I haven't been a fan of McFarlane Toys DC figures, but I did get lured back in for their spin on the Demon: I probably could've waited for it to go half-off. But I'd been looking for this issue for some time, and good news: possibly thanks to some friendly encouragement, I think this has been reprinted! From 1995, the Demon #58, "The Longest Day, part 4" Written by Garth Ennis, art by John McCrea.
The angels are winning the war in Hell, as Etrigan and his forces are down to their final stand, unless they can find the Horned Crown. Etrigan goes back for one of his troops, the minotaur Morax; only to find his head, severed by the angels' leader, Karrien. While Etrigan (who seems to have foregone pants for most of this issue...) gets him with "your shoelace is undone," Karrien cuts the Demon up, since he has "right" on his side, and throws the body into a pit.
Dying, Etrigan is visited by Morax, either the ghost of his head, or a dying hallucination, but that gives him the strength to get up. He then nearly breaks his foot on something while cursing Karrien...namely, the lost Crown of Horns! Etrigan returns to the fight, restored and stronger than ever, but also now aware that maybe Karrien didn't have right--or 'God'--on his side; the angel may have been acting without sanction. Etrigan tears him up, then seemingly offers forgiveness...nah!
With the battle over, Etrigan drops the crown, and walks away; leaving the remaining denizens of Hell to consider who should take it. The concensus is ruling Hell would be a colossal pain in the ass and only a goddamned lunatic would even consider it...enter Baytor, with an extended Ren & Stimpy riff that may have been his only dialog besides "I am Baytor" ever!
Hell seems more than happy with King Baytor, especially when he vomits and kills the remaining angels. Etrigan knows, though: "No future lies in ruling Hell...that's a lesson I learned well." But the last three pages are a thank-you from Etrigan, to Jack Kirby and the creators that followed him in presenting his adventures. In rhyme!
The Demon has of course returned multiple times since this. Books like this are why!
Baytor doing Ren's lines? OK now I'm intrigued. LOVE Ren & Stimpy myself, though considering my unique sense of humor that really shouldn't be all that surprising.
I never got the appeal of Garth Ennis. I like his Judge Dredd and a bunch of his other 2000 AD work well enough but the rest of his stuff never clicked for me. I'd rather read Alan Grant's Demon run. It's good and definitely should be collected too. Who knows, it might happen- they've collected most of his Batman stories and a few of his Lobo stories over the past few years.
2 comments:
Baytor doing Ren's lines? OK now I'm intrigued. LOVE Ren & Stimpy myself, though considering my unique sense of humor that really shouldn't be all that surprising.
I never got the appeal of Garth Ennis. I like his Judge Dredd and a bunch of his other 2000 AD work well enough but the rest of his stuff never clicked for me. I'd rather read Alan Grant's Demon run. It's good and definitely should be collected too. Who knows, it might happen- they've collected most of his Batman stories and a few of his Lobo stories over the past few years.
Post a Comment