Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #106 (Gabriel the Devil Hunter story only)
Cover Date: 1992
Title: "One nation under Hades..."
Credits:
Robert Campanella - Writer
Bret Blevins - Penciler
Bret Blevins - Inker
Mark Powers - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor

Review/plot:
Hey, it's Gabriel the Devil Hunter, last seen in 1980 and even that was an unusual and rare sighting. This is the first Gabriel story not written by his creator, Doug Moench, for what it's worth.

The last time Gabriel had a solo story, we learned that his partner Desadia had all the memories of his dead wife Andrea (and none of her own). And then Gabriel's short-lived feature was canceled, and Desadia didn't appear when Gabriel guest-starred in Fantastic Four. But this story picks up on the wife thing. It also shows that the years have not treated Gabriel well.

Desadia is now calling Gabriel "husband". He doesn't want her around, but a politician has been possessed by a demon.

Gabriel tries to show her that his power is gone. He unbuttons his shirt to show that the cross on his chest has become inverted.

He's still got some serious abs, though. I would have expected a pot belly at this point.

Gabriel gets himself cleaned up and they face the demon politician.

Things escalate quickly.

And the challenge definitely helps Gabriel get his groove back.

It wouldn't be Gabriel the Devil Hunter, if he wasn't calling someone "filth".

Andrea has now moved from Desadia to Gabriel.

Unsurprisingly, then, this is Desadia's last appearance. He only wanted you for the dead wife in your brain, girl.

I'm not saying this is great or anything, but this is a good example of how i think the single issue stories in Marvel Comics Presents should always have worked. It's a character that isn't currently featured elsewhere. They're doing the sort of thing that they normally do, so we get to see what the character is like and the sort of enemies they fight or whatever. It's a good sample if we ever wondered what the character was about, and it's nice to see the character doing what they do best if we already know and like the character (which, ok, in this case is unlikely). And something of some significance actually happens to the character, so the story doesn't feel like just filler. If more stories were like this, i'd probably be able to approach this series without heavily caffeinating myself first.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• We learned that Desadia had the memories of Andrea in Monsters Unleashed #11.
  
• Gabriel re-encountered the demon that forced him to pluck out his eye in Haunt of Horror #2, and that issue also showed us a flashback of the time when Gabriel actually plucked out his eye, which is repeated here.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Fnord, when you reviewed Gabriel's first appearance in Haunt of Horror 2, I commented that Catherine, the demon that forced Gabriel to pluck out his eye, reappears in this story. You replied that it was ambiguous and you'd discuss it more when you got to 1992. Well, it's time. :)

Well, i guess i thought it was ambiguous because the demon doesn't seem to react to Gabriel at first, but then when it looks at him more closely (Oh? Yes -- Yes!) it suddenly starts claiming it's the demon that plucked out his eye, and it lies about Andrea being in Hell. So i figured the demon could just be lying about everything to get Gabriel's goat. But that's probably way too much thought for a Marvel Comics Presents story and i should just go with the simplest explanation that it is indeed Catherine.