Writer – Jack Kirby
Artist – Jack Kirby
Inker – Mike Royer
Letters – Mike Royer

Like a few other issues of the series previous to this, Jack Kirby starts it off with a look to the past where the reader discovers that the Demon had once faced Von Rakenstein’s forbear and subsequently defeated him. One would think that the man’s evil would fade into history, yet current events that see Jason Blood a prisoner would prove things otherwise. Kirby’s artwork is off the charts with this issue and by the second and third page, he blows the reader away with an incredible tapestry featuring some of the most bizarre-looking monsters to ever grace the book. Those creatures, as crazy as they are, are just a precursor to what Von Rakenstein wants to accomplish and Jason Blood is merely the stepping stone to succeeding in that endeavour. Back home, Randu Singh and Harry Matthews are looking for a way to contact Jason, having gotten the impression that he was in trouble. To that effect, they contact a psychic, one stronger than Randu and hope that it might be enough. There is action aplenty throughout the book, taking place both in the present and the past and this time, the Demon is in the thick of it. Though Von Rakenstein had to know on some level that he could not hold the Demon prisoner, he is arrogant enough to think that he can and when the Demon is freed, it is more than dismay that Von Rakenstein is going to feel. The book ends on somewhat of a sad note, not necessarily because anything bad has happened to Blood or the Demon or any of the main characters that the reader has come to know and love, but to Von Rakenstein’s Monster, a pitiful creature that just wants to be free and to be left alone. Kirby’s writing is especially strong in this issue, delivering a powerhouse story and there are few better as he can not only make one feel excited at the prospect of the Demon destroying a man, but eliciting sympathy for a monster at the same time. While things are still left up in the air, at least for the moment, one has to know that Igor and Von Rakenstein will reap what they have sown and if there is any justice, the Demon will see the man’s monster off to a place that he might enjoy whatever life he can make.

4.5 out of 5