I’m taking us back to 1972 with a Jack Kirby creation that was created due to a request by DC for a horror type comic and character.
That creation ended up being Etrigan the Demon that first appeared in The Demon #1 from DC comics.
According to some sources (1), Kirby had no desire for horror type comics but with pressure from DC, he created Etrigan. It was so successful that it annoyed Kirby apparently cause DC made him do the next 16 issues and thus caused him to abandon his Fourth World titles.
Etrigan returned after it’s initial volume in 1987 with a mini-series drawn and written by the Grendel
creator Matt Wagner. This was followed by the Demon appearing in Action Comics Weekly #636 – 641
by Alan Grant which in turn kicked off another ongoing series in 1990 that lasted 58 issues(2).
In the New 52, Etrigan returned as the primary character in the ongoing title Demon Knights which lasted from 2011 to 2013 for 23 issues.
For all you Kirby fans, this isn’t one of his most popular or known characters but it’s certainly one of those now supporting type characters one can truly appreciate I think as a classic Kirby creation.
The first series, The Demon #1 is still a pretty affordable book in the reach for most collectors, definitely for you Kirby collectors if you don’t already have it in your collection.
1. Evaier, Mark (2008). “Introduction”. Jack Kirby’s The Demon. DC Comics. pp. 3–5. ISBN 978-1401219161.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etrigan_the_Demon