In breaking a proverbial pact with the devil, 78-year-old Isaac Christians resolved himself to being trapped indefinitely in the body of a demon (Defenders #94).
But Gargoyle's limited series raised an important question: What became of Isaac's original body?
A return trip to his hometown of Christiansboro disclosed the unpleasant truth that when Isaac's mind entered the body of the demon, the demon's spirit entered Isaac's physical self. 
With that revelation, the hero battled the vindictive gargoyle-spirit, who blamed Christianity for the demise of ancient magick.
Though published in 1985, Gargoyle's limited series had a degree of Gothic suspense reminiscent of nineteenth-century horror stories.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Gargoyle against Himself
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It was just a couple years after this that Badger introduced the original version of The Mask (spelled "Masque") in Dark Horse Presents. It's another story of someone changing or submerging their own identity in exchange for power. In both cases they find out that it's a mixed bag, with pros and cons, but Isaac beats himself up a bit more in the process. I felt that the mini-series gave Gargoyle the self-examination he perpetually hinted at in the Defenders comic but was never going to get the space there to do properly. After the mini-series I lost track of the main title while I was in college. What kind of a character arc (if any) did Gargoyle have when he returned to the main series? Did he undergo any significant change in personality? Was there anything about him left to say?
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