DC’s Next Level panel at San Diego Comic-Con has officially made good on what might be the worst-kept secret in the industry: Etrigan is back, and he’s bringing pure, unadulterated body horror with him.
Superstar artist and writer James Harren (Ultramega, Rumble) is both writing and drawing The Demon, an all-new series launching on October 7, 2026. Joined by legendary colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clayton Cowles, Harren’s take on Jack Kirby’s iconic 1972 creation is being built ground-up as an accessible, terrifying entry point into Etrigan’s mythology.
The Premise: Hell on Earth
The series paints a grim picture of a world infested by unseen horrors. Beasts from Hell are roaming among us, feasting on humanity’s souls and leaving hollow husks behind.
Only one man can see these invisible predators and cast them back into the pit: Jason Blood. However, Blood is a shell of his former, 1,500-year-old self—wandering the earth, haunted by the memory of a long-gone Merlin, and trying to drown out the roaring demonic voice in his head begging to be let out. To save humanity, Blood is forced to confront the nightmare bound to his own soul and decide if he can truly unleash the Demon Etrigan once again.
If you’ve read Harren’s work on Ultramega or his B.P.R.D. arcs, you know his signature style is defined by explosive action, hyper-detailed creature designs, and unmatched kinetic violence. Handing him total auteur control over Etrigan makes this one of the most exciting creator-driven projects on DC’s entire fall lineup.
Scott Snyder teased that when Harren came on board, his passion project was crystal clear. “I went to somebody I love and was like, ‘Look, I think you’re fantastic. What do you want to do?’ And they wanted to do a horror book… Their pitch was essentially a book that allows you to walk right in knowing nothing about The Demon and just be completely enveloped by this awesome mythology about a guy who’s cursed with this alternate demonic presence inside of him. It’s a straight-up horror book.“
The Variant Cover Lineup:
DC is making sure issue #1 hits with maximum impact, lining up a killer set of variant covers from a who’s who of modern indie and horror talent:
- Main Cover: James Harren
- Variant Covers: Daniel Warren Johnson, Michael Walsh, Hayden Sherman, and John McCrea
Alongside Michael Walsh’s Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death, James Harren’s The Demon signals that DC’s “Next Level” push isn’t afraid to embrace dark, genre-heavy storytelling. If you’re looking for visceral, heavy-metal horror on your pull list this spooky season, October 7 can’t get here fast enough.
