The Demon!

I recently wrapped up the omnibus collection of Jack Kirby's The Demon. While I did collect up the run many years ago, The Demon was not one of the Kirby DC projects I followed much while it ran originally. I picked up a few later issues but only a sample. I later learned how good it was when I filled in that set. But I never really got it until I read it this time.

I've come to really appreciate the classic Universal horror flicks a great deal, in fact all old horror movies are of keen interest to me right now. I'm discovering new "old" movies all the time. And reading The Demon by Kirby really put me in the mind of those classics.

Kirby had revealed his affection for the old Universal monsters with his adorable Jimmy Olsen story about the odd folks from Transilvane. But in his Demon run, we get in addition to the stories about Morganne Le Fay and Merlin to establish the background, a story featuring a Werewolf (called a "Howler"), a Frankenstein-like monster built by a guy who dubbed himself "Evilstein", a Phantom of the Sewers who liked organ music a lot in addition to terrorizing young beautiful women, and other witches and zombies and such. There are even the obligatory villagers with torches. Each storyline reminded me of some old movie.

Kirby's Demon is a fast-paced adventure series, colorful and vivid. It's chock full of all sorts of weird spins on classic creatures of the cinema as well as a slam-bang action series. Good reading--again!

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