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Mephisto has many servants. Worshipful humans. Possessed animals. Corrupted shadows. Cursed objects. But among his favourites is the demon known as Bagra-Ghul, who erected monuments of suffering in his honor - both in the halls of Hell - and the world above. He first found a vessel in a child conceived on a blood altar. His name was Bram Straub and he relunctantly did the work prescribed of him for many years until he caught the notice of Project Hellfire. A deal was struck. They wanted Bagra-Ghul as a weapon, and Bram wanted to be free of his possession, so they found him a new host, in Logan. The man known as Wolverine...
There are very Marvel releases this year that will look and feel as “metal” as Hellverine. Writer and X-Men favourite Benjamin Percy joins forces with Julius Ohta as they tackle a mini-series as visceral in look as it is demonic in feel.
Previously, Wolverine and Ghost Rider had taken on a demon named Bagra-Ghul. A demon that possessed a little boy and was so evil that he would kill innocent people and stitch them back together into these twisted malformed bringers of death and destruction. Think of Hellraiser but the Marvel Universe version of Pinhead and his merry band of Cenobites. Except… censored. And possessing Wolverine to become the Hellverine. Thankfully, this is hardly Percy’s first walk on the block. His style keeps the Hellverine motor going as the origin of Bagra-Ghul, the Wolverine/Ghost Rider connection and the chamber of horrors underneath the Pentagon keeps fresh, tasty and scintillatingly evil - in all the best ways.
What happens next is the reveal that Hellfire is the secret key to summoning forth the bastions of hell in a bizarre experiment which sees five corpses reanimated, possessing powers similar to the Ghost Rider. Which sees the Head of Project Hellfire, a surly and downright unpleasant man, lose more than a few staff lose their faces when they’re literally melted off as the five corpses break out and escape.
What follows in the wake of their escape is a being similar in look to Hellverine, tearing up the countryside and laying waste to the upper class, the privileged, the maintainers of law and order. Its heat were the combination of Julius Otha’ artwork paired with the vibrant and downright maniacal coloring of Frank D’Armata’s which sets the page ablaze. Horrors that literally tear human beings in two between each panel. Although, you do see at least one arm get ripped off so there’s that.
Then there's the abduction of Wolverine by Project Hellfire as the Leader of PH plans to force Logan to help them in a damnably nostalgic rendition of Snake Plissken getting hired by the government at the top of Escape from New York. Except no bomb in the neck. Not this time. Except the shock is left for when Wolverine is handed a tablet and shown a recording which reveals this new Hellverine is none other than Wolverine’s son, Akihiro. His son is who is very dead but who also seems to be very stitched together. A Hellverine who is very much a spirit of vengeance himself. One that will see the bastard machinations of Project Hellfire torn apart sooner than join them.
Brilliantly orchestrated by Percy so far when he could have easily taken the route of teaming the Project Hellfire zombies join forces with Akihiro. That’s not to say this still won’t happen but considering he’s already cut in half two out of the five of them (on panel, at least) it seems we’re strapping in for a Wolverine vs Hellverine. Maybe even a Wolverine vs Hellverine vs Ghost Rider. Or are we going to get a Ghost Rider which combines his powers into Wolverine in an Amalgam Comics style abomination and thus resulting in Hellverine vs Hellverine? That would definitely be the level of brazen stupidity I long for.
One thing is for sure - Percy, Ohta and the gang are firing up all cylinders on this demonic beast!
