Hellstorm #15Issue(s): Hellstorm #15 Review/plot: In this case, it's an occult writer, Jack Wintergarden, who recently bought a haunted house and threw a party. No one that went to the party has returned, and the house is sealed. At the moment, Daimon is involving himself in this stuff as an "antidote to love and horror", after the death of Hellcat. Daimon and Jaine Cutter blast their way into the house and find a creature called the Bailiff. Bailiff works for an archdemon called Inanna. Three centuries ago, an artist sold his soul (and the house) to her in return for allowing him to create disturbing paintings. The artist accidentally stumbled on a way to put the contract on hold by drawing some symbols in a diary, but Wintergarden's son unknowingly destroyed the diary. The house has now become an embassy of Hell. The Bailiff leads Daimon and Jane through rooms of people being tortured. Daimon is told that "as a mere prince" he's not able to do anything about the situation, but Daimon says that things change. He reveals that he has "the Black Halo". Inanna then appears. Jane shoots Inanna with her "Breathing Gun", which is the "only manmade object that can kill demons". She then turns it on Daimon, demanding that he explain what's happened to him. And that's actually where the issue ends. I said at the top that it was "almost" a normal kind of ghost story. In this case there's no real resolution to the ghost story; the end is hijacked as a way to reveal what happened in the gap between Daimon's confrontation with his father and the start of the Ellis' run. I would hope that if it wasn't for the need to get back to that, we would have had some kind of clever twist ending or at least a satisfying conclusion. As it stands, the issue actually feels unfinished. It doesn't help that the issue ends with Jane turning her gun on Daimon, and next issue begins some time after the end of that. But even aside from the false cliffhanger, there's just no point to the haunted house scenario. Still, the idea of Anton Devine finding interesting paranormal things for Daimon to investigate had a kind of basic potential. The final page of the issues shows someone named Stephen Loss using a supernatural radio and hearing the voice of Hellcat. Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: Enough time has passed since Hellcat's death that she's been buried and Daimon has been drowning himself in alcohol, for what seems like at least days. Next issue begins "two days" after Daimon and Jaine return home after the events of this issue. A Bailiff will appear in Hellstorm #18, but Daimon explicitly says it's not the same Bailiff (the MCP lists it as the same character, which is why i'm justifying not doing so here). References: N/A Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Anton Devine, Hellcat, Hellstorm, Jaine Cutter, Stephen Loss CommentsIsn't Stephen Loss the guy in issue 12 with the maps? Posted by: Michael | November 3, 2017 11:20 PM I thought it might be, but the MCP didn't list him, and i thought maybe he was just one of the guys killed by Deathurge in #13. But i think you're right and i'm going to list him. Posted by: fnord12 | November 4, 2017 1:12 AM The issue mostly seems to be an excuse for Ellis to show off the research he's done into medieval and ancient torture devices. Posted by: Omar Karindu | November 5, 2017 5:23 AM Comments are now closed. |
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