Issue(s): Defenders #94
Cover Date: Apr 81
Title: "Beware... the Six-Fingered Hand!"
Credits:
J.M. DeMatteis - Writer
Don Perlin - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker

Review/plot:
This is the beginning of DeMatteis's Six-Fingered Hand story arc, which runs until issue #100. It's the story of six minor demons who form an alliance, which is a potentially cool idea but i find these issues tedious.

Daimon Hellstrom has been sensing their activity and this is the reason he's been hanging around with the Defenders.

The Defenders (with the Hulk gone and Nighthawk paralyzed, we are down to Dr. Strange, Hellstorm, and Valkyrie) respond to a call for help from Hellcat...

...only to find that her mother's house is now a ruinous deathtrap and that her housekeeper Dolly has been injured.

Patsy has been kidnapped by a living gargoyle.

The gargoyle performs a satanic ritual that transforms Hellcat into a semi-demonic state.

Fortunately, Hellstorm is an exorcist, and with the help of the Defenders he's able to restore Patsy and fight off the gargoyle's demons.

Patsy learns that it was her mother who promised her to the demons.

Meanwhile, Clea discovers that Nighthawk, thought to be paralyzed since last issue, has disappeared.

It turns out the gargoyle is just an old man that made an ill-advised deal with the demon Avarrish. He asks to join the team to help avenge himself. It's not a great first appearance, but the Gargoyle will become a Defenders mainstay and, being an older man, he'll become a character with a relatively unique perspective in a world where most super-heroes are in their 20s. I have fond memories of him from Peter Gillis' Defenders run.

This issue, however, has a mundane plot and is poorly scripted.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first Gargoyle

Chronological Placement Considerations: Dr. Strange mentions that the Hulk had elected to 'go off alone' prior to this issue.

References:

• Hellcat's mother died in Defenders #89.
  
• Hellcat and the Valkyrie fight again, having fought previously when they were possessed by the Mandrill in Defenders #91

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Gargoyle is one of those characters I gained a new appreciation for after reading the Earth X books - it made me go back and see him in a different light.

In some ways, Gargoyle reminds me of Etrigan the Demon at DC, only with the perspective that instead of just being immortal and "young", he's immortal and "old", thus giving a different perspective you don't get in these types of stories. Its just neat seeing him from what I've learned here.

That was probably intentional, Ataru. Witness the oblique reference to Etrigan by way of Hal Foster in Defenders #95:

http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/defenders_95.shtml

Not trolling or anything, honest, but... I much preferred Hellcat's demonic appearance and powers. Her 'normal' look is bland and keeps reminding me of Yvonne Craig's Batgirl.

Well, at least SOMEONE must've liked that weird Hellcat/Tigra fusion from Heroes Reborn...