IT Happens!

When you look at it critically it's a wonderful mess. But something about Marvel's IT! The Living Colossus always appealed to me. I loved it. The notion of a giant rocky monster inhabited by the mind and spirit of a crippled genius is just that, inspired.

Sadly this series only lasted a quartet of issues, but IT has been seen here and there since over the years. But we got some powerfully dynamic Dick Ayers artwork along the way and that's always a good thing.

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Demonology #2 - Bath Of Fire!

In the second issue of Jack Kirby's The Demon the battle against Morgaine Le Fay continues. The Demon has been recalled to battle her minions.

The story begins as Inspector Stavic and some townspeople go to Castle Branek to investigate the curious activity. They are attacked by Morgaine's creatures.

But the Demon appears and routs them before falling victim to Morgaine and her magic which changes him back to Jason Blood. Meanwhile in Gotham City Harry Matthews and Glenda Mark meet with Randu Singh who uses his E.S.P. abilities to contact Jason who appears to regain consciousness.

He and Stavik enter Merlin's tomb to find that Morgaine has already taken what she came for and has gone to the Walpurgis Forest to perform a spell which will grant her immortality. Stavic and Jason encounter a Gorla, a monster left by Morgaine and thanks to Randu's prompting the Demon Etrigan is again risen from Jason's form. The battle is furious and at the end Morgaine disappears, the success of her spell uncertain.

This story closes the origin adventure of the Demon and establishes a mental or perhaps mystical link between Jason and Randu. Jason has demonstrated little if any control over his powers as the Demon and limited awareness of his connection to Merlin's servant.

Lionel Atwill and Boris Karloff in Son of Frankenstein

Once again Kirby is adept at creating a mystic atmosphere despite his technologically influence art style. Inspector Stavik is the first of many references to classic Universal movies Kirby will employ as the series will continue. Stavik having only one arm seems a clear allusion to the classic Lionel Atwill character "Inspector Krogh" from Son of Frankenstein.

The Demon steps out again in the next issue, another dealing reincarnation.

More to come.

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Demonology #1 - Rise Etrigan!

The debut issue of Jack Kirby's The Demon featured the "King's" usual style filled with bombast and bristling energy. "Unleash the One Who Waits" begins in the distant past, in the magical time of Camelot.

The sorceress Morgaine Le Fay attacks Merlin's castle with the intent of gaining access to his "Book of Eternity" which will she hopes give her immortality.

Rising in defense of the castle is Merlin's demon Etrigan, a ferocious creature. Merlin gives a scrap of the book to Etrigan and then explodes the castle leaving the unconscious form of his servant to rise and transform into a man, a man who has forgotten his true nature.

The scene shifts to the modern day and Jason Blood, a demonologist confronts a sorcerer named Warly who attacks Blood leaving him unconscious and then he and his mistress Morgaine Le Fay, alive yet but exceedingly aged leave. Jason is found by a policeman, but remembers little.

Meanwhile a continent away a strange creature descends into a hidden crypt. The scene shifts again to the Gotham City Men's Club where he and his friends Randu Singh, a United Nations delegate and Harry Matthews, a advertising agent trade blows and barbs. A party is arranged for that evening at Jason's apartment and Jason's date is Glenda Mark a beautiful blonde who is stuck how much like his ancestors Jason looks.The same mysterious giant who entered the crypt appears at Jason's door and he ends the party abruptly to head to Europe and specifically Branek Castle. There he comes under attack by Morgaine's agents but is aided by his giant companion. Descending into the crypt he finds Merlin's tomb which is also the "Book of Eternity" and once again becomes The Demon.

Kirby's take on the supernatural is singularly muscular. His style is not open to the moody atmospherics of a Berni Wrightston or Pat Boyette, but he nonetheless finds a way to infuse this story with a sense of shadow and menace. The Demon is supposed to crouch, a crooked creature opposed to the upright Jason Blood. This compact powerhouse pre-dates Wolverine and is in fact a common element of Kirby's heroic cast.

Page only available in the omnibus collection.

The core of the Demon seems to be energy and power, a wild kinetic sense which imbues each panel and page with life. The premise is pretty wide open after the initial story, the only one Kirby originally planned to draw himself. We have a Jason Blood who has lived for centuries and is afflicted with amnesia, but who might've become the Demon many times before.

It's also interesting that like the New Gods, this story begins at the end. We see a mighty battle and its aftermath is what bespeaks of the adventures to come. Kirby really got the big scope of heroism, the nature of change over time. It gives his work a weight and grandeur other comics of the time sorely lacked. 

The story does end on a cliffhanger, which will be picked up in issue two.

More to come.

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Poets' Gamma Corner!

While the Frankenstein Monster still likely holds the top spot as most famous and quickly identifiable monster, I'd have guess that Marvel's green-skinned Hulk has closed in on that vaulted status. I was reminded of that relative fame when I chanced upon this clever trade collecting up the Green Behemoth's British adventures mostly  from the late 70's and early 80's. 

One true gem hidden in this book is a few-page story set between Avengers #3 and Greenskin's next American story. This "new" tale is a trule untold yarn which pits the Hulk against a matador. It's not really a very good story, but it is reasonably well drawn and competently told, a real hidden treasure from the 1960's  if only for its cultural significance.

Also included in this volume are some prose stories (properly illustrated) from the pages of 1967's  Marvel Story Book Annual and elsewhere.

The bulk though of the contents are short (by American standards) stories featuring the Hulk in his TV mode (lesser strength and more mundane enemies) trudging through his own self-titled comic.

Here are few covers from the run.

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Grave Tales!

Joe Staton

Way back in the early 90's I stumbled across the Hamilton Comics magazine line which gave me, an incurable Charlton ghost comic fan, a real thrill. Here were a trio of comic magazines which evoked at once the classic but by then defunct Warren Magazines as well as the vintage Charlton ghostly line. It was a black and white presentation using some pretty mainstream talent (Joe Staton, Gray Morrow, Pat Boyette) as well as some really impressive indy artists (Batton Lash, John Heebink). These were fun stories with a slightly lurid twist.

What I didn't realize then, and only learned recently was that Grave Tales was a title with a specific history.

The title first rose up in the middle 70's as an Independent comic, then likely referred to as "Underground". The cover, see above, was very striking.

L.B. Cole

So striking that L.B. Cole did a knock-off of it for the debut issue of Hamilton's Dread of Night. For the record the third Hamilton horror title was Maggots. For more Hamilton cover magic, see the gallery below.

Gray Morrow

Joe Staton

Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow

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Demonology #0 - Dark Origins!

The Demon was one of the titles Jack Kirby commenced when it became sadly clear that his Fourth World saga (New Gods and Forever People in particular) had not found a sufficient audience, at least according to the DC powers-that-were. According to Mark Evanier the head honcho at DC, Carmine Infantino urged Kirby to create a "weird hero" comic, a type of story which DC was having some success with. Kirby wasn't eager to do it, but wanted to edit a book of that type with others supplying the art. DC said no, and after the demise of two titles in the Fourth World, it was necessary for Kirby to draw some more stuff to fulfill his contract.

Mister Miracle continued, though altered substantially by extracting much of the Fourth World mythology from the tales, and Kirby initiated two new series, Kamandi The Last Boy on Earth (inspired by the success of the Planet of the Apes franchise) and the supernatural The Demon.

The Demon was a mystical yarn set in the modern world, but having its roots in the vintage mythology of the King Arthur tales. To that end the Demon's very look was derived from the finest comic strip ever to mine the Arthurian Cycle, Hal Foster's legendary Prince Valiant. Early in the stories, Val assumes a terrifying disguise to effectively wage a battle inside a castle. He manufactures a mask which will throw a scare into his foes.

Swooping down into their midst, his plan largely works. This comic strip, removed by decades must have made quite an impression on a young Jack Kirby as he doubtless used it either consciously or unconsciously as the inspiration for the ghastly yellow face of The Demon Etrigan.

Recently I've learned that Foster's inspiration might well have been a 1922 Swedish movie titled Haxan by director Benjamin Christensen. The still above is highly suggestive, though hardly conclusive, just as we have no direct evidence that I am aware of that Kirby borrowed his design from Foster. To see this movie in all its truly weird glory see this link. The scene above occurs at about the fifty-four minute mark.

Whatever the case, off and one over the next several weeks I will be taking a close issue by issue look at Kirby's mystical classic. For a host of reasons, I did not follow The Demon as it came out in the early 70's, rather I discovered late in its run and had to gather back issues to fully appreciate what Kirby had created. I hope that this reading will unlock some of the majesty of this series for me after so many years obscured by Kirby's masterpiece the Fourth World.

I'll be using the handsome and highly readable 2008 omnibus collection of the stories. So throughout the demonic month of October look for my well-spoiled reviews of the comic. 

"Gone! Gone! --the form of man--Rise the Demon, Etrigan!"

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