Spotlight on Devil-Slayer

Eric Simon Payne thought he found purpose in life when he accepted an offer to join a mysterious cult and underwent an initiation to become a "reaper" … until discovering the cult's plan to call forth a long-dead race of demons, that is. Equipped with a magical sword and cloak, he took the name Devil-Slayer and eagerly set out to stop the forces of evil (Marvel Spotlight #33).

But for all his good intentions, Devil-Slayer had a hard time as a hero.

On his first adventure, Devil-Slayer picked a fight with Deathlok, mistaking the cybernetic crimefighter for a demon.

Ironically, in the recap of his origin story, Devil-Slayer thought that his own self-described "eerie sixth sense" was one of the reasons the demonic cult originally recruited him.

Marvel Spotlight. Vol. 1. No. 33. April 1977. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper!" [Dedicated with appreciation to the Blue Öyster Cult.] David Anthony Kraft (author), Rick Buckler, Mike Masser, Arvell Jones, Klaus Janson (artists), Howard Bender (letterer), Don Warfield (colorist), Beth Bleckley (computer type), Archie Goodwin (editor).

Interestingly, as noted above, credits for Deathlok's "computer type" thoughts were separate from the letterer credits.

But Not Forgotten

Though launched as an ongoing title, the latest Defenders series ended at #12, with the time-bending storyline rewriting itself so the events in the series never took place.

The result gave a whole new meaning to the term non-team, with this grouping of Defenders never truly having formed.

Disappointing as that may be, the cancellation of the Defenders is not the end of the world … and it's not the end of this blog. There is still a lot left to cover.

Defenders. Vol. 4. No. 12. January 2013. Matt Fraction (writer), Mirco Pierfederici (penciler), Veronica Gandini (colorist), VC's Clayton Cowles (letterer), Terry & Rachel Dodson (cover artists), Jon Moisan (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor).