By Jim Beard
The LEGION OF MONSTERS multi-part event continues with a look into the life (or un-life) of that lil' Spawn of the Devil herself,
Satana!
The sister of Daimon Hellstrom, the supposed Son of Satan, Satana had a rocky childhood that puts all others to shame. Caught in the middle of the war between her father and her brother, the Devil's daughter has never truly been able to make up her mind at to which side she should favor. Family get-togethers have been a nightmare, as you can well imagine, and don't even get us started on Father's Day…let's just say that Satana's had a devil of a time pledging her allegiance throughout her very, very strange life. Being a succubus ain't easy.
Your funereal friends here at Marvel.com have risked life, limb and liver to get the inside scoop on what makes this satanic sister tick. In fact, at times we didn't even know where in H-E-double hockey sticks we were! Suffice to say, we dug up the newest Mistress of Monsters, Satana scribe Robin (DARK TOWER) Furth and the especially adept Satana artist Kalman Andrasofszky, and exorcised a few tidbits of information out of them…just for you!
Marvel.com: Thanks for taking some time and talking with us, Robin and Kalman. Nice, uhh…place…you have here, Robin. Thought we'd start with the Big Question: is Satana good--or is she bad?
Furth: In my opinion she's Nietzschean.
Marvel.com: Gesundheit…what?
Furth: You know--Beyond Good and Evil and all that! In her earlier incarnations she definitely flipped back and forth between the two, but I think she's at her sexiest and most challenging when she's nasty. After all, she sucks souls in order to live.
Marvel.com: We were hoping you weren't going to bring up that whole "sucks souls" thing…you're actually holding that up as one of Satana's good points?
Furth: Hey, I've read the early Satana comics and I think they're great. My favorite is the one where she's walking down a back alley and she's being pursued by a stalker. At that point she looks almost demure--long coat, head scarf, etc. But once the guy catches up with her and pushes her up against a wall to kiss her, the tables suddenly turn. Now HE'S the victim and she's the attacker. Great stuff!
Marvel.com: Ah, yes, that would be her very first appearance, in VAMPIRE TALES #2, 1973, lovingly drawn by John Romita Sr. Brrrr… Kalman, what's your take on the Devil's Daughter? How do you feel about how's she been portrayed artistically in the past?
Andrasofszky: I'm partial to what I guess would be the 'classic' Satana look. I don't know if you can really call anything Satana 'classic,' but there you are. It's what Greg Land put on our cover--the purple jumpsuit with the belly and hips cut out, white furry boots, red hair etc. This look wasn't even her first--John Romita designed that as you say--although it's been her most enduring. Amazingly, she's had at least four other costumes that I could track down, and she's barely made a handful of appearances in 30 years. I made a few small tweaks, and I dispensed with the bushy "mentat" eyebrows. This may anger some people.
Marvel.com: Hey, extra points for a "Dune" reference! That's gotta count for something! Now, this leads us to her daddy: Does Old Scratch appear in your LEGION OF MONSTERS story, Robin? Does "the Devil make her do it?"
Furth: He most definitely does appear, and he remains the Lord of Lies. The two of them, he and Satana, aren't presently on speaking terms. Family politics. Anyway, the Devil made Satana, but I don't think he'd have much luck making her do anything she didn't want to do.
Marvel.com: Anything weird happen to you while working on the story, Kalman? Any creepy tales to tell?
Andrasofszky: The most horrifying thing that happened was the three-day and three-night deadline crunch I had to undertake to bring the whole thing home. I'm still reeling from it...
Marvel.com: What's it like working with Robin?
Andrasofszky: Robin is a fountain of great ideas. She had so many in fact, that a simple 14-page story couldn't possibly encompass them all. If you think the stuff that happens in the story is cool, you should see the madness that had to be trimmed and saved for later!
Marvel.com: So far in LEGION OF MONSTERS, we've found out how interesting werewolves, patchwork monsters, swamp creatures, zombies and vampires can be. What's the very coolest thing you can reveal about Satana, Robin?
Furth: Believe it or not, after so many imaginary conversations with her, I think it's her nasty sense of humor--my husband, on the other hand, thinks it's her costumes!
Marvel.com: Fair enough! Thanks, Robin! Thanks, Kalman! You've been two hel…er, heckuva good sports about this!
As we were exiting the Furth plot (hurriedly), we noticed that the crypt right next door belonged to none other than Jonathan Hickman, scribe for the
Living Mummy back-up tale for LEGION OF MONSTERS: SATANA! What luck! What coincidence!
So, a few words with Jonathan about guiding N'kantu, Marvel's infamous Living Mummy, through a brand-new muslin-wrapped adventure:
Marvel.com: What's the genesis of your Mummy story? What research did you have to do?
Hickman: Well, I hadn't heard of the character, which meant I was going to be researching everything. I started off with his origin and progressed to all of his appearances. After that, I researched pretty heavily the 21st Dynasty of ancient Egypt. I wanted to use some words or phrasing from that period, but it was pre-demotic so there really isn't any surviving "guide" to western spelling and pronunciation--so I emailed the guy that they used on "Stargate" to recreate the spoken language. No reply, so I may be fudging those parts a bit.
Marvel.com: S'okay, you had us at "pre-demotic." What's THE most interesting thing about the Mummy, other than, you know, he's dead and all?
Hickman: He spent over 3,000 years buried alive--and that's over 100 times as long as he's spent unburied. Which, I think, is a pretty good reason for this LEGION OF MONSTERS book to be something of a horror story. And so it is.
Marvel.com: It's been a long time since a Marvel Monster has had their own title. Could ol' Living support his own series after your story?
Hickman: If you're asking if there is enough meat for a continuing story, I think that any character or story can offer an interesting experience if the writer is committed to, and believes in, the idea. And I do think (even though it's only a 14-page story) I have a fresh, modern take on the Mummy and I leave him in a much more interesting place than where I found him.
So who knows, fans may love it and demand more. At which point Marvel can bring in the ringers, and I'll move on to do a back-up story on
Puck from
Alpha Flight.
Marvel.com: Gotcha. Final thoughts: anything thing else you'd like Marvel readers to know about your Living Mummy story?
Hickman: Sure. Ancient Egyptian was spoken in a Verb-Subject-Object sentence order, so, if for example, I say, "Buy you book," I'm not saying the book is going to buy you. I mean you're going to have to go out there and get it yourself.
Marvel: "The Sales Pitch That Wouldn't Die"! Thanks, Jonathan! See you 'round the sarcophagus!
Well, once again, you've just gotten the inside dirt and dust on the latest installment of
Legion of Monsters. You can possess a copy of your own right now! Take care, Ghoul-friends, and remember to leave a light on at night! Monsters gotta read, too!
For more on your favorite Marvel monsters check out our
Marvel Monsters Preview featuring Warewolf By Night and our first looks at
Morbius and
Man-Thing.
