ACW #640 – Demon

Action Comics Weekly #640 (Demon)
“Abandon Hope”
Writer – Alan Grant
Pencils – Mark Pacella
Inks – Bill Wray
Letters – John Costanza
Colors – Tatjana Wood
Editor – Dan Raspler

It’s time for the Penullllllllltimate Demon-ing.


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Picking up where we left off… Morgan LeFay has been shifted from stone to flesh (give or take a hand), and is unleashing her “appreciation” on her resurrectors.  Etrigan has a front row seat for the festivities… and, while he’d enjoy taking the heads off of some of these LeFay-ites, his focus is primed on the lady herself.  He just so happens to be responsible for her one-handed-ness, and is quick to rub that in her face.  She, as you might imagine, ain’t pleased.

LeFay lashes out… proving her superiority to the Demon with the quickness.  She even accuses him of being “all blow, no show”, which… I’m glad didn’t lead to a flashback scene.  Before we know it, he’s on his knees before her… being slowly turned to stone!

We shift scenes to the Wookey Hole, where Randu and Glenda are still following the Philosopher’s Stone.  It leads them to an innocuous-looking door… well, maybe not completely innocuous-looking… there is a creepy face on it.  Anyhoo, this face introduces itself… looks like this is the literal doorway to Hell!  It invites them to enter… and Glenda’s all “Yeah… no thanks.”  She does change her tune, however, when the door reveals that Jason Blood is inside… and in a bad way.

The fact that the pair have willingly entered the doorway to Hell makes that one weirdo who’s been holding Merlin hostage quite giddy!  So giddy, in fact, that he calls his manservant to prepare a bath for him.  The tub is full’a gross stuff, including a map of the Jersey Shore… talk about a reference that would work across generations.  Probably not into our current generation so much, but… close enough!

We wrap up back at Tintagel, where Jason Blood is watching Morgan LeFay entomb Etrigan in stone.  Knowing that if the Demon dies, so does he… our man figures it’d be in his best interest to get a move on, and try and save his “other half”.

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So unmoved am I by this story… I briefly considered filling the “review” portion of today’s piece with assorted grunts.  Not just to be a snarky jackass, but because grunts were my actual reaction reading through this thing.


Etrigan produces LeFay’s hand?  Hrrr.  She turns him to stone?  Hmm.  Randu and Glenda spend a page talking to a door?  Urmph.  The cliffhanger ending?  Sigh.  I mean, this just isn’t for me.  I don’t care about any of these characters… and the story is just uninspired enough not to change that fact in the slightest.  It’s not bad, per say… it’s just not anything that’s ever going to rock my socks personally.


Morgan LeFay’s “all blow, no show” line was probably the highlight of the chapter… and actually serves to describe my exact feelings on the story as a whole.


Oh well, only one more of these to go!


Tomorrow: Wrapping up the Hero Hotline!