Issue(s): Darkhold #16
Cover Date: Jan 94
Title: "Devil in disguise"
Credits:
Chris Cooper - Writer
Rurik Tyler - Penciler
Bob Downs & Mike Esposito - Inker
Lia Pelosi - Assistant Editor
Hildy Mesnik - Editor

Review/plot:
This is the final issue of Darkhold. We got a bombshell of information in Marvel Comics Presents #145, but this doesn't pick up directly. Instead, the Redeemers are involved in going to protect one of the members of the Blood from the Fallen.

Modred... what are you wearing?

The Blood that they are after is called Truthsayer. She knows things.

Including things about Modred.

Victoria Montesi, on the other hand, seems to have forgotten what she knows, i.e., about her being the gateway for the Darkhold.

A Fallen named Metarchus, a shape-shifter, is sent to kill Truthsayer.

Weird panel of the issue:

The art is generally garbage.

While Modred and Metarchus fight, Victoria goes back to Truthsayer and begs to learn the truth about herself. So Truthsayer explains.

While i think that the Siege of Darkness is a terrible imposition on the Darkhold storyline (and while i was always less interested in the Darkhold "storyline" than the fun day-to-day premise of the Redeemers searching for Darkhold pages), this scene does show that Chris Cooper seems to have had his plans for this series ready from the beginning. There have been some very clever bits, like using Scarlet Witch to obfuscate the prophecy about "a child born of no man", where we can now go back and see how they applied to Victoria while at the time they snuck right past us. Unfortunately, having this all revealed to us in an info dump by the plot-convenient Truthsayer is a bit much, but what else can you do with a canceled series?

Truthsayer's truth blast also affects Metarchus, revealing that Zarathos' plans for the Fallen aren't benign.

This mission ends in a failure for the Redeemers. During the fighting, Truthsayer is killed by Modred amongst all the shapeshifting.

The Redeemers go to Los Angeles and hold a funeral for Louise Hastings. The Redeemers decide that after all the failure and death, they're going to break up. Jinx is sent to live with Victoria's "father", Vittorio Montesi, where he'll practice the magic that Modred taught him (we'll never see him again). Modred sends Victoria and Sam to the ruins of Dr. Strange's house (they'd have liked to go to the Nightclub but Modred doesn't have the power to send them there.

After the others are gone, Modred is approached by the Darkhold Dwarf (who is apparently green now). We learn that Modred deliberately killed Truthsayer. We also learn more of what we already learned in Marvel Comics Presents, which is that Victoria is pregnant with Ch'thon's seed.

Modred is despondent.

The Dwarf then hands us a Darkhold envelope. No way, dude. I already opened the envelopes from the Midnight Massacre crossover, and they were terrible. I don't want any more.

Sam and Victoria will continue to appear in Siege of Darkness. And since this series is canceled with its story unfinished, other Midnight Sons books will be picking up the pieces afterwards. See the Considerations below regarding that reference to Marvel Comics Presents #146.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This is part twelve of Siege of Darkness. Part thirteen is in Morbius #17 (don't be fooled by the incorrect information on the cover of Spirits of Vengeance #18, which also claims to be part 13).

As noted by Morgan in the comments, it's very likely that the Darkhold story in Marvel Comics Presents #145 was meant to be published in Marvel Comics Presents #146 (to be part of chapter fourteen, after this). That would explain why Victoria doesn't "remember" the stuff she found out about in the last chapter and also why the next issue blurb at the end of this issue promises even bigger revelations in Presents #146 (which doesn't happen). I'm going to leave the story in Presents #145 where it is, in part because i prefer to not split books up and in part because i don't like to unilaterally make changes that break from Marvel's "intended" (as far as we officially know) order. And i think D09 in the comments gives us a great No Prize explanation for Victoria's memory lapse. But be aware that the published placement was probably yet another screw-up with this crossover.

References:

• The Malachy prophecy was mentioned by Agatha Harkness in Darkhold #5-7
  
• Victoria Montesi was left alone by the N'Garai in Darkhold #4 not because she was a Montesi but because she's Ch'thon's vessel.
  
• Blade was able to "kill" Victoria in Darkhold #11 because she really is a mystical creature.
  
• Victoria was corrupted by the Darkhold in Darkhold #13-14.

Crossover: Siege of Darkness

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Victoria probably tried to repress the knowledge about her true origins from the previous installment until Truthsayer's words brought them back with no hopes of denying them any longer.

Is it possible that this is supposed to go before the Victoria Montesi segment in MCP #145? I know the end-of-issue blurb teases MCP #146...was Chris Cooper originally expecting the Montesi story to go there? I'm only reading these entries in order so I don't know what Darkhold-involved story the end-of-issue blurb is referring to, if it's where the Modred/Darkhold-page thread is picked up or what, but I know the end of the MCP #145 story teased Doctor Strange #61 which appears to come after #146, and it feels like putting this story first doesn't read totally cleanly but at least flows better...

Okay, having read the MCP #146 entry, the only thing that happens there that relates to the Darkhold series is that Victoria Montesi wakes Dr. Strange up from his nightmare, which...doesn't mesh well with Dr. Strange confronting her at the end of #145, but does seem to take place afterwards and hardly seems like something "Darkhold readers must not miss", which definitely suggests Chris Cooper intended/expected the story in #145 to run in #146.

According to dcindexes, Marvel Comics Presents 145 and Darkhold 16 both came out the same day- 11/9/93. I think that reinforces the idea that Darkhold 16 was meant to be read first.

Victoria Montesi's origin as revealed this story makes no sense. The idea is that she was able to succumb to the Darkhold's temptations unlike the rest of her family since her father used the Darkhold to conceive her. But if the Montesis could not be tempted to use the Darkhold under any circumstances, then how did her father use the Darkhold in the first place?
I think the Dwarf was offering the envelope to the reader, not Modred.

Thanks Morgan and Michael. Regarding placement, i've made a note in the Considerations, but i've decided to leave the stories based on their published order ("published" in the sense of the chapter numbers). And thanks to D09 for giving me a good way to make that feasible.

Agreed with everyone else that the Darkhold story in MCP #145 probably takes place shortly after this issue. That's how it appeared to me way back when I first read "Siege of Darkness" and it still makes the most sense in that order.

@Michael: Considering that he was the last of the Montesi, Vittorio Montesi probably thought of two things while looking over the Darkhold:

1: Desperate times call for desperate measures.
and 2: since he was of the Montesi lineage, he banked on the fact that the usual side-effects of using a spell from the Darkhold wouldn't affect him.