Kolchak the Night Stalker Vs. Mephisto

 

Kolchak has faced off against all kinds of paranormal creatures, but he may have finally met his match this time around.  Let's hope his years of investigation have prepared him to deal with such an epic encounter.

Mephisto enters The House of Mystery

 

There aren't too many guests that might make Cain nervous, but I think Mephisto could be one of them. It might be fun to read a story in which the spooky tables are turned.

Mephisto Vs. The Phantom Stranger in: "Giving the Devil His Due!"

 

Mephisto's dialogue here refers back to the events of STF #2240, where he first tangled with The Phantom Stranger.  He should have known that this was one crimefighter that he could not intimidate.  It looks like the Stranger's tactics for dealing with the demonic entity will be a bit different this time around.

Sgt. Rock Vs. Mephisto

 

They do say that war is Hell, so this is a match up that might actually make a crazy kind of sense.  Even with the ultimate power at his fingertips, I'd like to believe that Sgt. Rock would make the right decision here.  I'd love to see Mephisto's reaction when his plans failed due to the will of a single America soldier.

The Demon Vs. Mephisto

 

After having his appearance rumored for years, it seems like Mephisto is finally about to join the MCU.  My only concern is the reports that he will be portrayed by Sasha Baron Cohen.  While he has played a few serious roles, mostly he is known for his broad comedy.  I really don't want Mephisto to be another wisecracking MCU villain.

This cover required some splash page extension and word balloon removal before I could add Etrigan into it.  Here's a behind-the scenes look at the process:

Mephisto Vs. 4 Famous Co-Stars

 

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that Ghost Rider has joined the fray. This crew has some history together.  Johnny Blaze first met Evel Knievel  way back in STF #74, they joined forces again to battle Mephisto in STF #376, and later both joined the team Rolling Thunder in STF #1115.  Batman and Ghost Rider confronted Mephisto back on one of my very first covers,  a lost B&B Tale from 2010.

Here's a peek behind the making of this cover, I needed a lot more flames before I could add the heroes in: 

Secret Society of Super-Villains and Mephisto (And More!)

 

For this Anniversary Issue, I thought I would go with a theme of villain team-ups.  I was delighted to see Frog-Man appear in the trailer for Disney's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series. I can't wait to see how he is realized and I love that Marvel is digging deep into their character files for the show.  I can't help but laugh that Frog-Man will show up in the MCU before Mephisto, who remains a no show after multiple rumors.

Batman and the Outsiders Vs. Mephisto

 

The Batman has finally been released, and I was thoroughly entertained by it.  (No Spoilers in this review) It's probably the most like a Batman comic of any live action adaptation so far.  Batman is finally a proper detective and the movie is very much a film noir.  The cast was uniformly excellent.  Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell are easily my favorite live action versions of Selina Kyle and The Penguin, I look forward to seeing more of both in the movies and on streaming shows.  I wanted more of both Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, but they were also excellently realized, especially in their interactions with Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Paul Dano was very effective as The Riddler, even if the character was a few steps too far away from his comic book counterpart for my taste.  Robert Pattinson himself made for a great Batman, though his Bruce Wayne was missing the bored socialite act - but that is an element that can be explored in future installments, he's still perfecting his dual roles at this point. The fight choreography was very well done, you could actually see what was happening. Gotham looked fantastic and felt like a real place and the score was moody and thrilling.  The Nirvana song worked, but we'll see how much it dates the movie like Prince's contributions to Batman '89 as the years pass.  I didn't mind the 3 hour run time, though that may change with repeated viewings.  I absolutely loved that we got a little bit of Batman voice over narration just like in the comics, and hope we get even more the next time around.  The costume looked better onscreen than I had been expecting, and I look forward to seeing what upgrades he gets the next time around.  I still miss the white eyes, but I don't know if we will ever get them with this ultra grounded version of the character.  In fact, that's my only real quibble with the movie - it is so gritty and down to Earth, that I don't know how any of Batman's more fantastical foes like Man-Bat or Clayface could ever fit in here - let alone connecting it to a larger DCU with Superman and the Justice League and so forth.  Matt Reeves has expressed interest in using Mr. Freeze, though, so maybe this world will broaden its comic book horizons going forward.  Cant wait for it to hit HBO Max in 5 weeks so I can watch it again!

Justice League Dark Vs. Mephisto

 

Ever since Wanda/Vision, there has been rampant speculation as to when and where (and if) Mephisto will show up in the MCU.  I haven't really been expecting him to show up yet, so I have not been disappointed at his absence thus far.  Now that Agatha Harkness is getting her own spinoff Disney+ series, there's another chance to get him into the mix though.  If he's going to make his debut anywhere, that might be an appropriate place.

Doctor Strange and Detective Chimp

 

Mephisto has been teased in the MCU (which has led to rampant speculation) but not actually used yet, and I wonder where or if he will actually show up.  While he is a key villain from the comics with ties to many heroes, he still poses some problems when it comes to adapting him for the movies.  China does not like any depictions of Satan, so that may be giving Disney pause.  Will he appear in altered form, or will he be included with all of his devlish trappings, knowing his presence will keep the film out of a major market?  Only time will tell.

Robin in The Marvel Universe

 

Loki was a fun series on Disney+.  I actually think it could haven been tightened up a bit, there was a lot of talking between the scattered action scenes.  Still, it was always interesting to see Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson interacting with one another.  My favorite episode was the one with all of the multiple Lokis, including Alligator Loki and Richard E. Grant doing a wonderful take on Classic Loki.  Plus we got to see cameos by Throg and the Thanos Copter!  The final episode with Jonathan Majors chewing the scenery was an intriguing introduction to Kang, but I am looking forward to Majors' take on a more sinister variant of the villain in future appearances.  The series didn't wrap up as neatly as I was expecting, but that's no big surprise since there is a season two on the way.

Blue Devil and Doctor Strange

 

This is a team up that I could see happening.  I imagine Dan Cassidy seeking out Doctor Strange to seek assistance in dealing with the demon Nebiros, only to run afoul of an even bigger threat from the underworld. Let's hope the good Doctor recovers soon, because Blue Devil has his hands full!

Blue Devil met Dr. Strange in STF #46 and previously faced Mephisto in STF #2073...

Doctor Fate Vs. Mephisto

The Marvel movies have shown us locations all across the globe, including fictional countries.  We've also seen lots of deep space locales, not to mention the Microverse, Dark Dimension and other mystical realms.  When is Marvel going to take us to Hell?  Or at least the underworldly realm ruled by Mephisto?  A Doctor Strange sequel would seem the most likely place, but I could see a Silver Surfer movie venturing to that dark place as well.

Mephisto Vs. The Phantom Stranger

It's crazy how long it took until The Phantom Stranger showed up in other media.  We finally got an animated version on an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold a few years back.  But now we need a live action version.  DC's Legends of Tomorrow or the on-again off-again Justice League Dark movie seem like the most likely options.  He should be an easy character to pull off, as long as they remember to keep his eyes in shadow.

Mephisto Vs. Blue Devil

Blue Devil was a book that I picked up on the strength of a free preview that was presented in Fury of Firestorm.  The whole package looked great, I liked his costume, the set up for the series and the way it mixed the whimsical with the occult.  Plus, the Paris Cullins art was fantastic and fit the tone of the comic perfectly.  Hopefully we will see Blue Devil return in DC Rebirth.

Constantine Vs. Mephisto

John Constantine's TV series never really got a chance to catch on before it was cancelled, but I thought it showed some potential.  I was glad to see him show up on an episode of Arrow, and I thought he fit in well there.  I don't know if there is anything to the speculation I have read about him visiting Legends of Tomorrow as well, but I think that it would be cool to see.

Batman and Mephisto in "Desecration Day!"

Gotham has reached it's half way point through its second season, and I continue to enjoy it.  It's a little hard to take seriously because many of the performances and plot twists are so over the top.  I know that Gotham is supposed to be a rough town, but I don't know how they could get a single cop to work there when it seems like a dozen members of the police force get killed on a weekly basis. Still, there are enough decent performances to keep me coming back.

These two tangled once before, back in my B&B MS Paint days...

Make sure you come back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion to this tale!

Hellboy and Captain America

This was a pairing that I had not initially thought about, but got a few requests for in the comments sections.  The more I considered it, the more I liked the idea of a story featuring Cap and Hellboy together.  It could feature a curse from WWII being revived in the present day and feature scenes from both time frames.  Of course having a master like Mike Mignola tell the story would only make it even cooler.

Deadman and Mephisto

It's only fitting that I feature Boston Brand today since I just had a great time at the Boston Comic Con.  Getting in was crazy, I don't think they were expecting such a huge crowd and the line took almost two hours to filter through.  It wasn't that bad, all the cool costumes gave me and my brothers plenty to look at.  We had a blast once we got in, highlights for me were talking to a couple of my favorite pros, Phil Jiminez and Lee Weeks.  Just great guys.  I had some nice brief chats with Bill Willingham,  Colleen Doran, Mike Mignola, Aaron Lopestri, and Mark Bagley as well.

Batman and Mephisto

One thing I like about Marvel's stable of villains is that they have a lot that are considered line-wide villains. At DC, once you get past Darkseid, there aren't too many villains that can make that claim. Dr. Doom started with the FF, but he has had major story lines with many other big guns (and not so big guns) of the Marvel Universe. Thanos, Kingpin and the Wrecking Crew will pop up in a wide variety of titles. Mephisto is in this group as well. I have read cool stories pitting him against the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, The Fantastic Four, even Daredevil. And of course one very notorious story with Spider-Man that is still quite controversial. So it was only a matter of time before he vexed Batman...

The Mephisto on this cover is by Marvel legend John Buscema - probably the artist I most relate to the company because of the How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way! book that I spent many many hours of my youth studying.