Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Guest Column, Planet of Daemons

My Personal Journey to the Planet of Daemons [Guest Column]

[Editor's Note: Guest columnist Kevin Gunstone writes for us about his personal journey to the Planet of Daemons…]

What if 17th century New England was the target of a diabolical plot orchestrated from Hell? And what if the fanatical and devious Witchfinders were instead misunderstood heroes waging a noble battle to free Salem of devilish influence?

This fanciful rewriting of history occurred to me at university, when I studied the Salem witch trials for a term. I didn't propose this imaginative theory in the lecture hall, as the discussions were very serious indeed. But my mind was ablaze with the possibilities of a world where the condemned witches and warlocks, historically thought innocent, were complicit in a grand satanic conspiracy. A world where daemons and evil spirits were deadly flesh and blood foes, not figments of the religious or superstitious imagination.

Fast forward to the present, and in The Eye of Lucifer, the first Planet of Daemons collection, (published by Amigo Comics and solicited in April's Previews), I finally share those wide-eyed speculations with the world. Set 40 years before the Salem craze, Planet features Amos Deathridge, a former Puritan magistrate, whose tale is one of betrayal, loss, and otherworldly manipulation. Now Amos serves as jailer of the sinister entities that reside in the dark realm of the Qliphoth: ten occult worlds that cast a negative, destructive influence over mankind.

In this introductory story, Amos arrives on the world of Sathariel pursuing a daemon of war. Where, in the ruins of the Palace of Lilith, he witnesses the hatching of an all-powerful Succubus Queen – a reincarnated soul who shares a puzzling connection to his past. To solve the riddle of her identity, Amos must enter Sathariel's dread labyrinth, the Eye of Lucifer, and confront the truth behind the tragic events leading to his arrival in the Qliphoth years earlier.

Planet is a story of mystery, intrigue, revelation, and dark sorcery which I think would appeal to readers who like Hammer films, retro horror, historical fantasy comics, and general esoteric ideas. It was a definite challenge to write, (as it should be), but the comicbook key – especially as a writer – is finding the right people to work with. In that respect I was fortunate to team up with UK artist Paul Moore and Serbian colourist Stefan Mrkonjic. Incredibly, Planet is Paul's first full-length series – I'm sure he'll do many more – and with Stefan he's created a realistic and wonderfully evocative atmosphere, both in Salem and on the Qliphoth's arcane worlds.

When the series was first published, I think we tested Amigo publisher Juan Torres' patience to destruction (numerous reasons). And I can't thank him and Amigo Comics enough for the faith he's shown in putting the book out. Amigo publish a very cool line of books and its great to be part of it.

For the collection we've been joined by cover artist Hugo Petrus (WONDER WOMAN/JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA), and DC/Milestone artist Prentis Rollins (author of the Tor Books graphic novel THE FURNACE), who's written a generous and highly observant introduction. Planet's certainly come a long way since that exhilarating first idea, and I'd like to thank everyone above for helping bring this dark and strange vision to life.

Planet of Daemons: The Eye of Lucifer, ships in June 2019 and is solicited in the April edition of Previews (order code 191353). It collects all four issues of this spectacular miniseries and includes process pages, sketchbook and all the standard extras you'd expect.

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