Musketeer was interested in a bath, and the younger interested in Dupres' daughter. The Indians also caught up to them, with an arrow springing a leak in Porthos' tub. The naked Musketeer was collected along with Dupres, his wife and a stranger who was also on the grounds. D'Artagnan and Dupres' daughter heard the commotion and walked in only to be captured as well. The two Musketeers were amazed to see that the stranger was, in fact, King Louis himself, who had been travelling incognito ever since he had been freed from the hunter's lodge. Motawa decided to kill everyone, and then get the rest of his men and find and kill the remaining two Musketeers.
Nearby, Aramis and Athos had gotten the jump on the other two trackers and managed to kill them. They could see the party being brought out of the farmhouse, but were too far away to affect a proper rescue. Aramis was able to use one of the Indians' bows to launch his own sword at Motawa, killing him before he could fire an arrow into Porthos. D'Artagnan dispatched the other Indian, and soon the four Musketeers and King Louis were riding back to Paris in the same hearse that they had escaped in.
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DC Special #25
The 3 Musketeers in "Die By the Sword"
Script by Murray Boltinoff
Art by Lee Elias
Cover by John Calnan
The final adventure of the 3 Musketeers begins yet again with an execution, this time of the traitorous Duc de Corbeau. The villain finally meets his justified fate, but not before proclaiming that "The Raven ... flies in pairs!". The Musketeers have little time to consider those words, as in an audience before King Louis and Cardinal Richelieu they are all rewarded for their service to the Crown. Aramis, Athos and Porthos all receive precious pearls as a gift, but D'Artagnan is made a Peer of France and given the title and lands of Corbeau, including the castle known as the Raven's Roost.
After some good natured ribbing by his departing companions, the young Musketeer nee Duc heads out for his new castle. Along the way he comes across a coach being attacked by brigands led by the enigmatic Mask. After a short battle (in which D'Artagnan beans himself in the head twice on tree limbs), the thief escapes. Upon arriving at the Raven's Roost, D'Artagnan is again set upon, this time by a woman in a raven's mask. He defeats her, but is distracted by a vision of Corbeau himself on the main stairs. The woman flees during his momentary confusion, and the figure on the stairs vanishes as well. D'Artagnan makes his way to a bed chamber, exhausted, but does notice the strange mural on the ceiling featuring the old Duc caring for two Ravens.
Duc D'Artagnan wakes from some troubling dreams to again find the woman in his room, readying an attack. This time, his counter attack caused both of them to fall out of the chamber window, knocking the young man out. The woman was about to kill him when she was stopped by the arrival of the Musketeers. She revealed herself to be Eugenie, daughter of the Duc de Corbeau, whom she believed the Musketeers murdered in order to can control of his title and lands. Porthos restrained the young woman while the others told D'Artagnan of his new mission, direct from Cardinal Richelieu. The young Duc was to collect taxes from the populace and make sure all of the monies arrived in Paris, on threat of his own death but the axeman.
The four Musketeers proceeded to collect the taxes for the King, and D'Artagnan believed that he was falling in love with the aloof Eugenie, who still hated him for what she believed he had done. On their last collection, at a grain mill, the four were ambushed and the money was stolen. Upon returning to the Roost, D'Artagnan thought he again saw Corbeau, and noticed that the mural in the bedroom had changed to show only one raven now. This caused the young man to have a good idea to find out exactly what was going on, and the next day he announced that he was marrying Eugenie. In the chapel, the ceremony was interrupted by the arrival of the Mask, who managed to get the drop on the young Duc. His bride-to-be, however, got a sword and unmasked the brigand, revealing him to be ... Corbeau! Corbeau fled the chapel back to the Roost, closely followed by D'Artagnan. The brigand entered the dungeons by a strange passage and found himself beheaded at last by a strange device.Later it was revealed that Corbeau had a good twin brother that he kept imprisoned in the castle so that he would have complete access to the family title and lands. When he was convicted of treason, the twin was released and Corbeau adopted the identity of The Mask. His twin brother was the man who actually died on the executioner's block, and the man inadvertently returned the favor by constructing a crude device to kill his evil brother should he ever enter the dungeon again.
The Musketeers left D'Artagnan to enjoy life with his new love in his new castle while they returned the tax money to Paris, but hoofbeats soon announced the arrival of their young friend, who believed that there were girls and castles everywhere, but not everyone could be a Musketeer.
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All images and logos ©2003 DC Comics. All text and html ©2003 Richard Meyer, with a shout-out to Outpost2 on the DCMB Obscure Characters webpage and threads for some of the info on the early comic appearances of the Three Musketeers (More Fun Comics, World's Finest).
DISCLAIMER: The 3 Musketeers and Robin Hood, the Viking Prince, and all other characters and comic books mentioned in this site are the property of DC Comics, Inc. They are used here without permission. This page is created with the utmost respect for the characters and their creators, for the purpose of entertaining comic book fans and drawing more attention to these singular works.