Issue(s): Darkhold #12
Cover Date: Sep 93
Title: "For want of a soul!"
Credits:
Chris Cooper - Writer
Rurik Tyler - Penciler
Bob Downs - Inker
James Felder - Assistant Editor
Hildy Mesnik - Editor

Review/plot:
This issue is mostly an aftermath to the Midnight Massacre, although it's not billed as one. Louise Hastings is not doing well after having sacrificed her soul to end the threat of Switchblade.

Victoria Montesi is not around. Sam Buchanan is wondering why he's still around, although the answer is that he's in love with Victoria.

But the main focus is on Modred. He's upset with himself for letting himself get killed by the Demogorge. He's approached by the Darkhold Dwarf, who offers him a Darkhold page. Modred says that using the page would be "preposterous" but barely a second later he's reading it, and bringing back what seems to be the spirit of his long-dead love, Janice.

"Janice" is actually the demon that has been a part of Modred since he became enthralled by the Darkhold. It offers Modred the return of his soul. In return, he's supposed to convince an old blind woman to give up her soul. He does so by lying and promising her "true love", and she agrees. But it turns out he wasn't quite lying, because the old woman is in fact Janice. And Modred gets his mortal soul back, but it has the effect of turning him mortal.

Then she's possessed by the spirit that had taken the form of Janice earlier, and it attacks Modred with the elemental powers of the Darkhold.

Modred has lost the bulk of his Darkhold-granted magic powers by becoming human, but he still has the basic powers he learned when he was an apprentice magician. He uses them to create an illusion that distracts the demon, and he's able to knock out Janice and trap her in a magic symbol painted on the floor.

Modred says that the symbol will bring power to Janice, and Janice is able to fight off the demon. The struggle would nonetheless kill Janice, so Modred bargains to have the demon possess him again instead.

Note the Dwarf saying that this is part of a larger plan to affect all of the Darkhold Redeemers.

In this issue we also see Diabolique summoning the Voice of Ch'thon to get a history lesson on recent events.

We're told that nothing we've learned about Victoria Montesi and her family's mission to guard against the Darkhold is true.

I've never had much time for Modred the Mystic, so a whole story devoted to a woman from his ancient backstory (and without even flashbacks or a footnote explaining who she is) is pretty boring. And as i've noted before, a problem with this book is that it's building up the apocalyptic big picture without ever having given us much of a reason to care about the cast or shown us much of the group in normal operation. It's hard to get interested in a book about character you don't really care about moping around.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Louis Hastings is said to have been holed up in her room for "three days".

References:

• Explaining things to Diabolique, the Voice of Ch'thon says that it all started when Victoria Montesi's girlfriend was bombed in Darkhold #1.
  
• Midnight Massacre ended in Spirits of Vengeance #13.
  
• No footnote, but Janice was the woman that Modred loved in the flashbacks in Marvel Chillers #1.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A