Epitaph For A Demon

 

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

It was rare but not inconceivable to find a servant of Victor Von Doom who was able to break away from his master's yoke and even turn against the armored madman. Take the Hauptmann brothers, for instance, a mixed bag of devotion and resentment--the first fiercely devoted to Doom but who overstepped himself in acting against the Fantastic Four yet unknowingly also against the wishes of his ruler... while the second, deeply angered about his brother's fate at Doom's hands, met his own death when he overestimated his ability to hold Doom's confidence while biding his time to one day take his revenge.

Which brings us to the clawed creature snarling in our direction today, its "firehorns" crackling with deadly, mind-dissolving energy--a "Death-Demon" of legend who haunts the European hills and who, in this instance, targets the Thing for reasons unknown. Ben Grimm, along with most of his teammates, has recently abandoned the FF (or, more to the point, Reed Richards) due to recent events involving Ben's young godson, Franklin.

And so Ben subsequently accompanied Alicia Masters, who had been approached by a physician who offered to perform an operation in a European country bordering (you guessed it) Latveria which would hopefully restore her sight--a ruse, unfortunately, which would end up involving the rest of the FF but now brings into play a foe well-equipped to begin the task of subduing the Thing.

Yes, Darkoth--introduced in the book's first issue of 1974 and part of an intricate plan designed to remove the FF from any interference with Doom's goal of (what else?) world domination, by use of a "vibration bomb" in orbit which dissolves the personalities of its victims and provides a clean slate for Doom to subvert their minds with his own will. What we'll discover, however, is that Darkoth, while fervently believing himself to be a Death-Demon mystically summoned by Doom, has been subjected to similar treatment.

And so it's such a creature whom the Thing contends with--an attack which Ben escapes only fortuitously.

The sharp-eyed among you have likely noted a bit of swiping familiarity cropping up here on the part of both artist Rich Buckler and writer Gerry Conway, mimicking a scene rendered three years earlier by John Buscema and Archie Goodwin:

The Thing clashes again with Darkoth when it becomes apparent that Alicia's operation was no more than a setup--only this time, Darkoth's claws have their desired effect, delivering him to the lab of Doom (who by now has also captured Reed and Medusa, and will soon add Johnny Storm and his friend, Wyatt Wingfoot, to the grouping).

Darkoth, however, becomes enraged at his own captivity--and Doom perhaps makes a mistake in revealing to him the details of his true origin (or at least some of them). Consequently, Darkoth makes a decision which shifts his priorities as far as who should truly be the object of his rage.

With the FF free, and Darkoth having a more clear perspective of his treatment by Doom, eventually the momentum in this affair turns in their favor, forcing Doom to enact what appears to be a contingency plan to take personal control of his satellite. But his path has been followed--and his earlier actions toward Darkoth come back to (appropriately enough) haunt him.

It would be Doom who indirectly would be responsible for Darkoth's return fifty issues later in 1978, where the Death-Demon would become "allied" with a former foe of Doom's who would take advantage of Doom's earlier machinations and secure for himself both power and revenge--coming at a time when the FF would again choose to disband, and the Thing taking a position at N.A.S.A. as the test pilot for a space shuttle designed to collect and transmit solar energy to NASA's collectors on Earth. Curiously, it's a launch which Darkoth appears intent on preventing.

Fortunately, base security is successful in driving Darkoth away--but the mystery only deepens when a a caller also attempts to convince Ben to abort the flight, a man who claims to have ties to Ben's past but is presumed to have been killed years ago by Doom.

From what we learn from Diablo, who appears in Texas just months after a near-fatal encounter with the FF, it's Doom who set about arranging for the shuttle's construction to be sabotaged, in order to facilitate a plan which would have it instead transmit its collected solar power to a "solar cannon" which could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Yet that goal was partially thwarted by a man who would end up being branded a traitor, and later forced to serve the very person whose scheme he attempted to stop.

As badly as we might feel for Pitt's impending death, it's gratifying to see that Doom's building/spacecraft being blown to bits had repercussions for at least one of its occupants. Yet Pitt harbors additional pain of the spirit--compelled to cooperate with Diablo in order to save his own life (or so he believes) and to gain his revenge upon Doom, even though he now finds himself being called on to sacrifice his best friend as Diablo begins the process of redirecting the solar shuttle's collected power.

But Pitt relents, cutting the power yet anguished that the now helpless shuttle is headed for a seemingly doomed landing. However, the Thing, being the pilot he is, manages to give himself a fighting chance despite a destructive landing which demolishes the shuttle--and soon it's payback time for Darkoth, whom Ben discovers is more than he seems.

With the revelation of Darkoth's identity, the Thing heads directly to Diablo fit to be tied, but falls to the power of the solar cannon. Fortunately, Darkoth arrives in time to prevent his death--and he is prepared to atone for his actions, at a cost which Ben is regrettably helpless to prevent.

For what it's worth, the way is clear for Ben to now square Pitt's accounts with the government, clearing him of treason. Unfortunately, Diablo, who previously escaped a similarly devastating blast in Central America, would survive to scheme another day--while Darkoth would later show up in the company and service of Mephisto, and then go on to have a reunion of sorts with Doom in the pages of Excalibur.

BONUS! Two of the covers for the issues featured here.