With Lucifer caged and Belial, Etrigan’s father, ruling Hell, the barrier between Hell and Earth is rapidly failing. Looking to keep Earth from becoming Hell, Jason Blood, Etrigan, Madame Xanadu and Merlin journey through Hell to confront Belial and stop his plan. Does Belial have something up his sleeve though? Is that even possible for a demonic hell lord with no actual sleeves? Find out now!
The Demon: Hell is Earth #3
Authors: Andrew Constant
Artists: Brad Walker
Inkers: Andrew Hennessy
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
Stuck in Hell and marching through its hordes, Etrigan and his unwilling allies march toward Belial’s stronghold. With the fate of Hell and Earth hanging in the balance, our heroes race to stop Belial from adding humanity and Earth to the legions of hell.
What You’ll Find Out:
The story opens with Belial gloating to Lucifer, and engaging in some hellish jingoism. Lucifer is not impressed by his “Defile with Belial” slogan, but he’s not laughing long. Belial reveals he will use Merlin’s magic to complete his takeover of Earth, but in the meantime he magically gains control of Lucifer, implying a transformation is coming. During this, Blood, Xanadu and Merlin march dutifully on toward Belial’s fortress. On the way, Merlin reveals the spell being used is one of his design and feels guilty because none of this would be possible without him. They resolve to finish Belial and push on, as Etrigan roasts random minions of Hell. They cross paths with Etrigan’s other uncle, and Etrigan is nearly beaten. With a little subterfuge on Jason Blood’s part, Etrigan burns yet another family member alive. As the tear between Hell and Earth draws nearer and nearer, Belial reveals himself and Lucifer, now in the form of a giant dog and also under his control. Lucifer attack them all, and during the melee, Belial grabs Merlin and tells him that he alone can not finish the spell, but with Merlin’s power, he can engulf the earth in darkness. Using Merlin’s power to fuel his own, he completes the ritual and the Earth is covered in hellish energy. It seems our heroes have failed.
What Just Happened?
It’s interesting to see that Belial is just as cunning and scheming as Etrigan. In the previous issues, Belial comes across as kind of a brutish force whose only strategy is force. It turns out he is just as deceitful as the rest of the lords of Hell. To be honest, I didn’t see that coming exactly, and I really didn’t expect him to be able to control Lucifer. As a guy who has read a ton of comics, it’s rare for me to not see something coming, and it’s always exciting when I do.
The plot definitely picked up in this issue. The last one was a little slow, but this one really ramps up to the ending. This is a very good issue 5 in a 6 issue series. Leaving seemingly no hope and laying all the cards on the table, this issue sets up a full-on, no holds barred fight to the finish, which leaves me looking forward to the finale very much.
My only complaint in this issue is that I would have liked to see more. I find the dichotomy of Belial and Lucifer very interesting, but it isn’t one we get to see much of. Lucifer is a very big character for the DC universe, particularly in the horror books. I would really like to see his fall and capture by Belial, but this being the second to last issue, I most likely won’t get that. It’s a small complaint though.
Rating: 8/10.
Final Thoughts: This issue lays the groundwork for a big spectacular ending, but also delivers a few wild surprises of its own. All in all a very fun issue that really helps build excitement for the end. I’m excited to see where it goes.
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