The Demon #7

History

The Demon was conceived at DC's direct request: the publisher asked Jack Kirby — already deep in his Fourth World saga — to develop something in the 'horror hero' vein that was dominating early 1970s comics. Following DC's cancellation of both Forever People and New Gods, The Demon and Kamandi effectively filled the production gap, with both titles accelerating from bi-monthly to monthly schedules within their first few issues, leaving Kirby little creative breathing room. Issue #7 was edited by Kirby himself, with Steve Sherman serving as assistant editor, and was penciled and inked by Kirby and his frequent collaborator Mike Royer — the same team responsible for the book's cover. A particularly well-documented footnote to this issue's creation is that Klarion's distinctive visual design — the curling horn-like tufts of hair at his temples and his slender frame — was drawn from life: Kirby based the look on a teenage fan named Barry Alfonso, who later confirmed in an interview for The Jack Kirby Collector that his unkempt, horn-curling hair and thin appearance inspired the character.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Klarion the Witch Boy (Klarion Bleak), created by Jack Kirby; the character would go on to appear across multiple DC eras and animated series.
• First appearance of Teekl, Klarion's cat familiar, who functions as both companion and magical anchor for the Witchboy.
• First appearance of the Judge, the Draaga (a poisonous beast), and the Horigal — all new Kirby-created supernatural antagonists introduced in this single issue.
• Written, penciled, and edited by Jack Kirby, with inks by Mike Royer and assistant editing by Steve Sherman; cover date March 1973, on-sale January 23, 1973.
• The issue's story, titled 'Witchboy!!', establishes Klarion's core dynamic: he escapes persecution from his own witch-folk by allying with Etrigan, only to overplay his hand — Etrigan banishes him and Teekl to another dimension by the story's end.
• Klarion's visual design was reportedly inspired by a real person: teenage fan and future comics-community figure Barry Alfonso, whose curling hair and slight build Kirby translated into the character's signature 'horns' and Puritan-style costume.
• The issue has been reprinted in at least four collected editions: a French edition (Arédit-Artima, 1976), Jack Kirby's The Demon (DC, 2008), The Demon by Jack Kirby (DC, 2017), and DC Universe: The Bronze Age Omnibus by Jack Kirby (DC, 2019).
• Klarion returned in The Demon #14 and #15 within Kirby's original run, then resurfaced prominently in the 2005 Grant Morrison/Frazer Irving Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy four-issue miniseries, which gave the character an entirely new Limbo Town origin while explicitly honoring Kirby's debut.

Full credits

Key issues in The Demon

★

#1 1st appearance — Jason Blood