| Review by: J.R.
McNamara |
| Date:
30/4/06 |
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There is no doubt that Jack Kirby was a visionary
of comic history. Along with others, such as Marvel
comic's legend Stan Lee, Jack Kirby created
or co-created superheroes that EVERYONE knows: Captain
America, The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk….
the gigantic list goes on. Even though Kirby had
this massive input into Marvel's legendary
creations, he never actually had any characters
that he felt were truly his own. In the early seventies,
Kirby left Marvel and went to DC comics, home of
Superman and Batman, where he was able to create
his own characters. During this time, Kirby created
some fantastic offbeat characters: the amazing escape
artist Mister Miracle, the still-revered science
fiction series Kamandi: the Last Boy on Earth, the
New Gods and the indomitable Etrigan the Demon.
Jack Kirby's original series only went for
16 issues and told the tales of Etrigan, a Demon
son of the archfiend Belial, who was controlled
by Merlin the Magician and was used in his battle
against the medieval witch, Morgane LeFay, in her
attempted destruction of Camelot. Once defeated,
Merlin bound the Demon to a human druid known as
Jason Blood. Now bound to the Demon, Blood travelled
around the world, immortal, and never staying in
one place for too long, so his terrible secret would
never be uncovered…and Etrigan trapped inside,
swore he would eventually be free of Blood's
mortal shell….
DC comics have not been known for their 'horror
comics' for over ten years, really since their
Vertigo imprint came to being, through which comics
like Sandman, Swamp Thing,
Preacher and other have been published,
so their recent adventures into returning The Demon's
world to their mainstream 'universe'
came as a surprise. The Demon has always been part
of that universe, with various adventures with characters
like Batman and the Phantom Stranger, sometimes
as fool, and sometimes as fiend (he even appeared
in the Justice League cartoon) over the years since
Kirby's original series and Matt Wagner's
(Grendel, Mage)
mini series from the eighties. But now he has been
brought back to the forefront by Jack Kirby aspirant,
John Byrne.
Byrne, known for his tenures on many titles, such
as Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic
Four, She-Hulk and the
revamp of Superman, and his creator
owned titles Next Men and The
Babe, has taken on the helm of plotter
and artist of a new Demon series titled Blood
of the Demon. Bryne's art on Blood
of the Demon is a lot 'dirtier'
than what Byrne fans would be used to, probably
to make sure that this was not to be mistaken as
a 'hero' book. This series has had some
fantastic storylines and Byrne's art is bang
on. The pacing is perfect and the scripting by Will
Pfeifer is amazing.
Unfortunately this series has been cancelled as
of issue 17, but no doubt DC will collect it as
a trade paperback sometime in the near future. With
any luck they shall collect the original Demon as
well… |
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Written by: John Byrne
and Will Pfeifer
Art: John Byrne
Year: 2005
Publisher: DC Comics
Issues: 17 |
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