Gotham City has a dark side. Well, a darker side. Away from the streets occupied by the Batman and his foes, creatures lurk unseen.
By most, anyway.
The gentleman’s name is Jason Blood, but this isn’t the urbane demonologist famed throughout the DC Universe, it’s a feral-looking tramp who can barely remember his own name as he tries to ignore the voice in his head… the voice of the Demon Etrigan.
Rather than summon the vastly powerful Hell beast, Jason reaches into his coat for weapons with which to beat back the monsters he sees through an eerie mask.
While the stick is effective, burning creatures, making them flee, Etrigan isn’t impressed, continuing his appeals to be unleashed upon the world.
Elsewhere in Gotham City, the witch Morgaine Le Fey, ancient enemy of Jason and Etrigan, has gathered her generals to think big.
Fans of Jack Kirby’s original run will recognise several of the characters here, and I was surprised to see them given how different the opening pages are to any Demon strip I’ve seen. Writer-artist James Harren looks to be honouring the old stories while going somewhere new. Jason Blood as a gonk is weird, but intriguing, and even if we don’t see how he turned into a hairy Starro, I’m happy to just see where he’s going. The coat of magic props is promising, and the friends he makes further into the issue add to the fun weirdness.
Etrigan is on the backburner for most of this issue but I expect we’ll see a lot of him soon. Meanwhile, there’s an interesting twist with Morgaine, and the idea of Gotham as a haven for hidden horrors makes a lot of sense. It’s refreshing that as well as fuzzy Stanley and His Monster types we have Nerf flamethrowers and mobile phones with spiders’ legs, just one of the projects of Morgaine’s gothic gangsters.
There’s so much going on in this 30pp DC All-In debut that had me smiling, even though there’s as much darkness as there is whimsy (Morgaine’s explanation of humanity may ruin my sleep tonight).
Dave Stewart’s hues are a real boon to this issue, with a sharp balance of brightness and dark. I can’t wait to see him colour the unleashed Etrigan. And Clayton Cowles brings his usual A-game to the lettering.
Speaking of which, this massively imaginative debut’s only disappointment is Harren’s cover treatment of the Demon, his body covered entirely by a cape that makes him look part-rock. I can only guess he’s saving the full reveal of his version of Etrigan for next issue.
Bring it on!
