Spooktoberfest Special: The Spine-Tingling Terror of the Demon!

The world of Jack Kirby is not a subtle one. How do I know this?



Let's just call it a hunch.

My pal Scott has always said that the most terrifying thing he can imagine would be getting trapped in an alley with Ghost Rider on one end and Etrigan on the other, and after reading The Demon #13--the October issue, no less--I'm inclined to agree with him. Especially considering that Etrigan spends the majority of this issue just busting through walls and making pretty specific threats against the best-named villain in the history of comic books, BARON VON EVILSTEIN.

Admittedly, his real name is actually Baron Von Rakenstein, but since he's pretty busy unleashing an army of horrific monstrosities from a secret laboratory beneath Batman's hometown, he doesn't exactly rush to correct anybody.

But lest you think that he's just another misunderstood scientist whose well-intentioned experiments in demonology went awry, let's have a look at page two:



Yes, if the name alone didn't tip you off, the monocle, the moustache with four total inches of head clearance, the hunchbacked assistant, and what appears to be a leprechaun skeleton dangling from the roof ought to give you a pretty good idea of why he goes by the nickname.

The beauty of the story, like most of my favorite Kirby stories, is that it's esssentially 22 pages of utter chaos that--once you get past the opening splash pages and eliminate the subplot revolving around one of Evilstein's misshapen creatures finding love in the big city--can pretty much be explained in about five panels, each of which contains the sum total of information for the entire story. It's like a hologram, only with more explosions. Explosions that, for some reason, go "Spoossh."

To that effect:



Which leads to:



(This guy, incidentally, is not techincally essential to the plot, but he is yet another example of one of my favorite Kirby tropes, The Incredulous Bystander. Often seen while someone is "crashin' thru," he's a guy who is freaking out so hard at what he's seeing that he cannot believe it. The background crowds of OMAC are almost entirely composed of these guys just standing around gawking while OMAC beats up... well, just about everyone else, really.)

But then!



Thus:



And that's how the Demon turned Baron Von Evilstein and Igor into vultures.



To be honest with you, I really have no idea how that last one happens, but, well, like the man says...



...it's probably best if I just assume it worked out for the best.

---

More Chills and Thrills From Spooktoberfest 2006!

| The Relatively Serious Review of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (With Bonus Flamewar!) |
| The Mind-Melting Horror of Halloween With Tarot |
| The Horror of Haunted Love! |