Still waiting for that first film, guys.
And then there's the case of two characters who escaped to the company Martin Goodman was looking for revenge against. Since Atlas Seaboard's offices were just a few blocks away from Marvel's at the time, the creators of these characters just marched down to the House of Ideas, changed just enough about them to make them legally distinct and continued writing stories about them. That is the case of Rich Buckler and his supernatural hitman/psychic/monster hunter Gideon Cross, the Demon Hunter.
Cross starred in one issue of Demon Humter, and his origin--which is recounted in said issue--is, well, convoluted. The tale is told non-linearly; we're told what a demon hunter is, we see him confront someone who was in his infantry unit who is who has become a hitman and hocks him over a cliff because...Mr. Cross is a hitman as well?....and then he receives a new assignment. Now keep in mind we see Gideon only in his red costume and blue cloak...only we're told he's using an illusion to make himself appear normal. Then we get some of Gideon's backstory before he heads to the airport and ends up fighting a blue demon dude in an unfortunate yellow outfit. Then he climbs a mountain in Nigeria, fights a little more, is told he's part of the cult we learned about in the beginning only to come across said cult conducting a human sacrifice ritual to summon Astaroth, the Grand Duke of Hell and...
Don't get me wrong--his origin is told in full, but the chopped up nature can make it lose some lucidity. How much of that is Rich Buckler, credited with 'concept, plot and art,' and how much of that is David Anthony Kraft may never be known. I will say that it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Kraft had a lot to do with this confusing non-linear story telling because he fancied himself the heir to Steve Gerber (just look at how much Gerber stuff he uses in his Marvel work), only with nowhere near the talent.
What isn't confusing is Buckler's art. Buckler was at the height of his game at this time, although he was held back by Marvel's dictate that he emulate a Kirby style. Here, with little to no oversight, Buckler is allowed to be his own man, and the work that results is lively and dynamic. On top of that, he designs a simple but striking costume for our demon hunter complete with a distinctive open face cowl. I find it telling that when the character is reworked elsewhere, the costume is altered very little--in the case of Devil Slayer, it amounts to just some palette swapping, the addition of crossed straps on his chest and the removal of the third eye and ankh symbols.
At the end of this issue, Gideon boards a plane in Nigeria to get to his next target. Not long afterwards, he gets off that plane in Marvel Spotlight with a new identity (Eric Payne) and codename (Devil Slayer) to fight Buckler's creation Deathlok. Under the name Bloodwing, he shows up in an issue of the fanzine Galaxia. The Marvel iteration stuck around for a while, primarily through Kraft's run of Defenders, and is given a resolution by J.M. DeMatties when he takes over the book. I'm somewhat surprised the Marvel version hasn't been revived in recent years given how they're busy reviving even the most obscure bit of ephemera. If Sleepwalker can get a brief revival, so can this echo of Gideon Cross.
Even though Demon Hunter kinda, sorta got a life beyond this single issue, I would have liked to have seen a second issue under Atlas. I suspect that the freer hand Buckler--and to a lesser extent Kraft--had over there might have led to a much more interesting book. As we'll see as we go deeper into Atlas Seaboard, the company wasn't afraid of being darker or more brutal than the company it wanted to unseat...and maybe Demon Hunter could have been a legitimate horror comic.
We're still horror territory next time and another single issue recounting an origin. But even though this one features art by a legit legend, the hero might be a bit...overfamiliar. Join me for the only issue of Fright, featuring...The Son of Dracula!
Until then, remember...Revenge is a Dish Best Served In Four Colors!
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