Demon #11 - Baron von Evilstein

In the middle of the run of THE DEMON, Kirby trotted out various classic themes of horror novels and movies and gave them his own spin. In this story he played off the classic Frankenstein concepts to great effect. Etrigan confronts a giant beast on the rampage in a Gotham City park. He sees as the creature is captured by Igor, and is captured himself as he reverts to Jason Blood.



Igor turns out to be the servant of of Baron von Rakenstein (or von Evilstein, as his fellow scientists refer to him, since they're apparently 8-year-olds), and the creature is one of his experiments. After various experiments, Rakenstein decides to transplant Blood's head on the creature's body. Meanwhile, Harry and Randu go to a para-psychology institute to try to find Blood, where unknown to them one of the test subjects has established a mental link with the creature.

Weird stuff, very frantic, but beautifully drawn. Mike Royer inks the 20-page story and cover.

For those curious about Kirby's work habits of the time, the letter column gives a then-rare glimpse (of course now we have dozens of interviews and fanzines to consult). In answering a letter, Steve Sherman mentions that Kirby finishes an issue in about 11 days, writing as he pencils, and then goes through the pages to write the script. Royer then inks and letters an issue in about the same amount of time, and the whole package is sent to New York for the rest of the production.

Published 1973