1990 - Anatomy of a cover - The Demon #3

 

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=294177&ArtistId=610&Details=1&From=Room

1986 - Matt Wagner's The Demon

The Demon #1-4

1986

Writer – Matt Wagner

Artists – Matt Wagner/Art Nichols

  

Back in 1986, Etrigan the Demon had last enjoyed a regular series 15 years earlier by his legendary creator, Jack Kirby. Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing was rekindling the darker corners of the DC universe and a memorable guest appearance by Etrigan in that title was enough to convince DC to give their rhyming demon another chance.  

The Powers-That-Be called upon the services of Matt Wagner who was one of the more prominent Indy creators in the 1980s with his creator-owned series, Mage and Grendel. It’s not difficult to see how the themes that Wagner explored with his own anti-hero Grendel and his own dark world were exactly what DC was looking for.

The first thing that struck me upon re-read was the sheer amount of narration in the first few pages, in particular title/credit splash page. The first issue was a bit slow as Wagner really dug deep into the characters of the Demon’s alter-ego, Jason Blood, and his girlfriend, Glenda. A brooding Jason Blood is wrapped up in a blanket of self-pity because he’s eternally bound to a demon and has all but given up on a way to escape from the curse.

Wagner has fun with the relationship between Blood and Glenda and she fights through his best defensive tactics, as Blood is trying to keep a safe distance between Etrigan and Glenda, to convince him to keeping trying to find a way to break the demonic curse. Her persistence and determination pays off and Jason relents, agreeing to let her help him. She then summons up her lover’s demonic form, Etrigan, and confronts him. It turns out that Etrigan is also eager to free himself of Jason Blood and Merlin’s curse.

Along this quest, Glenda is captured and Blood takes the forefront. Wagner taps into the Demon’s supporting cast and has Harry Matthews help Blood summon Etrigan’s father, the demon lord Belial. Unfortunately things go horribly wrong and Blood gets Glenda back, but at a terrible cost. They aren’t deterred from their quest as Etrigan gives them a crucial clue on how to defeat Merlin.

The story, in its fourth and final issue, does a full circle with Blood returning to Merlin’s sanctuary in England. Blood asks Merlin to release him from the spell, but Merlin refuses. That refusal forces Blood to put Merlin in a trance and make him leave his sanctuary. Blood leads Merlin into a Hawthorn bush which proves to be an effective magical bane. As Merlin fades from existence, Blood and Etrigan are split apart as their curse is finally lifted.

The series ends with a significant cliffhanger with Etrigan roaming free and a glimpse at Merlin being held as a prisoner. Unfortunately, a regular series wouldn’t be published until mid-1990 with a new creative team. I can’t help but feel that Wagner had prepped this series as a launch pad for a new ongoing series, but for whatever reason, it never happened. While I really enjoyed what Wagner did and the pieces he put in place, this miniseries was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of he was trying to and not seeing that come to fruition saps a bit of the energy from this story.

In January 2014, DC will finally reprint this series as well as The Demon (1990) #22 also by Wagner, in a trade paperback called The Demon: From The Darkness.

1987 - Anatomy of a cover - The Demon #1

http://www.coollinesartwork.com/Featured.asp?Piece=294855

"1st issue art team was Wagner & Rankin of Mage fame, DC then had Alfredo Alcala re-ink overlays for the 2nd version of issue #1. The 3rd, published version of issue #1 was re-inked by Nicols. As described by Alfredo Alcala"

DC Comics December 2013 Solicitations - 1980s Goodness

GREEN LANTERN: SECTOR 2814 VOL. 3 TP
Written by STEVE ENGLEHART
Art by JOE STATON and others
Cover by WALTER SIMONSON
On sale JANUARY 15 • 200 pg, FC, $16.99 US
In this new collection of GREEN LANTERN #194-200, John Stewart clashes with Guy Gardner to see who will be the Green Lantern of Earth. And while Stewart battles Harbinger during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Gardner recruits enemies of the Green Lantern Corps to stand against an evil that could destroy the entire universe—including The Shark, Hector Hammond, Sonar, Goldface and more!

THE DEMON: FROM THE DARKNESS TP
Written by MATT WAGNER
Art by MATT WAGNER and ART NICHOLS
Cover by MATT WAGNER
On sale JANUARY 15• 128 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Jason Blood travels to Cornwall to find the spirit of Merlin and lift the curse that binds him to Etrigan, The Demon. But unraveling a centuries old curse is anything but easy, and Blood learns more about his mystical alter ego than he could have imagined. Collects the 4-issue miniseries from 1987 and issue #22 of The Demon’s monthly series.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 8 TP
Written by PAUL KUPPERBERG, JOHN BYRNE and ROGER STERN
Art by JOHN BYRNE, TY TEMPLETON, GEORGE PEREZ, MIKE MIGNOLA, JERRY ORDWAY and others
Cover by JOHN BYRNE
On sale DECEMBER 31 • 240 pg, FC, $16.99 US
Superman’s 1980s adventures continue with the introduction of Checkmate, plus appearances by Wonder Woman, Man-Bat and others. Collects ACTION COMICS #598-600, SUPERMAN #16-18 and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #439-440.

1983 - Art Adams and Mike Mignola's The Demon vs. The Gargoyle

1987 - Etrigan by Art Adams