Prince Ra-Man

Prince Ra-Man (aka Mark Merlin) is a fictional comic book magician published by DC Comics. Mark Merlin first appeared in House of Secrets #23 (August 1959), and was created by Mort Meskin. Prince Ra-Man first appeared in House of Secrets #73 (July 1965), and was created by Jack Miller and Bernard Baily.^[1]

Prince Ra-Man
Prince Ra-Man in House of Secrets #79 (July–August 1966), art by Jack Sparling.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Mark Merlin: House of Secrets #23 (August 1959) As Prince Ra-Man: House of Secrets #73 (July 1965)
Created by	Mort Meskin (writer and artist) Jack Miller (writer) Bernard Baily (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Mark Merlin
Species	Demigod
Place of origin	Egypt (first incarnation), Ra (second incarnation)
Team affiliations	Lords of Order
Notable aliases	The Mind Master
Abilities	Mind-over-matter powers (levitation, transmutation), invisibility, telekinesis, mastery of maleficium and various magical artifacts

Fictional character biography

Also known as the Mind Master, he was actually a Doctor Strange-style 'replacement' for a previous long-running series character in House of Secrets named Mark Merlin.^[2] A blue suit and black bow tie-clad supernatural detective who lived in the small suburban hamlet of "Cloister" in a mansion on "Mystery Hill" that he had inherited from a stage magician uncle of the same name, Merlin used its vast collection of occult literature and artifacts to battle those who would use the occult for evil ends with the assistance of his secretary/fiancee Elsa Magusson and his black cat Memakata who he found in the tomb of a pharaoh of the same name and whose body he could transfer his mind into with the help of an ancient cat-headed amulet.

When Merlin is banished to the other-dimensional lost world of Ra by the lizard-masked villain the Gargoyle, he gains mind over matter powers from an emerald-like six-sided jewel. The jewel represents the hexagonal green sun that hangs above the realm and grants all who dwell there immortality. However, he cannot return to Earth in his own body, so the kindly Kranak, a scientist-sorcerer who had led his persecuted peace-loving followers to the alien refuge of Ra over 4000 years ago, uses a potion to reincarnate Merlin's spirit and memories in the body and brain of the long-dead wizard Prince Ra-Man, a hero whom ancient legends proclaimed as the son of the sun god for whom their pyramided planetoid was named. The reborn Ra-Man is able to go to Earth in his place and defeat the Gargoyle with his mighty "mental beam" which gives him control over virtually all non-living matter, allowing him to telekinetically levitate objects and to transform stone, metal and air into other shapes and forms under his command.^[2][3]

Although he longed to return to the peaceful paradise of Ra and Kranak's daughter Rimah, Ra-Man moved into the mansion, telling Elsa that Mark Merlin was dead, and vowed to continue his predecessor's work against the forces of evil. Riding around on his flying carpet-like six-sided green 'sun-disc' armed with his magic gem and an encyclopedic knowledge of black magic, he fought such arcane antagonists as the Heap and Lord Leopard and twice battled Eclipso, another House of Secrets regular.^[2][4][5] The "Prince Ra-Man" feature ended in House of Secrets #80 (September–October 1966).^[6]

The "Whatever Happened To Mark Merlin and Prince Ra-Man" backup story in DC Comics Presents #32 (April 1981) has Ra-Man reveal his full origin and true connection with Merlin to Elsa whom he had kept it a secret from in the original series, with the Mind Master having been accidentally trapped in Memakata's body after a battle with Merlin's old archenemy Doctor-7 in the years since then.^[7][8] Prince Ra-Man was killed in the last issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, with his death being witnessed by Shade, the Changing Man.^[9]

Later appearances

Ra-Man made a cameo appearance in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man. He reappeared along with all the other characters who were killed in the Crisis, but the only parts of him that appeared were those that had not been destroyed by the antimatter wave. He appeared stuck on the wall in Arkham Asylum, begging for help.^[10]

An aged, retired Mark Merlin appeared briefly in Ed Brubaker's run on Detective Comics. Whether this indicates that Merlin survived the death of Ra-Man's body or that his death has been retconned is unknown. Batman speaks highly of Merlin's former detective skills and seeks his aid in a case involving the actor-turned-supervillain, the Charlatan.^[11]

In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, Zatanna met a fakir-like entity known as King Ra-Man while investigating the coming Sheeda menace.^[12] It is unclear if he is the same person as Prince Ra-Man or another more alien entity from his home dimension which is now referred to as the Interreality of Ra. He vowed that he would assume his 'Wrathful Battle Aspect' and fight the Sheeda. The 'six-sided sun jewel' of the original Ra-Man is now a cube-shaped sun that appears to be hexagonal from a distance. It shines over Ra-Man's extra-dimensional realm as the direct source of his powers.

Memakata and Mark Merlin's widow Elsa appear in Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis in the sea fortress Windward Home along with Dane Dorrance of the Sea Devils and Jim Lockhart, the Red Torpedo. In the Reign In Hell limited series, Prince Ra-Man is one of the leaders of the rebellion in Purgatory, Blaze and Satanus's "Secretary of State" in the armies of Hell.^[13] Merlin appears alive in Superman #690 and #692, where he asks Zachary Zatara to help him find Prince Ra-Man.^[14][15] Merlin appears in a flashback in Xombi vol. 2 #2, in which he teamed up with Sargon the Sorcerer, Julian Parker, and Rabbi Sinnowitz to imprison a powerful magical creature.^[16]

After DC Rebirth, he appears as one of the magical characters refusing to be hired by Henry Bendix to kill Midnighter and Apollo.^[17]