The Demon Book 1: Hell's Hitman (#40, #42-49, The Demon Annual #2) PART TWO

"About to take my name in vain?  That'll bring you extra pain" - Etrigan

So, where were we?  This is the second half of my look at the first collected volume of Garth Ennis and John McCrea's run on The Demon, which took place during the 1990's.  The Demon in question is Etrigan, a "rhymer" from high up in hell's hierarchy who over a thousand years ago had his soul hitched to that of a morose fellow called Jason Blood by Merlin because reasons.  Blood has never aged since, the pay off is merely having his entire existence made a misery by Etrigan who he switches places with by saying the words "Gone, gone O form of Man. Rise the Demon Etrigan" (or varations thereof).  This allows Etrigan access to the mortal realm to deal with various villianous devils, monsters, ghouls and other evil paranormal shenanigans which he does for his own amusement.  Although in the current arc, the two angels running hell at this point in time (see The Sandman arc "Seasons Of Mist" for why) have appointed him "Hell's Hitman" giving Etrigan more legitimacy (as if he cared about that!).  He's currently teamed up with Tommy Monaghan, a human hitman with x-ray vision and telepathy and are taking on a demon called Asteroth who has just summoned Gotham's city demon, "the Gothodaemon".  This post completes that arc, then Ennis can't resist going back to his first love, which is military stuff.  How does that involve the paranormal?  You'll see (it's genius though).  And we wrap up this volume with the birth of Etrigan's child down in hell which seems to be part of another plan to ruin Jason Blood's life that has included "interfering" with Jason and his now ex-girlfriend Glenda's safe sex and getting her pregnant too.  Now we're all caught up, we can begin.

The gigantic Gothodaemon is now striding about downtown Gotham and no one notices, it fits right in.  Oh I'm being silly, mass panic ensues as well as more murder, multilation and suicide than normal as it affects everyone within range, "it holds a city full of hate inside, and everyone it touches feels a vile, persuading whisper...As some say YES."

Etrigan and Tommy

Etrigan and Tommy observe the Gothodaemon from the top of the cemetary hill.  Etrigan explains to Tommy how it is born from all the hate and fear in Gotham over the years, turning it into a city that taints the ground it's on. Tommy laconically notes:

Tommy: "Kinda interesting how much it looks like a bat, huh?"

Etrigan: "That's the kind of awkward question most folk would rather you not mention..."

Then Etrigan makes a beeline for where Asteroth is as Tommy deals with the gangsters and holy warriors he has protecting him.

Exhausted by the ritual, Asteroth staggers out of the church he was summoning in. The Gothodaemon is still wandering about, the police car that first catches up with it is told to just follow and observe.  Glenda is also following because despite everything she still loves Jason and wants to make sure he's alright as she knows he'll be mixed up in all this.

Asteroth in trouble.

Etrigan chases Asteroth back inside and Asteroth starts bricking it because he has no power left to put up a fight.  Etrigan gloats about how much fun he's going to have torturing Asteroth.  He has to bring him back down to Hell now he's the official Hitman for it, but at least he can stretch the ride out so he can have more fun and then punches him in the throat and kicks him in the balls to get started.

Etrigan stands over Asteroth's prone body and laughs, which is cut short by the Gothodaemon breaking through the roof and grabbing him.  Tommy sees this can thinks, "guess I can kiss my fifty-thou goodbye".  But he carries on wasting Asteroth's minions.  One of the warrior priests thinking Tommy is demonic too sprays him with holy water. This of course does nothing except annoy Tommy because the shirt was clean on that morning and he unloads on them.  The police arrive and the gangster coningent attack them, and get a similar, ballistic response back.

The Gothodaemon demands to know if Etrigan is trying to stop it.  Etrigan just wants to know what the Gothodaemon wants with him, that Etrigan has not yet done anything to it.  The Gothodaemon says for someone who feasts on evil and bathes in hatred, Etrigan is a "delicacy".

The Gothodaemon: "Five hundred years ago a man built his house here.  He was the first citizen of Gotham.  His wife was second.  That night he drank to celebrate and strangled her to death.  And I was born".

It says that every night the evil carried out in Gotham City trickles down to it and it bathes in it, a half millenia of hatred.  And Etrigan is "nothing" compared to that, which is an unwise thing to say to put it mildly.

Etrigan takes down the Gothodaemon.

We then get a lengthy rant by Etrigan as to why this is not the case.  Etrigan's been alive a lot longer than that, "a hundred-thousand years or more - I've not felt the need to keep score".  He was there when humans lived in caves, and has always hated those who sought salvation.

Etrigan: "In God's sweet love men can rejoice - but I ne'er heard his Blessed Voice, speak out and offer me the choice to drink his Blessed Wine... For that's my place within His game, to be cast out and get the blame, for all these mortal acts of shame.  You know what I say?  Fine."

He then unleashes his flaming breath while explaining to the Gothodaemon as it begins to disintegrate under the searing attack that he not the Gothodaemon is the "King of Hate!"  The Gothodaemon shrinks and disperses and Etrigan returns to Asteroth still lying on the church floor.  Etrigan gleefully tells him the Gothodaemon wasn't much of an opponent and now he's going to torture Asteroth all night before he returns him to hell.

Tommy has also finished off the mobsters and holy warriors, the police have arrived on the scene at this point so he shoots the guns out of their hands and makes his escape.  Dum and Dee think with Asteroth and his mob gone they can take over the Gotham crime scene, but when they bump into the police arrivals that rather puts paid to that idea.  Glenda has also found the place, she calls "Jason?" outside the church front door.  But only hears "No" from Etrigan as a response and she sadly leaves.

Asteroth humbled.

Down in hell a naked Asteroth is kneeling before Remiel and Duma.  His head is lowered, he mumbles that whatever they want to do to him, "it could never be as bad as what Etrigan did."   Remiel says that they aren't going to torture, Asteroth is an arch-fiend and belongs in hell.  But he is going to have to deal with a change in stature and start working off his sins again.  Duma hands Asteroth a mop and bucket and he shuffles off to start cleaning hell's lavatories.  Grim.

Etrigan is sitting on a rooftop talking to himself.  He expresses his joy that Glenda's pregancy is going to result in pain for her, and send Jason insane.  He then revels in his new job:

Etrigan: "It's not just Gotham now you see -  there's  whole wide world out there for me - Where I can hunt and slaughter demon strays. If there's a body count as I'm about it - even better! Come! Let's shout it! Etrigan the Demon's here to stay!" 

And that rounds off the "Hell's Hitman" arc.  Now let's move on to "Haunted Glory" which is Ennis's way of slyly getting a military story into a series about demons and magic.  It stars one of those wonderfully zany Silver Age creations, a Haunted Tank.  No really, the Haunted Tank was a WW2 Allied forces tank linked to the ghost of a Confederate general called Jeb Stuart, who Alexander the Great (!) sent to be a guardian of his two namesakes  Lieutenant Jeb Stuart and the tank he commanded, the M3 Stuart.  The comic was called G.I Combat and the Haunted Tank first appeared in it in 1961.  The comic was cancelled in 1987 and it fell into comics limbo (the General being a Confederate might have explained why people weren't in a rush to feature it) but it has had some notable appearences since then, this three part tale being one of them.

This first chapter is drawn by fill-in artists, Denis Rodier and Wayne Faucher. A quick introduction to the Haunted Tank then we join two Germans.  A younger one called Bergen and an older one called Von Raddel.  He'd been a drooling vegetable since WW2 when he was hit in the head by a bullet from a Russian soldier during a battle outside Kursk where he and his platoon of men had been ambushed and massacred.  Bergen had revived his memory and self by showing him a swastika.

Now they are going to revive Hitler's dream, although they have plenty of fascist support already in Europe, Bergen's organisation "Wotan's Fist".  Now he wants muscle that Von Raddel can supply. Von Raddel takes out a necklace with a pendant on it and suddenly the dead Nazi soldiers rise up from their battlefield graves.

Nazi zombies.

We then cut to Jeb Stuart meeting his wartime buddies in a pub near Amarillo, Texas.  They are Rick Parsons, Arch Stanton and Slim Kilkenny.  The reminisce that although their tank chalked up a huge number of kills, the ghost only spoke to Jeb and the rest of them have a hard time believing the tank was haunted.  Then Jason Blood appears and tells them he needs them.

In Limbo, General Jeb Stuart is reliving his Civil War glories to himself when Etrigan appears and tells him to come with him and "fight the war that never ends."  The revival of all the Nazi soldiers has "torn down the walls that keep Earth safe from what's below", and because magick has bought them back, magick will be needed to fight them.  The General says he knows his duty, "the haunted tank shall rise again".  And it drives itself out of the yard it had been left to rot in.

Back with Jason Blood, he tells Jeb and friends that they are needed to crew the Haunted Tank one last time.  It arrives outside much to their surprise and Jeb looks pleased to see it.  Back with the Nazi's, the zombies have been loaded into a aeroplane and they are heading for America.

The Haunted Tank and crew reunited.

Von Raddel tells Bergen how the undead Nazis were made.  They took the "brand of the Triskele - the three legged swastika - and they would be immortal".  Then they were all massacred at Kursk and Von Raddel was rendered unable to summon them back to undead life.  Bergen says "now you can build your better world."

Returning to the Haunted Tank, Jeb sees the General who vouches for Jason. They agree to crew it again, despite Jason's misgivings as to Etrigan's motives.  The Nazi plane flies into a US army base in Texas, it came in under the radar and the Americans scramble to be ready for when it lands.  It disgorges hundreds of zombies and they find their weapons useless against them.  They are massacred and Von Raddel and Bergen find tanks and lots of them.

The next chapter begins at the American Fort Cahaill.  The last of the soldiers have been killed and the Nazi zombies are crewing the tanks under Von Raddel's control. While the Haunted Tank's crew get inside, no mean feat when one is fat and the other a paraplegic, Jason demands to know from Etrigan what he wants with, "four geriatrics and an obselete tank." Etrigan says you need magic to fight magic and he can't destroy the Nazi zombies on his own.  Angrily Jason says the words and Etrigan manifests. 

Jason is unhappy as usual.

Back at Fort Cahill, Von Raddel lays out his plans after Bergen tells him of the support he has in Europe.  The plan is to take out the Americans so they won't intervene when they rise up and take control of Europe.  They will travel to Washington DC, and turn it into rubble.  With Washington DC razed, the US will become isolationist and "will not heed Europe's call for help."  He puts on a headset which connects him to all the vehicles and tells them to start moving.

Etrigan is waiting for the fuel trucks which are traveling by road while the tanks roll across the desert.

Etrigan: "' Deutchsland uber alles' eh?  We'll find out if that's true today! This might wreck their well-laid plan. This demon fights for Uncle Sam."

He sees off an attack by some of the zombies following on foot. Then we join Jeb and the gang in the Haunted Tank rattling across the desert.

They come across Etrigan and are freaked out, but The General says Etrigan is on their side.  Etrigan points out the fuel tanks to them and so they will target them first.   Between the shelling from the Haunted Tank and Etrigan's fire breath, the fuel tanks don't stand a chance and explode.

Bergen and Von Raddel are waiting at the refueling rendevous point and Von Raddel looks for them with a telescope and sees their smoking remains.  He finds a town close by they can refuel at, and also kill everyone living there because he's in a bad mood.  He spots Etrigan laughing his head off and says he can deal with him, he summons the devil folk of "infernal valhalla" and the ground opens up under Etrigan and he is pulled down. The Haunted Tank crew are on their own and only they can save the town.  "Mount up" says Jeb.

Dragged to Nazi Hell.

The General says he'll go and get Etrigan back, while they take on the Nazi zombies.  Etrigan is nailed to a giant swastika in a special "Nazi hell!".  The "Aryan Inferno" ruled by those who "preach the Gospel of Hate."  They protect those who fight under the swastika.

Back on Earth the zombie crewed tanks fire upon the Haunted Tank but all miss.   They are lined up in a neat row, and approaching them under cover of all the smoke, the Haunted Tank drives up a ledge and her crew drive it over the Nazi tanks with Jeb dropping grenades inside each one as they go blasting them apart from the inside.

Von Raddel screams at the zombies to destroy it and they fire but hit each other because zombies are pretty stupid.  Bergen stays out of the way next to the truck that is full of napalm, saying to himself "this is a nightmare."  The Haunted Tank keeps jinking and the Nazis keep missing it.

Unconventional tanktics.

Down in Nazi hell, the leader wants to know why Etrigan wars on them. They split humanity apart and make them blame each other for their weaknesses, "for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world... and then have no one to spit upon."  Etrigan just tells them to "credit me with some bloody taste" than to ally with them.  Then the General comes to the rescue.

He fights the Nazi demons as Etrigan pulls himself free of the nails holding him. Etrigan punches they leader then grabs him by the neck and nails exactly how pathetic they are, he says they are not the Kings of Hate, because:

Etrigan: "This is the thrust behind thy ranting: 'He's brown! She's red! His eyes are slanting!' 'Thank god we're better off than her! Those foreigners are worse than curs!' ' My life's become a pile of crap  - it's that guy's fault for being black!' ' They come over here and take out jobs!' 'Of course they do you lazy slobs!' Let Etrigan show you the light:  That isn't hate... it's naught but spite".

And he rips the demon leader's head right off. Then he climbs onto the back of The General's horse and they depart Nazi hell back to the war going on in a Texas desert.

The General to the rescue.

Von Raddel spots Etrigan's back and has a tank fire on him.  Etrigan survives of course although partly torn in half.  He climbs into the napalm truck, and kicks Bergen out so hard he takes the door with him. Then he drives it into the remaining tanks and they all explode with an earth shattering kaboom.

The Haunted Tank has become stuck and the crew are staring to bail, but one is stuck and the other needs someone to carry him.  Von Raddel in the last tank bears down on them, they only have one shot, but they make it count and Von Raddel's tank is destroyed although Von Raddel is thrown clear, which allows Jeb to finish him off with the machine gun.

'Tis but a fleshwound.

They then get out of the tank at their leisure and meet up with Etrigan who congratulates them on sending the Nazi's back to hell, "and though 'tis time to end our story.  I'll never forget our haunted glory".  He tells them to hold their heads up high and they leave the Haunted Tank in the desert quickly covered up in drifting sand so no one can claim it for scrap:

Narrator: "She is old now.  She is old, torn and beaten, and she lies beneath the desert skies a thousand miles away from home.  She carried four young men to war, and all they asked of her was that she'd bring them through... and everytime she did.  Her time will come again".

Damn, it says something about Ennis's writing that he can hit me in the feels over a bloody tank!  The final chapter in the collection is a done-in-one story told in voiceover by a P.I called Joseph D. Gunn (this also is drawn by a fill-in artist called Neil Dobbyn).  He's composing a letter to someone called "Pete".  He has the "craziest" story to tell, and it started that night when he was tracking down and threatening someone for non-payment of debts.  He then spots the weird, goofy pink thing (which does seem to be actually called "Thing") going into an off-licence. 

He follows and sees it buy a couple of cigars and a bottle of Jack Daniels.  When it leaves Joe asks the person manning the counter to tell him about it and doesn't he find it odd.  The man says it's nothing compared to all the superheroes and aliens and huge demons kicking about Gotham.  Joe then follows Thing back to Jason Blood's flat.

Harry the cushion spills the beans to Joe.

He lurks outside listening and looking through the keyhole.  He hears Harry the cushion mocking Jason's moodiness and when Jason leaves to go into another room, Joe breaks in and threatens Harry into spilling everything he knows about Jason.  When he hears about the power Jason has he thinks he could make use of them somehow.

He peeks in at what Jason is doing.  There is a pentangle on the floor and Jason is looking through a magic mirror.  He sighs at the image of a pregnant Glenda and laments he can't protect her from Etrigan.  He then uses a little of his blood to bring a small imp to life. It climbs up on his shoulder and Jason commands it to follow Etrigan who is currently in hell and spy on him.  The pentangle on the floor will act as a gateway.

Joe then barges in pointing his gun at Jason.  He says Jason will work for him now which makes Jason smile in pity.  Joe advances on him saying if he doesn't he'll shoot Jason.  He is standing in the middle of the pentangle and Jason says "gate".  And it starts sucking Joe downwards, he fires a wild shot and destroys the imp on Jason's shoulder, before falling into hell proper.

He comes face-to-face with Baytor the demon of madness.  Etrigan arrives via a horned beast and is told the birth of his son is imminent but the mother, the Lady Smegma is dying.  Etrigan doesn't care about her, she was a means to an end, getting a son.  Joe follows him and hides behind a curtain in the delivery room.  Smegma says the baby is too big, she can't push it out. 

Etrigan's son is born.

Etrigan flashes his claws and threatens a demonic caesarean section.  It's not made clear if he does do that or Smegma is frightened to finally push it out, but Etrigan's son is born and Etrigan says what great pleasure he'll get from unleashing him on Earth.  He holds it up, and off panel, we don't get to see it.  Joe, unfortunately for him, does.

Joe: "It was a nightmare.  It was every disgusting thing you could imagine.  And it was changing itself all the time.   Shifting and warping, unfolding more and more gross bits from inside itself...BUt worst of all was its face ... it's awful,  terrible face... when it turned round and looked right at me."

Then suddenly Joe is transported back to Jason's flat via the pentangle.  In shock he yells at Jason "do you know what that bastard thing's done?"  Jason beseeches him to tell what he saw, but Joe just runs back to his office.

We join him as he finishes his letter to Pete.  He writes that the idea of that thing coming to Earth is more than he can take.  Etrigan is bad enough news, but his son would make life not worth living.  He signs off, takes his pistol, puts it in his mouth and blows his brains out.  The End.  And on that somewhat depressing note we come to the end of this collection.

Joe can't live with what he saw.

I'm so pleased The Demon is getting released (there's another volume to come), it's been a good year to be a Garth Ennis fan what with this coming out and the omnibus editions of The Punisher Max putting that superb series back into print.  John McCrea remains the perfect artist for rendering such grotesqueries, the two fill-in artists are OK, but it's notable how they render Etrigan as a yellow human with bat ears.  John McCrea however really makes Etrigan twisted and beastlike and a true demon to be feared.  Of course this is not a "for mature readers" so his most appalling acts have to be done off-panel and alluded to like his epic torture of Asteroth and the possible ripping of his son out of Smegma's womb and her subsequent death.  The Haunted Tank story is quite a serious treatment of a whimsical concept, Nazi zombies are definitely one type of zombie you'd never tire of killing.  Tommy continues to make his mark with his takedown of most of Asteroth's protective detail.  I have covered the series that he starred in a while ago on this blog and I mourned it's untimely death then, so getting new "Hitman" material is a real treat.  Now Etrigan has a son, is that going to be linked somehow to Jason and Glenda's kid?  And will we ever get a proper look at it?  I actually like the Lovecraftian touch of having it described without us getting to see what it is leaving us to imagine something truly appalling, especially as it's enough to drive a man to suicide when he laid eyes on him.  Anyway,  I'm looking forward to the next volume which I hope to find in my stocking this Christmas, at any rate expect a look at it early next year.

The Demon Book 1: Hell's Hitman (#40, #42-49, The Demon Annual #2) PART ONE

"That's the wonderful thing about evil, you see.  There's absolutely nothing to hold you back" - Asteroth

Well this is my two-hundreth book covered for this blog so to celebrate here is some vintage Garth Ennis and a look at the first volume of his run on DC's The Demon series back in the 90's.  Ennis was in the middle of a well receieved run on Hellblazer when the opportunity to take on writing duties for a second series came up.  Unfortunately it was all superhero stuff, which folk should know by now, Ennis is no big fan of.  Then a chance to write The Demon came up, he jumped at the chance and along with artist and regular collaborator John McCrea he gave us his take on Etrigan, a demon who is bound to the soul of an immortal man called Jason Blood.  Jason Blood can summon Etrigan to take his place on Earth with the rhyme "Gone, gone O Form of Man.  Rise the demon Etrigan" and is replaced by a yellow, cat-like demon with great power who speaks entirely in rhyme.  Created by the legendary Jack Kirby, Etrigan fell into disuse until Alan Moore, as part of his general revamping of DC's magical characters in the pages of Swamp Thing, bought him back and made him popular again.  Ennis writes very positively of the impact Moore's writing of Etrigan had on him in his introduction to this collected volume and his whole run is dedicated to showing just why Etrigan should be feared and respected as he had undergone some badass decay in the Alan Grant run which came before.  We also get the introduction of Tommy Monaghan in The Demon Annual Bloodlines special.  I've covered the whole Hitman spin-off series before on this blog, but will include the recap of his introductory issue again so the rest of his appearances in this book make sense. Also as ten issues in total are collected here, I've split it into two parts which means the short "Hell's Hitman" arc will be resolved in my next post.  There are some leftover plot threads and characters from Alan Grant's run on the book, which has not been collected, but Ennis incoprorates them gracefully into the storylines rather than do a full continuity reboot.  Jason Blood/Etrigan are also now based in Gotham City, a wretched hive with opportunities for helltastic fun aplenty. So without further ado, Ennis and McCrea's The Demon (if you're wondering where issue #41 is, it was a fill-in involving neither Ennis or McCrea).

The book begins with a biker gang invading and descrating a church.  The leader, Johnny Basterson makes an offering of his soul to summon a demon called "Brandor".  Johnny convulses then reveals to his gang that Brandor is now in control of Johny's body much to their delight as this will make their gang the top one now.

Heeeere's Johnny, I mean Brandor.

Next day, Jason Blood investigates the church and finds evidence of the demon summoning, so he summons Etrigan to take his place and investigate.  Etrigan uses his magic flame to summon another demon from hell to give him information.  As he does so he remenisces about his time leading a gang down in hell.

His summoning brings forth a demon called "Rectomm", leader of an opposing gang and somewhat pissed at Etrigan for slaughtering his gang, eating his brother, fed his mother to the Hell Gerbils of Acheron and stole his girlfriend.  He calls Etrigan a "Felcher" and I can't believe Ennis managed to get that reference into a PG rated comic!

Etrigan punches him a few times and threatens him with more violence if he doesn't give up who has taken over Johnny.  We then cut to Brandor/Johnny and his gang riding through Gotham on their way to the cathedral.  On a roof is Etrigan watching:

Etrigan: "But there's hellspawn in Gotham - I must do what I can - 'cause this towns for no demon.. save Etrigan".

He goes to the cathedral where Johnny/Brandor plan on opening a gateway to hell.  Usually a holy place would be somewhere Etrigan cannot go, but because Gotham is such a faithless town he can enter.

One way to exorcise a demon.

He knows Brandor from his old gang days, and flies down and starts killing the gang members with his hands and his flame.  With them all dead, Johnny/Brandor makes a run for it on his motorbike.  He runs Etrigan down with it and makes another pass, but Etrigan recovers and grabs it, then reaches into Johnny/Brandor's mouth and pulls Brandor out:

Etrigan: "You've had your fun with your messing about.  But now it is time to get the hell out."

Etrigan then bites Brandor's head off and turns his attention to Johnny.   He blasts him with his flame, burning Johnny to a crisp while quipping, "here comes the toast rider."  Back in hell, the biker gang resign themselves to more boredom, while on Earth a grinning Etrigan walks away from the fires his flame attack caused, "don't leave priests dead and churches defiled.  Or you'll meet one who is truly wild."

Now The Demon Annual #2 and it's a Bloodlines special.  Bloodlines was DC's 1993 line wide attempt attempt to create a whole batch of XTREME '90's heroes.  As we see in this chapter, aliens feeding off people's spinal fluid accidentally trigger superpowers in a small minority of people instead of killing them.  The roster of heroes it produced was pretty lack lustre, only Tommy "Hitman" Monaghan made any kind of an impact getting his own brilliant series a few years later.  The rest of the Bloodlines heroes fell into obscurity and were bought back to be killed by Superboy Prime in Infinite Crisis.

Tommy gets his spine chomped.

Tommy is introduced waiting to perform a hit, but before he can, one of the aliens called Glonth attacks and kills his mark, then comes after Tommy and slurps his spine too.  But Tommy survives and is rushed to hospital, he awakens to find his eyes are now black pools and that he can see through people down to the skeleton and is overwhelmed by their thoughts (he later gains control of these abilities and can turn them on and off at will).

Tommy escapes the hospital and goes to his friends Pat's house to get tooled up.  He then declares himself "not Tommy, Pat.  Hitman".  But this ID is rarely used again.  He's tends to be referred to as "a hitman" rather than "the Hitman" which he later declares an embarrassing name in his next appearance in The Demon: Hell's Hitman arc and it would be dropped completely along with the red scarf he wears for his own series.

The man he was going to kill before it munched his and Tommy's spines was a mobster called Rober Dubelz. His conjoined twin sons Moe and Joe was revenge on the monster and Tommy and pit out a contract on him.  Tommy decides to crash the funeral and deal with the twins.  As he observes the guests arrive he sees Jason Blood, trying to read his mind leaves him shaken.  Glonth then crashes the wake and so does Tommy. 

Glonth vs. Etrigan

Jason switches places with Etrigan and starts to fight Glonth hurling insults at him constantly as they hit each other with cars and so on.  Tommy's battle spills over into Etrigan's and he gets knocked down, but manages to rally and kills Joe Dubelz one half of the twins before also turning on Glonth. 

Glonth now outmatched, flees, while Moe Dubelz bellows that he'll have his revenge on Tommy. Tommy and Jason Blood both leave the funeral and Tommy tries to read Jason's mind and is shocked at what he finds.

Jason Blood: "It's not always a good idea to go peering into the dark.  Sometimes you might not like what you see."

Tommy: "And sometimes, Mr. Blood.  Sometimes, you ain't got a choice."

And the Annual ends.  It's a great intro for the character of Tommy, and establishes characters and plot threads that get picked up three years later when Tommy gets his own series.

The "Hell's Hitman" arc starts next in Jason Blood's flat, on the sofa are two living cushions Harry and Katarina who are a couple (these are leftovers from Alan Grant's run).  Katarina wonders why Jason is so broody, Harry says that it's because of Etrigan.  Currently Jason is defying Etrigan's request to manifest and help him take down a demon called Asteroth.

Etrigan: "So pay the piper Jason Blood! Or I'll turn thy mind to boiling mud! I'll scream all night, and then all day - 'til for a rubber room you'll pray!"

But Jason calmly calls Etrigan's bluff saying if he drives him mad he won't be able to say the words that allow Etrigan to walk the Earth.  He doesn't want Etrigan fighting an arch-demon in Gotham because of all the collateral damage he'll cause.

Jason, the cushions and Etrigan.

Etrigan says he's "the good guy from hell".  And Jason gives in and says the words.  Katarina wonders why they work together and Harry says both have been looking to find a way to be free of each other for a long time, ever since Merlin first joined them together.  Then they smooch.

We then cut to Asteroth, a demon in a natty suit who knows Etrigan is coming now. His human right hand man draws his gun for taking on Etrigan but Asteroth has a better idea of how to deal with him, guns being useless against demons.  He orders the "commandos" to be put in position.

Etrigan in a hooded cloak, is attempting to go undercover to get information on Asteroth's whereabouts in a bar.  But everyone in the bar pulls a gun at the mention of Asteroth and the barman fires a shotgun in Etrigan's face.  Which does nothing to him.  Etrigan burns the flesh off the mans arms then tears his way through the bar.  When everyone is either dead or unconcious, he neck-lifts the barman and questions him again.

Etrigan wants to know where he is and what he is doing and why everyone was protecting his anonymity. The barman says Asteroth moved in a couple of months ago and has been undertaking some twisted killings as he established himself in the underworld.  He is located in a place on "twelfth and third", so Etrigan sets off to confront him.

Remiel and Duma.

Now, this comic takes place while Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series was still in main DC continuity and so currently Hell is being ruled by the angels "Remiel" and "Duma".  Duma doesn't speak at all.  They are watching things unfold and Remiel says Etrigan is going to make a mess of things, but this means he'll be more receptive to the offer they'll make him.  Duma says nothing.

Remiel: "By the creator! Why did I have to be exiled with him?  What was wrong with the Angel of Intriguing Converstation?  Or even the angel of amusing anecdotes? Even the Angel of Scrabble would be better than this!  But nooo I had to end up with the Angel of Silence!"

Heh.  Now we return to Etrigan who makes his assault on Asteroth's base.  But Asteroth has prepared.  There are priests and choirboys there, the priests throw sharpened crosses and holy water at Etrigan and the choir sing, bringing him pain in his head.  Asteroth masquerades as an honest businessman who has made big donations to a televangelist's church to get this holy protection.

Etrigan, stabbed by the crosses and with patches of skin melted off by the holy water, manages to blast his way out before his head gets chopped off.  On his knees outside, he says the words, "G...g..gone Oh wretched Etrigan... Take refuge now in form of man".  And he returns to hell with Jason Blood back on earth.

Holy commandos give Etrigan serious pain.

Remiel and Duma approach the somewhat angry Etrigan and say they want to give him a job. They want him to actively hunt demons and ghouls etc that are on earth.   First take down Asteroth then go after the rest, be "Hell's Hitman".  Etrigan is extremely taken with the idea, especially as it's going to make Jason Blood's life more miserable than it already is.

We then cut to Jason bidding farewell to a man called Randu, saying Etrigan's new role means he's lost all hope of ridding himself of him.  He tells Randu to take Harry and Katarina and leave, "goodbye old friend".  Now he has to inform his sort-of girlfriend Glenda, which he does via an ansaphone message, telling her to never call or come to his home again, "don't look back."

Etrigan triumphant.

As he stares miserably out of the window, he says the rhyme "No future now, in form of man... so rise triumphant, Etrigan".  Etrigan leaps from roof to roof as he gloats and says the hell's hitman job will give him carte blanche to cause as much devastation as he likes.

Etrigan: "And Asteroth fills me with mirth! He thinks he'll bring Hell on Earth? He doesn't know me very well - for I'm the one!  I'll give 'em hell!"

We then cut to Asteroth musing about how tommorrow he's going to finish the summoning of Gotham's demon, "the blackest of the city-demons" by creating the final part of the "Lodestar Daemonique" and that he will then have his "Hell on earth."

He's interupted from his reverie by the Reverend Frukker, it's his "Church of the Blessed Televangelist" Asteroth has been donating large sums to which has gained him the holy protection he used against Etrigan.

We then see Glenda trying to get in contact with Jason Blood, but instead she is faced with Etrigan.  And he has some news for her; she's pregnant.  When she and Jason slept together, although they took precautions, Etrigan intefered and now she's up the duff with Jason's kid much to Etrigan's glee as he has yet another way to make Jason's life a misery.

Glenda gets the good/bad news.

We then see him taking a group jacuzzi in hell with his fellow demons, including one readers will recognise - Baytor.  As Etrigan gloats at how he's ruining Jason's life a lady demon appears.  She is "The Lady Smegma" a triple buttocked demoness.  And she and Etrigan have been intimate as well, and she too is expecting a demon child now.

Etrigan: "For Blood is lonely, cold and hurt, as low as he can go... But, Etrigan was never one to put on half a show!  A thousand years of hate have I, a charnel rose that's bloomed... and I plan to see this man well and truly doomed!"

Back in the mortal realm Tommy Monaghan is using his mind reading skills to win at poker.  Etrigan comes calling, Etrigan wants his help in taking on Asteroth.  Tommy says he'll do it for twenty thousand dollars, which Etrigan reluctantly agrees to and they make plans to hit Asteroth the next day.

Back with Glenda and she finally gets to talk to Jason after letting herself into his flat. He tells her that he's cutting ties because of Etrigan becoming Hell's Hitman which is going to mean increased danger to those around him.  She blurts out that she's pregnant, which renders him speechless.  Then he says it makes no difference.  He can't break his link with Etrigan though he's searched everywhere for a way to do it that won't result in his real age of one thousand, one hundred and fifty-seven years suddenly catching up with him.  Even though Glenda loves him, he can't even bring himself to hold her now.

O Jason U so moody.

Tommy meanwhile is looking for some extra information on Asteroth and finds the villains Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee being menaced by a gang which he takes out.  Dum and Dee helped Asteroth get established but then he dropped them, Tommy takes them for a drink while they fill him in some more.

Etrigan is back on earth and goes to Jason's flat where Harry the cushion is back without Katarina.  Apparently she fell in love with Randu's couch, so Harry had Glenda bring him back to Jason's place.  Then Etrigan feels something in his cloak's hood and yanks out a goofy looking creature which hitched a ride back from Hell.

In Noonan's bar, Dum and Dee are telling Tommy about all the places Asteroth has had people buried in concrete with symbols scratched in the concrete afterwards.  They've been placed all over Gotham all equal distance from his base in the centre.  Tommy read their minds and finds out they want to take over once Asteroth is dealt with and they'll kill Tommy as well.  They ask to come along and help and Tommy agrees knowing to be ready for them once it's all over.

Drinking with Dee and Dum.

We then see Asteroth with a map of Gotham which he has drawn a five pointed star.  Each point is where the "sacrifices" have been contained.  His right-hand man asks who he wants for the final sacrifice and what's it all for.  Asteroth says to get anyone, it doesn't matter, and he's doing this to awaken "The Gothodemon."

Tommy, Dee and Dum investigate the site of where Asteroth had one bunch of people buried in concrete, it has weird symbols scratched in it.  Tommy uses his X-ray vision to confirm there are bodies inside, "better call The Demon" he says.

Etrigan is currently in Jason's kitchen talking with Harry the cushion, he also has the weird, goofy thing stuffed in the microwave and is repeatedly frying it (it's immortal). He's punishing it from escaping from hell via Etrigan's hood, but the thing says he wasn't supposed to be in hell in the first place. 

Asteroth practising his eeeevil act.

Etrigan then leaves and we cut to Asteroth in his demon drag, declaring "quiver mortals as I eh..?"  He's interupted by his right-hand man and quickly turns back into a man in a suit.  "Don't you ever knock?" he says petulantly.  He tells him to gather the Choir Commandos and bring them Saint Jack's cemetary, then to round up every low-life he knows for extra protection.  He's going to raise the "Gothodaemon" and after that it won't matter who knows what he is.

Meanwhile Reverend Frukker is giving mass, and lined up is Etrigan who grins and blasts all the ministers and so on standing round the Reverend.  When Frukker says this is holy ground and he shouldn't be here, Etrigan sneers a religion based on squeezing money out of it's congregation is not holy.

Then he grabs Frukker by the nose and tells him Asteroth is a demon.  Frukker doesn't believe him, Etrigan just says:

Etrigan: "If this demon's word you doubt then seek your charming buddy out... you think he's just a business boss.  See what he thinks of the Holy Cross."

He then transforms into Jason Blood and asks if this is where he makes a donation. Later Tommy over hears the right-hand man recruiting criminals to help out.  He decides to take them out and flings the right-hand man through a car window and jams a pistol in his mouth.

Tommy says nothing as the man tries desperately not to think about where the final showdown is taking place.  But the location "St. Jacks" leaks out and grimly Tommy pulls the trigger decorating the car interior with blood.

Interrogation, Hitman style.

We are then told every city has a demon.  Built on Indian bones and fed blood until it almost choked.  I wonder if the writer of Gotham By Midnight had this story in mind when it had Gotham menaced by a monster made up of the resentment of the dead of Gotham.  Very similar idea.  We are then shown a montage of people murdering others and the Gothodaemon "laps it up."

We then have a quick check-in with Jason and Glenda, she yells at him for putting on his cold self to her. Then says the baby and she will do just fine. "You know the way out" she says as she turns away.  He leaves, thinking how much he wants to say he loves her and will protect her from Etrigan, but he knows not to make promises he can't keep.

He becomes Etrigan again, who prowls the roof tops towards St. Jack's cemetary.  Already waiting there are Tommy, Dee and Dum.   Etrigan arrives and shoos Dee and Dum away, then yells at Tommy for getting drunk on the job and tries to cut the money he's going to pay him to five thousand.  "The deal was twenty" insists Tommy.

Then Frukker shows up and races towards Asteroth.  He holds up a crucifix to him and Asteroth is merely bemused.  Frukker stammers in embarassment and Asteroth leads him inside the church, then Frukker hands the crucifix to Asteroth who absently minded takes it.  And his hand and arm burst into flame.  "A-ha!" says Frukker.  "Oh-ho!" says an furious Asteroth who transforms and punches Frukker so hard it breaks his neck and kills him.

Asteroth's true nature discovered too late.

Asteroth then has him buried in concrete as the final sacrifice.  Out in the graveyard Etrigan realises his plan has gone wrong (the other holy people didn't see Asteroth transform like he wanted) and rehires Tommy who puts his fee up to thirty-thousand.  Etrigan tells him to take out the commandos and Tommy blasts them to bits with a grenande launcher.

Etrigan is pleased by this, someone runs in to tell Asteroth what has happened but he says it doesn't matter.  The final sacrifice has been accepted, "The lodestar is complete! The gate is open! Rise the Gothodemon!"  And a huge black shape rises over the church.  "Fifty-thousand!" says Tommy and here on that cliffhanger we take our leave for a while.  To be continued.

The Gothodaemon arises...

Now THIS is how you depict Etrigan.  If you suffered through my posts on the Demon Knights trades you'll recall I had a huge bone of contention with how Etrigan was portrayed.  Either a dupe of Madame Xanadu or Lucifer's butt monkey, he came across as a somewhat dim thug who's visual depiction sexed him up and made him way to human looking.  Ennis and McCrea gives us an Etrigan that loves making people's lives a misery especially Jason Blood's, here a man who's long life has been ruined by his joining with Etrigan.  McCrea's depiction is all spikes, sinewey muscle, and curling capes, and his poses are angular, awkward  and animalistic.  Etrigan's rhyming isn't as eloquent as Alan Moore's version, but I get a kick out of a more pop culturally aware Etrigan myself.  The introduction of Tommy Monaghan would of course go on to be much more important when he got a series of his own (and Etrigan guess starred in one arc), he makes a nice foil to Etrigan, able to go to places Etrigan can't and help do his dirty work for him.  Ennis handles Remiel and Duma amusingly although with respect as well and annointing Etrigan "Hell's Hitman" gives the following stories structure and goals after the intial Asteroth arc is done with, and I'll be wrapping that arc and carrying on with the rest of the collection in my next post in a few days time.

Troubled Souls (CRISIS #15-20, #22-27)

"And I'm a murderer.  But I don't tell Liz that" - Tom

Garth Ennis has always been disgustingly talented.  This story was his first professionally published work, and while a little rough around the edges, deals with a difficult and emotive issue - the Northern Irish Troubles - with even handedness and tact.  By showing us an everyman caught up in events he barely understands, Ennis finds humanity amongst the horror of terrorism and living under the threat of terrorism and shows there were no easy answers to a conflict who's roots go back centuries.  Published in CRISIS, a comic for oldeer teens and adults, in 1989 when he was just nineteen (!), Ennis who self describes as an atheist takes no sides but that of his main character Thomas Boyd who finds himself an unwilling party to an act of violence and who tried desperately to justify just what he has been dragged into, although guilt and self knowledge work against his denial.  This is also Ennis's first collaboration with artist John McCrea, an artist he's still working with today (All Star Secion Eight from last year being the most recent). McCrea's artwork is a little different here, less cartoony and designed to fit in with the painted styles that were so fashionable in UK comics at the time.  His character designs are still very identifiable, and though I usually am not keen on painted artwork, the subdued nature of it here suits the extremely serious subject matter in question.

Tom.

We are introduced to Tom having just signed on the dole, he has his I.D. checked by a British soldier, "must have caught him on a good day" thinks Tom as the man pleasantly sends him on his way, "or maybe it's just he realised I'm a Prod [Protestant], like"  He goes and joins his mates in the pub, Dougie, Valerie and Liz, a girl he really fancies.  Tom scans the pub thinking, "Aye, just ordinary people having a drink".

He gets tricked into buying a round of drinks and as he goes to the bar, a man with a moustache raises a glass to him, much to Tom's confusion. Back with the others, they tell Liz about a lads camping trip he and Dougie just got back from.  In the toilet later, Tom asks Dougie why Liz is there, he knows Tom fancies her.  Dougie just sings and refuses to be drawn.

When he gets back to her, she asks him about going exploring when he was off camping.  Tom stammers that he hates sitting in one place, "festerin'".  She smiles at him and says, "That's really nice.  I like that in a man".  Tom mentally exhorts himself to not be a prick and lamely responds, "Oh yeah, that's me alright."

As he kicks himself, three officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary enter the bar.  The man with a moustached gets up and drops a package in Tom's lap before being taken away by them.  Tom opens the package and to his horror finds it contains a gun.

An unpleasant surprise.

Frozen in place, a million thoughts race through Tom's mind.  He thinks he should just get up, go outside and hand the gun to the law:

Tom: "What in God's name's the matter with me?  Somebody dumps a gun on you, you tell the peelers [police].  You don't just sit there like an eejit.  So why don't my legs work?  Im - my God - I'm too scared".

The moustached man returns to the bar and Tom goes over to him and hands him back the gun saying he won't breathe a word of this.  The man spits out blood and a tooth and replies "with that attitude you could go far."

Introducing Damien.

Next day at home Tom gets into an argument with his patriotic father.  When he questions his dad's describing "Taigs"[Catholics] as "bloody animals" his dad goes ballistic.  Luckily Tom is rescued by his brother Andy, he says in this country people pass their hate along to their kids "this wee country's a mess because of it".  So he's leaving for England where job prospects are better.  He tells Tom to go see their Aunt Angie.

Tom does so because he needs to talk about the gun incident and he knows he can trust Aunt Angie with his secrets.  She reassures him that there was nothing he could do.  Tom says "the peelers had hit this fella - he was spittin' blood an' all".  When his aunt says but the man was planning to do something bad with the gun, Tom says "he hadn't done anything yet".

Aunt Angie: "You either have to live with the Troubles or leave, like Andy's doing.  Picking through the rights and wrongs of it'll get you nowhere".

Feeling a little better about things, Tom gives her a kiss goodbye and walks off down the road.  Waiting for him, slouched against a lampost is the man with the moustache.  They go to a nearby cafe and the man gets them both a cup of tea.  He tells Tom he is after someone reliable, "someone who swears he won't say a word.  And actually doesn't".

An unwelcome stalker.

Tom gets up to leave, he wants nothing to do with him.  The man makes veiled threats against Tom's family and Liz.  Tom sits back down.  The man says his name is Damien, "and I work for people who don't like the people in charge of this country."  Tom says he's not killing anybody.  Damien makes threats again. Tom says "they'd rather die before seein' me out killin' people".  But when Damien says "Suppose you'd be glad to oblige" Tom cracks and pleads with Damien not to hurt them.

Damien: "Aye, I thought so.  Bloody Prods... this wouldn't even be necessary if you'd wake up to the Brits playin' their con-tricks on you for hundreds of years."

He leaves saying Tom will be contacted and not to do anything silly.  Not long after Tom leaves as well, and thinks about what Damien meant when he talked about "con-tricks".  So he goes to the library to research the history of the Irish Troubles and we get a slightly inelegant text dump over three pages, if you want to depress yourself, read the up on it on wikipedia.  Spoiler, it has a (relatively) happy ending.

Take that history!

Afterwards Tom thinks it was enlightening but hasn't helped him with his problem.  Later Tom joins his friends, it's evening of July 12th the day a Protestant celebration takes place.  Liz isn't there though, and Tom isn't in the party mood.  As he starts to think sympathetic thoughts towards the Catholics his inner voice won't shut up contradicting him.

Tom: "(Maybe it's all one bloody awful mess and believing on sides better than the other is the first sign of a thoroughgoing prick)"

He walks home thinking; "I'll have to do what Damien wants (You gutless wee shite)."

Next day Tom is walking with Damien who says they are going ahead with the plan in a few days time, "the destruction of a British Army landrover".  Tom will most likely act as lookout, and when Tom blanches at this, Damien tells him to clear off and think about what will happen to his family if he tried to wriggle out of it somehow.

Liz.

Later in the pub he bumps into Liz.  She joins him for a drink but says she'll have to be going soon as she is visiting her aunt who lives in a posh area called Cherry Hill.  Liz says she's a "rotten old cow" and would Tom like to come along too?  He agrees and they take the bus out there.

She is indeed a horrible snob, and is politely rude to Tom.  She says she's just back from visiting Scotland and that when people on the mainland find out you are from Northern Ireland they are full of sympathy and wonder if you've ever been shot.  But she says the violence is in places, "one just wouldn't go".  This angers Tom into saying that people who live in those places don't have a choice in the matter.

Aunt Sarah: "Thomas.  I never forget that those people live there.  The fact they're allowed to live anywhere is on my conscience every waking moment."

Liz quickly changes the subject to gardening and Tom escapes with his life.  As they head back home he apologises, but Liz says she "wouldn't have taken you for a social reformer".  Without thinking, Tom responds "Ah-ha.  But would you take me at all?"  Liz just smiles, then comments that everyone has a nasty aunt.  So Tom takes her to visit Aunt Angie to prove her wrong.

You're in there Tom!

After a pleasant evening round there, Tom walks Liz home.  He asks her out for a drink sometime and she responds with a passionate hug and kiss that he decides to take as a yes.  feeling cheerful he walks home singing, then Damien comes out of the shadows and tells Tom it's been decided what he'll be doing, not acting as lookout, "you're planting the bomb".

We next join Tom on his way to plant the bomb in a litter bin attached to a lampost.  Damien's told him the bomb will "maybe just knock the soldiers about a wee bit".  Tom thinks that's a lie, and maybe Damien doesn't have the clout to hurt his family like he threatened.:

Tom: "And I'm still about to plant the bomb.  All because Damien was lucky.  He found just what he needed when he found me.  A coward."

He desposits the bomb, then realises Liz only lives a couple of streets away, which throws him into such a panic he goes and hides out at home to get his head together.

The reluctant bomber.

His best mate Dougie calls round and they hang out together for the day.  They decide to call on a friend called Ivor who has just got out of prison.  He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force, but shot himself in the foot before he could hurt any Republicans.  They watch Full Metal Jacket on video and afterwards Tom says he found it depressing.

Tom: "The soldiers in it.  They acted like animals, but they were just like us at the beginning.  What I mean is they were turned into that and they had no choice..."

The other two think he's "talkin' shite".  Ivor says the soldiers who arrested and roughed him up were bastards.  Tom and Dougie leave and Dougie mentions that Tom has been seeing Liz recently.

This makes Tom suddenly remember the bomb and the fact its due to go off very soon.  He rushes to a payphone and calls her house, but it told she has nipped to the cornershop close by for some milk.  In a panic, Tom runs off to get to her before the bomb explodes.

Quick!

He goes belting down the road to where Liz is coming out of the shop and the landrover is turning into the road approaching the bomb.  She is surprised to see him, he babbles something about meeting her parents.  When she asks if he is OK he hurries her on saying he is fine.  They near the corner around which safety lies but his mind is racing again.

Tom: "Now.  Get her out of here.  Go, go, go! (no.  Turn and look).  Three steps and we'll be round the corner, just keep moving - (Look).  For Christ's sake get out - (You're responsible for this. LOOK)."

And a shattering explosion hits the landrover, while Tom is struck in the leg by some shrapnel.  He sees one of the soldiers alive for a few seconds die in front of him and passes out.

Blood on Tom's hands now.

He comes to, telling Liz he is dying and that he loves her.  She tells him not to be daft, and as the ambulances arrive she says he'll be fine.  As he is loaded into one she tells him she'll come visit him at the hospital.  But all he can think is, "so I'm going to live, then.  Pity."

Recovering in hospital, Tom is visited by his aunt then Dougie and Valerie, who are getting married due to pregnancy and Tom will be best man.  Left alone, Tom idly watches a news report on some TV coverage of the shooting of an R.U.C officer the night before.  He notes the saminess of the coverage of the Troubles, skimpy report, condemnation from a politician, no words from the IRA due to reporting restrictions, then a "funny" item to follow so people won't get depressed before they tune in to Neighbours.

Tom: "We've had twenty years of the Troubles.  They probably got bored of it over the water in '71 or so.  And we're as bad.  We wake up, hear about the nights murders, mutter 'bastards' at the radio and forget about it."

After sending a Daily Mail ("evil") reporter away with a flea in her ear, Liz comes to visit.  She thanks him for saving her life, and for declaring his love, "I reckon I'll stick with you wee fella" and she kisses him before she leaves.  "I don't deserve her one bit" thinks Tom.

The Daily Mail - always been evil.

Meanwhile Damien is getting bollocked by his superior, "Mr Rourke" is angry Damien involved a Prod.  He calls his actions cretinous then gives him an ultimatum, Tom is a security risk, "It's you or him".  Damien has to kill Tom now to protect himself. 

We then get a peek into Damien's mind as he stalks the recently released from hospital, Tom. When he realises that he's going to shoot him with the same gun Tom held for him back in the pub, guilt wells up inside him.  He bears down on a terrfied Tom and thinks, "Oh Christ - I can't do this".

We then jump to Tom on an island called Rathlin of the north coast of the country.  He remembers how when he saw Damien he just ran, Damien could have caught him what with Tom having a bad leg, but only chased him about twenty yards.  Tom took his brothers old car and fled to the island.

Tom relaxes in the Northern Ireland the news doesn't care about.

He mulls over the fact that this is the Northern Ireland the people on the mainland don't see.  It wasn't always so peaceful though, invasions and massacres happened about once every hundred years.  But now the place is quiet and untouched by violence, "can we leave the violence behind too?  Can I?"

He phones Liz and lets her know he is OK and that he just needed some time alone after what happened.  "Hurry home, eh? See ya!" she tells him and he regards the phone thoughtfully saying "Aye right..."  And he catches the boat back, he "done enough running", he's going to deal with whatever gets thrown at him head on.

Damien is speaking with Mr. Rourke again on a hill overlooking Belfast.  When Damien admits he hasn't killed Tom yet, Rourke says that Damien has not only been unable to deal with a security risk, he's become one himself.  If he won't kill Tom, Rourke will get someone who will and Damien's days will be numbered.

Damien is given the kill order.

Angrily Damien says he'll do it.  Then a car with some U.V.F (Ulster Volunteer Force - Protestants)  members pull up, there for business reasons.  Damien is aghast the I.R.A would be colluding with the enemy like this, Rourke merely says, "if you've been asked to carve, then you ought to make sure you can see the turkey."
A subdued Tom gets ready for a meal out while his father tries unsuccessfully to have a conversation with him.  He is similarly quiet over dinner.  On the way home he ignored a blatant come on from Liz, and after walking in silence for a while she stops him and asks what's the matter.

He lies to her saying he doesn't have a clue.  After she leaves him and he carries on home, he thinks about the six men he murdered and how he tried to justify it and how he can't put it behind him.  Then Damien appears pointing a gun at him.  "Don't run.  Please" he says.

Damien captures Tom.

In a deserted house, Damien is holding a terrified Tom prisoner.  Tom won't talk so Damien sits and tells him about his brother Jamie who died in the crossfire when the Provos (I.R.A) ambushed a British army patrol. He blamed the British and and soon as he got the chance, joined the Provos, "I was perfect for them an' all.  A grudge against the British... young... idealistic."  He says he's only twenty-three and has done evil things.  "I've ruined my own life and probably yours while I'm at it" he tells Tom.

He says the night he dropped the gun in Tom's lap he targeted Tom as being too scared to do anything about it.  Tom says he was right, "perfect material."

Damien: "Aye.  There'll always be perfect material and there'll always be leaders to use them.  I think the worst thing I did was to be a leader."

As night falls they start drinking. Damien says he's become disillusioned with the cause, seeing how both sides have Belfast stitched up between them, keeping a war boiling so, "nobody notices you bleedin' the city white".

Tom and Damien bond.

After more chatter on the history of the Troubles, Damien asks if they can talk about something else.  And as night carries on they chat, and drink, and bond and Tom realises they've become friend as they shake hands.

Tom: "And if we can be friends, I think to myself if we can do it, surely everyone can?"

The next day dawns and the R.U.C are staking out the house.  As a hungover Tom shakes Damien awake, the police open fire on the building.

Somehow the pair of them escape and walk to a nearby village where they get a car, as they drive back to Belfast, Damien says he believes his I.R.A buddies tipped the police off as to where he would be.  He tells Tom about NORAID, the Americans who fund the I.R.A and how they invite a group to come see how their money was being spent.

Plenty of Irish Americans with blood on their hands.

He carries on talking about the hypocrisy of the I.R.A, "getting bitter and angry".  Back in the city, Tom looks around at the people just living their lives and realises he wants to be ordinary again.

Tom: "I want to get rid of my Troubles.  And even though it's a betrayal of everything Damien and I have realised.  Of everything we've understood.  Of our impossible friendship, I do it anyway."

And he jumps out of the car and runs with Damien in pursuit.  When Damien thinks that Tom thinks he is going to shoot him, he takes out the gun and shows it to Tom saying it isn't even loaded.  And the nearby soldiers gun him down, killing him instantly leaving him dead at Tom's feet.

Damien killed by British soldiers.

A few days later Tom is packing to leave for the mainland.  He goes to say goodbye to his family, his dad says travel should help him "get over your trouble".  He hugs his mum and aunt before leaving.  He goes and says goodbye to Dougie and Valerie, then finally he meets up with Liz.

She can't believe he is leaving, he says he can't stay.  He tells her he's had enough of the city, "it's really bad and nobody's doin' anything about it."  When she tells him not to give up or they've won, he says sadly, "they won a long time ago".  He admires her strength in putting up with it, "you're stronger than me".  She looks away silently and we end with Tom on a ferry contemplating the loss of her and how Belfast looks at night.

Tom: "You just wouldn't know looking at it like this.  All you can see is lights.  And you're so desperate to see lights that you don't dare think about what's going on in the dark.  The war goes on."

Tom leaves his home, perhaps forever.

At 11:17 am on Saturday the 15th of June 1996 an IRA bomb detonated in the centre of Manchester.  It was the largest peacetime bombing that has ever taken place in Britain, and yet miraculously there was not a single fatality, and while two hundred and twelve people were injured, considering that a couple of hours earlier between 75,000–80,000 people were shopping and working in the vicinity, the evacuation can be considered a major success.  The next day I stood at the fenced off end of Corporation Street and looked at the wreckage and felt such a surge of pure hatred I was almost knocked off balance.  Younger people might not realise how inured you got to the weekly reports of bombings both in Northern Ireland and on the Mainland, but this was different.  This was the city of my birth.  The city whose university I was about to graduate from.  The city I still describe myself as coming from even though I live in a town next door now.  At that moment I wanted nothing less than Total War on the IRA and their sympathisers and would have supported any kind of retaliation no matter how bloody.  And yet, it ended up being the last major IRA attack on the UK mainland, and when I'd calmed down a bit I realised that though I'd never be happy seeing terrorists as respected politicians or released early in the name of peace, it was better in the long run for that to happen, to make those concessions than to keep on going with a miserable little  war that had claimed thousands of lives over thirty years.

Having grown up in Northern Ireland and been a child during the worst decade for violence - the 1970's - Garth Ennis still manages to give us a story that shows how hard it was even for the apolitical to stay out of involvement in The Troubles.  Tom is a likeable character, and by showing his unremarkable life with family and friends who love him, his life being pretty much ruined by a man who could be said to represent not the IRA but the violence of both sides, Ennis is making a statement about how all encompassing that violence was (and he'd deal with the organised crime/collusion between the IRA and UVF in his Authority: The Magnificent Kevin mini).  At least I didn't have to deal with soldiers on the street corners when I was growing up, soldiers who might resent the people they were ostensibly there to protect for dragging them into a guerilla war as much as the people they were fighting against.  Troubled Souls is an extremely mature piece of work, that while suffers a little from perhaps trying to cram too much in via the history lesson section, nevertheless shows many Garth Ennis tropes he'll go on to refine in future works such as solid male friendships, strong women, pubs, naturalistic working class language and an interest in the military.  Ennis himself is somewhat dismissive of this series saying of it that it was "the kind of thing that was doing well at the time. (...) With hindsight, what Troubled Souls really represented was naked ambition. It was a direct attempt to get published. And that was the road that seemed most likely to lead me to success."  But even so, I still find it a strong debut and one of the best strips CRISIS featured in its sixty issue run.  The follow ups, which featured more of his trademark humour I am less enamoured of, but along with fine work from John McCrea Troubled Souls is a fascinating snapshot of a period of UK history we'll hopefully never return to and the start of a long and illustrious career for Garth Ennis.