The Legion of Night #2

History

The two-issue series was written by Steve Gerber and drawn by Whilce Portacio, with Ralph Macchio editing under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. Issue #2 was inked by Dan Panosian — a change from Scott Williams on issue #1 — with colors by Paul Mounts and lettering by John Workman Jr. Portacio was on the cusp of co-founding Image Comics at the time, giving his work on the series an idiosyncratic, heavily rendered style that sits at the hinge point between the late Marvel house aesthetic and the bombastic early-'90s Image look. Gerber's intent, per the setup left unresolved by the miniseries' two-issue limit, was clearly to launch an ongoing supernatural team title drawing on characters he had shepherded through Marvel's horror anthologies of the 1970s.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Issue #2 is titled 'Messenger from the Dead, Part 2' and carries a cover date of October 1991, released October 1, 1991 — the same cover month as issue #1, which released a month earlier.
• Written by Steve Gerber, penciled by Whilce Portacio, inked by Dan Panosian (Panosian replaced Scott Williams from issue #1), colored by Paul Mounts, lettered by John Workman Jr., and edited by Ralph Macchio.
• The issue resolves the central conflict: the Legion battles demon Aan Taanu in its Astral Realm, young Ariann Wright destroys the demonic offspring carried by cult high priestess Hildreth, and Omen banishes or destroys Aan Taanu by impaling him with his sword, freeing Fin Fang Foom from possession.
• Fin Fang Foom — originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #89 (1961) — appears here as the demon Aan Taanu's physical vessel, rampaging before ultimately fleeing into New York Harbor once freed.
• Jennifer Kale, who debuted in Adventure into Fear #11 (1972) in Gerber's very first Marvel script, appears as a core Legion member; her connection to Man-Thing (who appears in a prophetic vision sequence) ties the miniseries thematically to Gerber's foundational 1970s Marvel work.
• Lilith (Daughter of Dracula) does not appear in person in the issue; she figures as backstory — team member Martin Gold's prior relationship with Angel O'Hara, a past host of Lilith, is part of the continuity thread establishing his occult connections, drawn from Vampire Tales stories Gerber had scripted.
• Omen (Charles Blackwater) — first appearing in issue #1 — functions as the team's leader and supernatural anchor; the Legion formally coalesces at the end of issue #2, with the members electing to remain together to face future mystic threats.
• The miniseries' only in-continuity follow-up was a backup story titled 'Little Monsters' in Midnight Sons Unlimited #9 (May 1995), also written by Gerber; the Legion received a team entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005.

Cast · 4 characters

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