Merlin the Magician is a fictional character and superhero in the publications of Quality Comics in the 1940s and, briefly in the 1990s, by DC Comics. Merlin first appeared in National Comics #1 (July 1940). The character is a direct descendant of the Arthurian wizard Merlin and spent most of his time fighting Nazis, using, as his title page frequently read, "occult powers to aid democracies in their fight against oppression".