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Etrigan The Demon Reading Order

Created by Jack Kirby for DC Comics, Etrigan the Demon made his debut in 1972. The character was first teased in the last issue of The Forever People (issue #10), announcing the launch of the new series simply titled “The Demon.”

Inspired by a character from Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant comics, Etrigan is a demon from Hell whom Merlin originally summoned to help him seek and protect the Eternity Book. The Wizard bound him to Jason Blood, one of his loyal knights. This fusion condemned Jason to immortality and a constant inner struggle with the demonic entity he now shared a body with. Blood worked with Harry Matthews, Glenda Mark, and Randy Singh to face powerful foes, including Morgaine Le Fey and her followers.

Jack Kirby only wrote and drew the original 16-issue series, but The Demon came back a few years later, in 1977, first in his second team-up with Batman in Brave and the Bold #137 ( the first one was in B&B #109 by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, the only Demon story not by Kirby at the time, in 1973). After all, Jason Blood was based in Gotham City, so he had to meet the Caped Crusader from time to time. DC Comics continued to bring Etrigan back in Batman Family, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, and DC Comics Presents, before appearing notably in The Saga of Swamp Thing.

That’s when a change appeared in The Demon’s characterization. In SOTST #26 (1984) by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, and John Totleben, Etrigan started to speak exclusively in rhyming verse, which quickly became a defining trait of the character. Other renowned writers and cartoonists continued to bring The Demon back after that, like Matt Wagner, Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola, John Byrne, and more. The character was recurring inside the DC Universe with his story being developed from one book to the other, but he never became a major one. Still, he is a memorable and captivating figure.

Etrigan The Demon Comics

What better way to start reading The Demon comics than with the original series written and drawn by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics during the 1970s?

Once the comic book series ended, The Demon made guest appearances during the late 1970s. The following guide, though, is going through the essential stories to read featuring The Demon, starting with his Swamp Thing appearances, when he started speaking in rhymes.

In 1987, Matt Wagner wrote and drew a 4-issue Demon miniseries in which Jason Blood journeys to Cornwall, England, in search of Merlin’s spirit, hoping to break the ancient curse that binds him to Etrigan the Demon. His quest takes an unexpected turn when a cryptic clue leads him to the British Museum, where a mysterious tome may hold the secret to his long-sought freedom.

Consequently, Jason Blood and Etrigan came back and teamed up with Superman, Batman, Orion of the New Gods, Darkseid, and more to save the Universe in the four-issue limited Cosmic Odyssey series written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Mike Mignola.

The situation has changed for Jason Blood and the Demon. Before, they used to trade places, but now, when Etrigan is summoned, he appears alongside Jason Blood. It’s a new situation explored in Alan Grant’s story published in Action Comics that led to a new ongoing comic dedicated to the Demon.

The rest of the series, written by Garth Ennis with art by John McCrea has been collected in two TPBs.

Garth Ennis wrote another Demon story, but in his comic series starring hitman Tommy Monaghan, who recruited Catwoman and Etrigan the Demon to battle a well-armed demon and send them on a quest to hell to retrieve the one weapon that could stop his enemy.

In the 6-issue comics miniseries The Demon Driven Out by Joshua Dysart and Pop Mhan published in 2003. Jason Blood strikes a bargain with the hope of severing his bond with the Demon once and for all, but the ritual backfires disastrously, unleashing Etrigan into the world, where he soon collides with the chaotic life of a tormented street racer.

In 2005, artist/writer John Byrne and writer Will Pfeifer launched the series Blood of the Demon. Hard to find, not collected, but also considered skippable by the fans who didn’t like it, this series saw the rules changed a little to explore the violent tendencies of Jason Blood under the influence of the Demon, while Etrigan is plotting to seize more power in Hell

  • Blood of the Demon #1-17.

The Shadowpact are summoned to Budapest, where they encounter a brand new villain, as well as Etrigan the Demon in a short storyline from the Bill Willingham/Tom Derenick comics.

Etrigan the Demon had a part to play in the Reign in Hell comics miniseries by Keith Giffen and Tom Derenick. A battle rages for the control of Hell between Neron and siblings Lord Satanus and Blaze. Heroes like Zatanna and Blue Devil intervened.

During the Blackest Night, an epic comics crossover event about Nekron, the embodiment of death, who unleashes an army of Black Lanterns—reanimated corpses of dead heroes and villains—against the living, Etrigan joined the battle, next to Deadman and Batman.

Etrigan The Demon: The New 52 Reboot

Like so many others, The Demon’s backstory was reworked during the New 52 era. This time, Etrigan was originally a Rhyming Demon who rebelled against Lucifer. Meanwhile, Jason of Norwich, a frustrated scribe sent to Camelot, was prophesied to descend into murderous rage without a redemptive quest. During Camelot’s fall, Merlin bonded Etrigan to Jason to set him on that path. Now immortal, Jason and Etrigan shared a volatile existence, complicated further by both falling for Madame Xanadu, who pretended to love Etrigan to keep his wrath in check. Over the centuries, Jason became known as Jason o’ the Blood and led a group called the Demon Knights, battling threats like Mordru and the Questing Queen. Etrigan betrayed the team to gain Lucifer’s favor, but was ultimately condemned by Hell and rejected all masters. Jason later joined Avalon’s Stormwatch, vowing to suppress the demon within him.

During that era, Etrigan was mainly in the Demon Knights series by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves, and Oclair Albert.

Once Demon Knights concluded, The Demon appeared in Justice League Dark: Futures End #1 and two issues of Stormwatch before guest-starring in a storyline of Batwoman. He also appeared in Swamp Thing and a story in Gail Simone’s Secret Six.

When DC Comics relaunched its universe once more, getting away from the New 52 era, Etrigan the Demon appeared in multiple comics, including some from the Ragman and Deadman series, but only as a supporting character. However, he got a new limited series, The Demon: Hell Is Earth, from writer Andrew Constant and artist Brad Walker.

Then, he notably appeared in the Justice League Dark comics

In recent years, Etrigan the Demon and Jason Blood have mostly been limited to making guest appearances in a comic book here and there. But they may come back with a new series soon! (They always seem to do it.)

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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