The Demon - Hell's Hitman - Book 1

 

This compilation of Garth Ennis and John McCrea's run on The Demon is compiled from early-to-mid 90's issues of this DC Comic, and this omnibus (along with the next installment) was gifted to me by my brother along with the Alias and Green Lantern comics that I've already mentioned. 

A literal demon from Hell, hence the unoriginal name, Etrigan enters our world through an unnaturally old human named Jason Blood. The process is quite vague, but one or the other recites an incantation and the other appears, which, naturally, wrecks havoc on Blood's attempt at a normal, human life. This is especially complicated by his pregnant girlfriend who he tries to cut all ties with in order to spare her and the child from the carnage that follows in the Demon's path.

The fact that Etrigan is a rhyming demon actually gets a bit annoying at times, as is the embellished font that is used in his soliloquies to highlight the fact that it is demonic speak, an understandable trope, but it makes it a bit more difficult to read - at least for this old man with bad eyesight.

There is plenty of fire'n'brimstone, gore, violence - both earthly and hellish - and depressing takes on humankind throughout. I don't know if it is simply the fact that the world today is so damn morose, but this is not a fun read, even with all of the overt exaggerations and the almost surrealistic artwork. Maybe it's just my current mood and I need to try again another time.

In any case, I was surprised to find that lyrics of mine (from years previous) were used in this series, although I"m sure it must just be coincidence, as it's not like they were totally original, but enough that I thought I swiped it from this book until I looked at the dates. Funny coincidence! 

Unlike today, though, there is a tale with a haunted tank taking on literal Nazi zombies and the Demon teams up with a ghost of a Confederate General to fight the Nazis, unlike today, when the Confederates would literally BE the Nazis - in fact, it's all very odd that he is fighting the Nazis instead of siding with them as they scream their prejudices. And, if this were written today, there would be plenty of the Cult that would be joining the Nazi zombies, instead of fighting them.

I was not overwhelmed by this series - an interesting concept that just doesn't click with me for some reason. But, the second installment is indeed an improvement...