Hell (DC Comics)

Publication history

Because of the multiplicity of imprints and acquisitions under the DC Comics umbrella, there have been many versions of "Satan" and "Hell".

At Quality Comics in 1942, the hero known as Midnight encountered the Devil and his domineering Wife after his untimely death. At Fawcett Comics in 1942, Ibis the Invincible confronted a demonic entity who inexplicably named itself "Satan". From DC Comics, the pages of Showcase #60 (January 1966) featured the first appearance of Azmodus and Justice League of America #49 (November 1966) introduced the demon Abaddon, who possesses a farmer named Hiram Spiezel. DC Comics' interpretation of Lucifer debuted in a dream sequence in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #65 (December 1962). Lucifer was introduced for real in DC Special Series #8 (1977), also known as The Brave and the Bold Special, which teamed up Batman, Sgt. Rock, and Deadman, and depicted Lucifer in Hell with an advisory board consisting of Guy Fawkes, Benedict Arnold, Adolf Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Nero, and Bluebeard, and controlling a human operative named Edward Dirkes. Jason Blood has a nightmare of Hell in Jack Kirby's The Demon (vol. 1) #14 (November 1973), but otherwise, the concept is in absentia other than through retcon. Etrigan the Demon debuted in the first issue of the series, but Hell was never actually mentioned in a concrete manner in Demon stories until Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #27, in which Alan Moore made the first canonical claim for Etrigan being a denizen of Hell, referring to his promotion to a Rhyming Demon, and having him speak consistently in rhyme, which he did not do during the Kirby series. Many stories in DC's various mystery titles featured "Satan," and at least one, in Weird Mystery Tales #4, featured Lucifer, but those stories may or may not be in continuity. Satan did appear, along with an angelic pre-fall Etrigan, in one of the four possible origins of The Phantom Stranger (three of which are Judeo-Christian inspired, a fourth, science fiction) in Secret Origins (vol. 3) #10 (January 1987).

Aside from DC Special Series #8, which was ignored in subsequent continuity, Hell made its actual first appearance in Swamp Thing (vol. 2) Anunual #2. Subsequently it would appear in issues #49-#50, in which there is a war going on in Hell, and Etrigan is there. The Spectre's failure in his intervention in this conflict leads to a reduction of his power as described in The Spectre (vol. 2) #1 (April 1987). While Hell appeared in issues of that series, we never saw any major developments outside of characters being condemned to go there and the occasional demon tormenting them, such as in issue #21. Hell subsequently appeared in issues of Blue Devil. In The Sandman #4 (April 1989), we are introduced to the leaders of Hell, a trinity consisting of Lucifer, an angel drawn to resemble David Bowie; Beelzebub, a large fly, and Azazael, a shadowy, many-eyed creature (Azazel had previously appeared as an incubus in the Madame Xanadu story in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 and The Unexpected #190 (March/April 1978)). In April 1990, this trinity (albeit with Beelzebub referred to as Belial) appeared in Secret Origins #48, presenting the never-before-told origin of Stanley and His Monster, in which the trinity expels a monster to Earth for being too nice, where he is discovered by Stanley Dover, who names him Spot. This version of Hell continued to appear in issues of The Demon (vol. 3), and The Books of Magic, as well as the 1991 Kid Eternity mini-series by Grant Morrison and Duncan Fegredo.

In the second Swamp Thing annual, Hell was said to be a place that beings went to only because they believed that they belonged there. During the fourth Sandman story arc, Season of Mists, in issues 21-28 (January–July 1991), Lucifer decides to abandon Hell, and forces all of these beings to leave. He gives the key to Dream, who does not want it, and has many divine beings, such as Odin, Bast, and Shivering Jemmy, a Lord of Chaos, attempt to persuade him to give the key to them. Odin attempts to bribe Dream with the Twilight Dimension of Ragnarok from The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special, specifically because it contains his successor's grandfather, Hawkman (Carter Hall), and his protégé, Sandman (Wesley Dodds), but this fails. Eventually, Dream gives Hell to the angels Remiel and Duma, who, denied reentry into the Silver City, reinstate Hell as a place of spiritual rehabilitation rather than punishment. This version of Hell is also depicted in the Stanley and His Monster 1993 limited series, an October 1993 Phantom Stranger one shot under the Vertigo imprint by Alisa Kwitney and Guy Davis, the 1993-1994 Kid Eternity series by Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips, also under the Vertigo imprint, albeit with Beelzebub having taken human form, and Batman #544 (July 1997), which guest-starred Etrigan.

Hellblazer under Garth Ennis would have its own Satan, and to avoid clashes with Sandman this was turned in Hellblazer #59 into the First of the Fallen: the first being in Hell, predating Lucifer and the failed uprising in Heaven. The First and two other demons ruled Hell once Lucifer had quit, with the two angels said to be only nominally in charge, and in a fourth wall moment the First complained about "those endless, bloody triumverates". John Constantine, to save himself, set up the First to be taken out and the succubus Chantinelle took control, but the First retook power shortly after.

The Master Baytor was nominally the ruler of Hell for a brief period, but spent the whole time rambling incoherently. (Hitman #17)

In the Lucifer series, which ran from 1999–2006, a human is eventually placed in charge of Hell while the title character roams Earth and owns a piano bar as depicted in the Sandman story arc The Kindly Ones (#57-69, February 1994-July 1995).

The Human Defense Corps mini-series in 2003 detailed the US Military designation for Demonic entities as "Hostile Species NHH-014". The Human Defense Corps were able to defeat a minor Lord of the Damned named Scarmaglione, and Sergeant Montgomery Kelly assumed his powers and claimed his clan and seat for the United States of America. His status as minor ruler was confirmed by Neron, who was then the First Seated of Hell.

Superman briefly became lord of Hell in Superman #666 (October 2007).

The 2008-2009 limited series Reign in Hell created by Keith Giffen and Tom Derenick introduces a new status quo for the DC Comics version of Hell; it also gave readers specific geographical references, and defined a codex of rules that govern the damned. Two years after Reign in Hell, DC decided to remove all DC Universe characters from the Vertigo imprint, though Vertigo would have its own version of Constantine.

Description

In the DC Universe, Hell is an alternate plane of reality, traditionally accessible only by those of demonic heritage, beings of a higher order, and those whose souls have been barred from entering the Silver City. The DC Comics Hell is a debased reflection of Earth, so as Earth became more technologically or socially advanced so does Hell. Due to an effect not unlike time dilation "[a] day in Hell is equal to a minute's passage on Earth". All denizens of DC's Comics' infernal region known as Hell are all capable of using some form of maleficium, the most powerful infernal magic users are the ruling gentry of Hell, and their enforcers the Necro-Mages, Forges, Renderers, Howlers, and Rhyming Demons. Every building, every piece of furniture, weapons, armor, clothing, food, etc. in hell is made from the bodies of the damned. The damned are put through a process called rendering by the Exegesis Guild, in order to manufacture the raw materials of Hell.

Fictional history

During The Final Night event, the Rhyming Demon known as Etrigan offered to bring all of the living people of Earth into Hell so they could stay warm. During the Day of Judgment storyline, with the help of Etrigan a fallen angel named Asmodel took control of the Spectre and sought to destroy Heaven and Hell. He used the Spectre's powers to extinguish the hellfire font, causing Hell to freeze over. A team of heroes including Superman, Zatanna, Faust, Firestorm, The Atom, Enchantress and Deadman were sent deep into Hell in order to reignite the hellfire font. The re-ignition required an act of true evil, so Sebastian Faust took matters into his own hands and slit the Enchantress' throat, thereby satisfying the infernal conditions. The story ends with a three way battle between Neron, Asmodel and Hal Jordan for control over the Spectre-force.

Reign in Hell

During the events of Reign in Hell, the Underworld is thrown into a massive conflict as Neron and his generals are confronted with a rebellion led by Lord Satanus and Lady Blaze, the rulers of Purgatory. Neron soon discovered that the rebel demons were offering the damned hope, and that this was a powerful spur. Recognizing what would happen if the damned rose up against him, Neron has his consort Lilith the "mother of all earthborn fiends" summon all vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and infernally powered humans to Hell.

Lobo who is confined to the Labyrinth, Hell's prison is freed as a result of the titanic battle between Etrigan the Demon and Blue Devil, a battle which results in Etrigan's temporary death at Blue Devil's hands. Lobo eviscerates the spirit-form of Zatara (Zatanna's father) which forces Zatanna to destroy his soul rather than consign him to an eternity of pain and torment. Zatara is later shown to have been saved by a demon who owes him a favor in the Zatanna series.

Lord Satanus reveals that he used the war to spread a modified viral version of DMN, the anagogic drug he had once used to destabilize Metropolis and confound Superman. This version of DMN is airborne and when combined with the magical word "Shazam" it transforms Neron and all of Hell's demons into soulless humans, all except Lilith who was not a true demon. Satanus then decapitates Neron and takes over as Hell's ruler. The Damned turn their rage upon the now human and powerless demons and imps, slaughtering them wholesale, and damning themselves anew.

Lady Blaze later takes advantage of her brother's momentary weakness during a moment when he allows Black Alice to touch him and sample his powers, this action shatters Alice's psyche and allows Lady Blaze to drain Lord Satanus' power and take the throne for herself. At the end of the series the Unspoken Principium of Hell is revealed by Doctor Occult "You can leave whenever you want," reiterating what was said about Hell in the Gaiman version.

Geography

In the Reign in Hell mini-series the Infernal Dominion is divided up into nine provinces, each of which have their own rulers. All rulers bowed to Neron. The Nine Provinces included Pandemonia, The Odium, The Gull, Praetori, Internecia, Ament, Labyrinth, Err, and Purgatory. Below see descriptions of the Nine Provinces of the Infernal Dominion as depicted in the Reign in Hell mini-series.

Infernal Hosts

According to the Reign in Hell mini-series, Blaze the sister of Satanus is the current ruler of Hell, she succeeds her brother who in turn succeeded Neron. The mainstream DC Comics Hell always has a single ruler known as the "First Seated of the Infernal Dominion" and holding the title of Dominus (male) or Domina (female), the first such dominus was Neron, the current domina is Blaze, sister of Satanus, and daughter of the Wizard Shazam.

The First Seated rules by their "Infernal will and chthonic way", they are addressed as the "Lord (or Lady) of the Hosts of Hell, first seated of the entire Infernal Dominion".

First Seated

Archfiends

Fiends

Notable Damned

Lesser Damned

Notable Half-Demons

Infernal artifacts

Other versions

According to Artemis: Requiem mini-series by William Messner-Loebs and Ed Benes, which does not take place in mainstream DC Universe canon, there are 13 princely thrones in hell, each selected to oversee 13 different realms of hell. It is then assumed that these Demon Princes ultimately answer to the crown head of hell. The demoness Belyllioth is Princess of 1/13th of hell's realms in these stories. She supposedly replaced the previous ruler Dalkriig-Hath once he was destroyed by his bride Artemis. Artemis was by rights next in line to rule her former husband's realm, but instead had the other twelve Princes of hell grant Belyllioth her station instead. Notable in this depiction were the Myrmidons, a race of savage ant-like demons faithful to Belyllioth.

Description

The Vertigo Comics imprint also has its own version of Hell, with its own very specific infernal sovereignty formerly ruled by Lucifer Morningstar.

Fictional history

Contrary to popular belief, the term Satan represents a rank within the legions of Hell and is not a name. The most well-known Satan is Lucifer Morningstar whose rule supplanted that of the First of the Fallen and the First Triumvirate. Lucifer was the fourth fallen Angel and not the first ruler of Hell, though he later became the supreme ruler of Hell for many centuries. When the great Darkness of creation threatened all existence, a civil war erupted in Hell and the realm was split into a triumvirate. Eventually, Lucifer grew bored with his position and retired to Earth with his consort, the Lilim known as Mazikeen.

Geography

The regions of Vertigo Comics' Hell are not as defined as the mainstream universe after the Reign in Hell mini-series, but specific areas have been mentioned in various books.

Infernal sovereignty

The hierarchy of Vertigo Comics' Hell has changed several times over the centuries, the leader of which has always assumed the title of Satan. Eventually, Lucifer abandons Hell, gives its key to Dream, and eventually, two angels, Remiel and Duma transform Hell into a place of rehabilitation. In the interim, Lucifer was shown as ruler of Hell in the DC Universe titles The Demon, The Spectre, and Stanley and His Monster.

Triumvirs of Hell

Arch-Dukes of Hell

Dukes of Hell

Minor Gentry

Notable Half-Demons

Infernal artifacts