Hell (DC Comics)

Hell (a.k.a. Gehenna, Hades, Hel, Jahannam, Sheol and Tartarus) is a fictional location, an infernal Underworld utilized in various American comic book stories published by DC Comics. It is the locational antithesis of the Silver City in Heaven. The DC Comics location known as Hell is heavily based on its depiction in Abrahamic mythology. Although several versions of Hell had briefly appeared in other DC Comics publications in the past, the official DC Comics concept of Hell was first properly established when it was mentioned in "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #25–27 (June–August 1984) and was first seen in "Swamp Thing Annual" #2 (1985), all of which were written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben.
The hierarchy of Hell, specifically the triumvirate of Lucifer, Azazel, and Beelzebub, was first referred to in "John Constantine, Hellblazer" #12 (December 1988) ("The Devil You Know..." (page 6) by Jamie Delano and Richard Piers Rayner) and first appeared in "The Sandman" (vol. 2) #4 (April 1989) ("A Hope in Hell" by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth). In the story, Lucifer had been forced to accept the position of the ruler of Hell due to the disruption caused by the Great Evil Beast's attack on Creation during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in the 16-part storyline "American Gothic" in "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #35–50 (April 1985–July 1986). "John Constantine, Hellblazer," would also later add in the First of the Fallen, who preceded Lucifer and his failed rebellion in Heaven. In "Who's Who in the DC Universe" #11 (July 1991), the entry on "Hell's Hierarchy" included all the elements of Gaiman's version, plus John Constantine the Hellblazer's demonic enemy Nergal, Agony and Ecstasy the Slave-Twins of the Inquisition, Asteroth, Abaddon the Destroyer, Morax and Superman's demonic enemy Blaze, who, along with her brother Satanus, came to rule Hell in the eight-issue miniseries "Reign in Hell" (September 2008–April 2009, also including "DC Universe Special: Reign in Hell" #1 (August 2008).
Publication history.
Because of the multiplicity of imprints and acquisitions under the DC Comics umbrella, there have been many different versions of both "Satan" and "Hell".
At Quality Comics in 1942, the superhero known as Midnight encountered the Devil and his domineering Wife after his untimely death. At Fawcett Comics in 1942, Ibis the Invincible I (Prince Amentep) confronted a demonic entity who inexplicably named itself "Satan". At DC Comics, the pages of "Showcase" #60 (January–February 1966) featured the first appearance of Azmodus and "Justice League of America" #49 (November 1966) introduced the demon Abaddon, who possessed a farmer named Hiram Spiezel. DC Comics' interpretation of Lucifer debuted in a dream sequence in "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" #65 (December 1962). Lucifer was introduced for real in "DC Special Series" #8 (1978), a.k.a. "The Brave and the Bold Special", which teamed up the Batman I (Bruce Wayne), Sgt. Franklin John "Frank" Rock and Deadman and depicted Lucifer being summoned by the ghosts of Guy Fawkes, Benedict Arnold, Adolf Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Nero and Bluebeard and controlling a human operative named Edward Dirkes. Jason Blood had a nightmare about Hell in Jack Kirby's "The Demon" #14 (November 1973), but otherwise, the concept was in absentia other than through retcon. Etrigan the Demon debuted in the first issue of the 16-issue Jack Kirby series "The Demon" (August–September 1972–January 1974), but Hell was never actually mentioned, seen or shown in a concrete manner in any of the original "Demon" stories until "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #25–27 (June–August 1984), in which Alan Moore made the first canonical claim for Etrigan the Demon being a denizen of Hell, referring to his promotion to a Rhyming Demon and having him speak consistently in rhyme, which he did "not" do at all during the Kirby series. Many stories in DC's various mystery and horror anthology titles featured "Satan" and at least one, in "Weird Mystery Tales" #4 (January–February 1973), featured Lucifer, but these stories may or may not be in mainstream DC Universe continuity. Satan did appear, along with an angelic pre-Fall Etrigan the Demon, in one of the four possible origins of the Phantom Stranger (three of which are Judeo-Christian inspired, the fourth, science fiction inspired) in "Secret Origins" (vol. 2) #10 (January 1987).
Aside from the above-mentioned stories, Hell made its actual first appearance in "Swamp Thing Annual" #2 (1985). Subsequently, it would appear again in "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #49–50 (June–July 1986), in which there was a civil war going on in Hell and Etrigan the Demon was there. The Spectre's (James Brendan "Jim" Corrigan I) failure in his intervention in this conflict led to a reduction of his powers, as described in "The Spectre" (vol. 2) #1 (April 1987). While Hell appeared in the 31 issues (and one "Annual" (1988)) of that series (April 1987–November 1989), readers never saw any major developments outside of characters being condemned to go there and the occasional demon or demons tormenting them, such as in "The Spectre" (vol. 2) #21 (December 1988). Hell also appeared in the 31 issues (and one "Annual" (1985)) of "Blue Devil" (June 1984–December 1986; also including a special insert in the center of "The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man" #24 (June 1984), which started the series). In "The Sandman" (vol. 2) #4 (April 1989), the rulers of Hell are introduced, a triumvirate consisting of Lucifer, a fallen angel deliberately drawn to resemble David Bowie, Azazel, a shadowy, many-eyed former djinn ("genie") (Azazel had previously appeared as an incubus in a Madame Xanadu story that was first published in "Cancelled Comic Cavalcade" #1 (summer 1978) and then was officially published in "The Unexpected" #190 (March–April 1978)) and Beelzebub, a high-ranking demon resembling a large fly. This triumvirate (albeit with Beelzebub referred to as Belial; possibly a continuity error) returned in "Secret Origins" (vol. 2) #48 (April 1990), presenting the never-before-told origin of Stanley and his Monster, in which Lucifer banishes a minor demon from Hell to Earth for being "too nice" for Hell, where he is discovered by Stanley Dover Junior, who names him Spot. This version of Hell is also depicted in the 58 issues (plus two "Annual"s (1992 and 1993) and one #0 issue (October 1994)) of "The Demon" (vol. 3) (July 1980–May 1995), the four-issue miniseries "The Books of Magic" (December 1990–March 1991) and the three-issue miniseries "Kid Eternity" (vol. 2) (May–October 1991) by Grant Morrison and Duncan Fegredo.
In "Swamp Thing Annual" #2, Hell was said to be a place that mortal beings went to only because they truly believed that they belonged there. During the fourth "Sandman" story arc, "", in "The Sandman" (vol. 2) #21–28 (January–July 1991), Lucifer decides to abdicate the throne of Hell and forces all of these beings to leave it. He closes the gates of Hell behind him, locks them and gives the key to Dream of the Endless, who does not want it, and many divine beings, such as Odin, Bast and Shivering Jemmy of the Shallow Brigade, a Lord of Chaos, attempt to persuade him to give the key to them. Odin attempts to bribe Dream with the Twilight Dimension of Ragnarok from "Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special" #1 (1986), specifically because it contains his successor's grandfather, Hawkman I (Carter Hall (a.k.a. Prince Khufu Kha-Tarr)) and his protégé, the Sandman I (Wesley Bernard "Wes" Dodds), but this attempt fails, as do "all" of the others. Eventually, Dream gives the key to the angels Remiel and Duma, who, having been denied re-entry into the Silver City, reinstate Hell as a place of spiritual rehabilitation rather than eternal punishment. This version of Hell is also depicted in the four-issue miniseries "Stanley and His Monster" (vol. 2) (February–May 1993), "Vertigo Visions: Phantom Stranger" #1 (October 1993), a one-shot issue under the Vertigo imprint by Alisa Kwitney and Guy Davis, the 16-issue series "Kid Eternity" (vol. 3) (May 1993–September 1994) by Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips, also under the Vertigo imprint (albeit with Beelzebub having taken human form) and "Batman" #544–546 (July–September 1997), which guest-starred Etrigan the Demon.
"John Constantine, Hellblazer" under Garth Ennis would have its own Satan and, to avoid clashes with "The Sandman" (vol. 2), this version was turned in "John Constantine, Hellblazer" #59 (November 1992) into the First of the Fallen: the first being in Hell, preceding Lucifer and his failed rebellion in Heaven. The First and two other demons ruled Hell once Lucifer had abdicated the throne, with the two demons said to be only barely in charge, and in a fourth wall moment the First complained about "those endless, bloody triumvirates". John Constantine the Hellblazer, to save himself from death from terminal lung cancer, set up the First to be killed by the succubus Chantinelle, who then briefly took control of Hell, but the First returned from the dead and reclaimed the throne of Hell shortly afterward. The First also killed the other two demons after he found out that they were not truly two of the Fallen after all (instead, they were only mere demons) and transformed their dead bodies into a two-bladed knife that was called the Knife of the Fallen, which was then used by Chantinelle to kill him.
The Master Baytor was nominally the ruler of Hell for a brief period, but spent the whole time babbling incoherently during his reign.
In "The Sandman Presents: Lucifer" #1–3 (March–May 1999) and the 75-issue series "Lucifer" (June 2000–August 2006; including a one-shot issue called "Lucifer: Nirvana" (2002)), a human was eventually placed in charge of Hell while Lucifer roamed Earth and owned a piano bar named Lux (the Latin word for "light") as depicted in the ninth "Sandman" story arc, "", in "Vertigo Jam" #1 (August 1993) and "The Sandman" (vol. 2) #57–69 (February 1994–July 1995).
The six-issue miniseries "Human Defense Corps" (July–December 2003) detailed the U.S. military designation for demons as "Hostile Species NHH-014". The Human Defense Corps were able to defeat a minor Lord of the Damned named Scarmaglione, then Sergeant Montgomery Kelly of the Corps killed him, assumed his powers and claimed his clan for the United States of America. His status as a minor ruler of Hell was confirmed by no less an authority than Neron himself, who was still the ruler of Hell at that time.
Superman briefly became the Lord of Hell in "Superman" #666 (October 2007).
The eight-issue miniseries "Reign in Hell", also including "DC Universe Special: Reign in Hell" #1 and created by Keith Giffen and Tom Derenick, introduced a new status quo for the mainstream DC Comics version of Hell; it also gave readers specific geographical references of the region and defined a codex of rules that governed the damned (however, it is also known to have had many internal continuity errors that make its place in mainstream DC Universe canon questionable at best). Two years after "Reign in Hell", DC Comics decided to remove all DC Universe characters from their Vertigo imprint, though Vertigo would have its own version of John Constantine the Hellblazer for a time.
DC Comics.
Description.
In the mainstream DC Universe, Hell is an alternate plane of reality, traditionally accessible only by those with demonic heritage, beings of a higher order, and those whose souls have been barred from entering the Silver City because of any evil that they had committed in their lives. DC Comics' Hell is a debased reflection of Earth, meaning that as Earth became more technologically or socially advanced so did Hell, due to an effect not unlike time dilation: "[a] day in Hell is equal to a minute's passage on Earth". All denizens of the mainstream DC Comics version of Hell are capable of using some form of maleficium; the most powerful infernal magic users are the ruling gentry of Hell and their enforcers the Necro-Mages, Forges, Exegesis Guild, Renderers, Howlers, Incendiaries, Rhyming Demons and Wishweavers. Every building, weapon, piece of furniture, piece of armor, article of clothing, serving of food, etc. in Hell is made from the bodies of the damned. The damned are put through a process called rendering by the Exegesis Guild and their servants the Renderers to manufacture the raw materials of Hell.
Fictional history.
"Underworld Unleashed".
During the "Underworld Unleashed" crossover event, Neron appeared in the mainstream DC Universe for the first time and established himself as the ruler of Hell, a position that he held for many years.
He then devised an elaborate scheme to conquer Earth and to gain a "pure soul" that he could corrupt, which ultimately involved many of the DC Universe's supervillains and a number of the DC Universe's superheroes. Neron offered both groups numerous deals to give them their greatest desires in exchange for their souls or for completing a task for him. The scheme was ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of both Justice League America and the Trickster I (Giovanni Giuseppe a.k.a. James Montgomery Jesse).
"The Final Night".
During "The Final Night" crossover story line, the Rhyming Demon known as Etrigan the Demon offered to bring all of the living people of Earth into Hell so that they could stay warm in exchange for their souls. The people rejected his offer, primarily because his plan was to shift Earth into Hell.
"Day of Judgment".
During the "Day of Judgment" crossover storyline, a renegade King-Angel of the Bull Host named Asmodel, with the help of Etrigan the Demon (who was trying to cause chaos on Earth and defeat his enemy, Neron), briefly took control of the then-hostless Spectre-Force using the ashes of an angel's wing feather and sought to destroy both Heaven and Hell. He used the Spectre's powers to extinguish the hellfire font, causing Hell to freeze over. A team of superheroes, including Superman, Zatanna Zatara, Sebastian Faust, Firestorm the Nuclear Man II (Ronald Roy "Ronnie" Raymond), the Atom II (Raymond "Ray" Palmer), the Enchantress and Deadman, were sent deep into Hell's depths to reignite the hellfire font. The reignition required an act of true evil, so Sebastian Faust took matters into his own hands and killed the Enchantress by slitting her throat, thereby damning himself to Hell and thus satisfying the infernal conditions.
The crossover storyline ended with a three-way battle between Neron, Asmodel and the then-deceased Harold "Hal" Jordan (the former Green Lantern II) for control over the Spectre-Force (which ultimately chose Hal Jordan, thus making "him" the Spectre for a time).
"Reign in Hell".
During the events of the "Reign in Hell" miniseries, Hell was thrown into a massive conflict while Neron and his generals are confronted with a rebellion led by Blaze and Satanus, the rulers of Purgatory. Neron soon discovered that the rebel demons were offering the damned "hope to the hopeless" and redemption for them, which had "never" happened before, and that this was a powerful spur. Realizing what would happen if the damned ever rose against him, Neron has his consort Lilith, the "mother of all Earthborn fiends", summon all of the vampires, werewolves, ghouls and infernally powered humans to Hell to fight on his side.
This unrest in the infernal realms attracts the attention of Earth's magical superheroes, who are concerned with the outcome and possible repercussions of the war. Many of them descend into Hell and take sides in the conflict (all for reasons of their own), including Giovanni "John" Zatara, his daughter Zatanna Zatara, Jason Blood a.k.a. Etrigan the Demon, Randu Singh, Doctor Fate V (Kent V. Nelson), the Ragman III (Rory Regan), the Creeper II (Jack Ryder), Detective Chimp, the vampire Lord Andrew Bennett, Acheron, the angel Zauriel, the Enchantress, Deadman, the Phantom Stranger, Sargon the Sorcerer II (David John Sargent), Ibis the Invincible II (Daniel Kasim "Danny" Khalifa), the Nightmaster, Nightshade II (Eve Eden), the Midnight Rider, the Warlock's Daughter, Black Alice, Blue Devil, Red Devil and the fallen angel Linda Danvers. In the miniseries' backup story, Doctor Richard Occult, aided by the Yellow Peri, also descends into Hell, but separately from the others and with his ulterior motive - to free the soul of his beloved, Rose Psychic, from damnation.
Lobo, who, at this time, is confined to the Labyrinth, Hell's only prison (due to the deal that he had earlier made with Neron in the "Underworld Unleashed" crossover event) and whose suffering alone is enough to power Neron's entire palace, is freed from his torment as a result of the titanic battle between Etrigan the Demon and Blue Devil, a battle that results in Etrigan the Demon's (temporary) death at Blue Devil's hands. Lobo then tears apart the soul of Zatara, which forces Zatanna to destroy his soul and banish it to the Abyss (a place that even Hell cannot touch) at his request, rather than to consign him to an eternity of pain and torment(later, in the 16-issue miniseries "Zatanna" (vol. 2) (July 2010–October 2011), Zatara's soul is shown to have been saved from destruction by a demon who owes him a favor).
Despite all of this and "just" when Neron seems to be victorious, Satanus finally reveals that he used the war as a cover to spread a modified viral version of DMN, the anagogic drug that changes humans into monsters and that he had used once before to destabilize Metropolis and confound Superman. This variation of DMN is airborne and, when combined with the speaking of the magic word "Shazam", it transforms Neron and all of Hell's demons into soulless humans, all except Lilith, who was "not" a true demon. It also causes all of the demonic entities that Neron had consumed over the millennia to be cast out of him. Satanus then kills Neron and takes the throne of Hell for himself. The damned then turn their rage upon the now-human and powerless demons, slaughtering them wholesale and thus damning themselves anew.
Blaze later takes advantage of her brother's momentary weakness during a moment when he allows Black Alice to touch him and sample his powers. This action shatters Black Alice's psyche and allows Blaze to drain Satanus' power and take the throne of Hell for "herself", thus winning the war. Towards the end of the miniseries, the "Unspoken Principium" of Hell is revealed by Doctor Occult to be "You can leave whenever you want", reiterating what was said about Hell in the Neil Gaiman version. However, the miniseries is known to have many internal continuity errors that make its place in mainstream DC Universe canon questionable at best.
Geography.
In the "Reign in Hell" miniseries, the Infernal Dominion is divided up into nine Provinces, each of which have their own rulers. All of the rulers of the Provinces bowed down to Neron, then to Satanus when he took the throne of Hell from Neron and then to Blaze when she did the same thing to Satanus. The Nine Provinces included Pandemonia, the Odium, the Gull, Praetori, Internecia, Ament, the Labyrinth, Err and Purgatory ("below, there are descriptions of the Nine Provinces of the Infernal Dominion as depicted in the miniseries").
The Infernal Hosts.
According to the "Reign in Hell" miniseries, Blaze, the sister of Satanus, is the current ruler of Hell; she succeeded her brother who, in turn, succeeded Neron. The mainstream DC Comics version of Hell always has a single ruler known as the "First Seated of the Entire Infernal Dominion" and holding the title of either Dominus (male) or Domina (female); the first such Dominus was Neron, the current Domina is Blaze, sister of Satanus and daughter of the wizard Shazam and a demoness (name unknown).
The First Seated rules by his (or her) "infernal will and chthonic way"; he (or she) is addressed as the "Lord" (or "Lady") "of the Hosts of Hell, First Seated of the Entire Infernal Dominion".
Other versions.
According to the six-issue miniseries "Artemis: Requiem" (June–November 1996) by William Messner-Loebs and Ed Benes and the second story in "Wonder Woman Annual" (vol. 2) #6 (1997) by Joan Weis and Ed Benes (which do "not" take place in mainstream DC Universe canon), there are 13 princely thrones in Hell, each selected to oversee 13 different realms of it. It is then assumed that these demon princes ultimately answer to the crowned head of Hell. The demoness Belyllioth is Princess of 1/13th of Hell's realms in these stories. She supposedly replaced the previous ruler, Dalkriig-Hath, once he was destroyed by his bride Artemis of Bana-Mighdall. Artemis was, by right, next in line to rule her former husband's realm, but instead she had the other 12 Princes of Hell grant Belyllioth her station instead. Notable in this depiction were the Myrmidons, a race of savage ant-like demons that were faithful to Belyllioth.
Vertigo.
Description.
The Vertigo imprint of DC Comics also has its own version of Hell, with its own very specific infernal sovereignty formerly ruled by Lucifer Samael Morningstar.
Fictional history.
Contrary to popular belief, the term Satan (a Hebrew word meaning "adversary") represents a title within the legions of Hell and is "not" an actual name. The most well-known Satan is Lucifer Samael Morningstar, whose rule supplanted both that of the First of the Fallen and the First Triumvirate and Etrigan the Demon and the Second Triumvirate. Lucifer was the fourth fallen angel and yet "not" the first ruler of Hell, though he later became the ruler of Hell for many centuries. When the Great Evil Beast threatened all of existence by making an attack on Creation during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths", a civil war erupted in Hell as a result and the regency was split into the Second Triumvirate, which consisted of Etrigan the Demon, his mother Rann Va Dath of the Pit and Abaddon the Destroyer. This was only an interim triumvirate, however, and it was soon replaced by the Third Triumvirate. Eventually, Lucifer grew bored with his position, abdicated the throne of Hell and retired to Earth with his mistress, the lilim known as Mazikeen.
Geography.
The realms of the Vertigo version of Hell are not as defined as the ones in the DC Comics version after the "Reign in Hell" miniseries, but specific areas have been mentioned in various stories.
Infernal sovereignty.
The hierarchy of the Vertigo version of Hell has changed several times over the millennia, the ruler of which has always assumed the title of Satan. There are also ranks among the demons, including Kings, Queens, Princes, Lords, Arch-Dukes, Dukes and several others as well. Eventually, Lucifer grew bored with his position, abandoned Hell entirely, forced every being within it out of it, closed its gates behind him, locked them and gave its key to Dream of the Endless, who eventually gave it to two angels, Remiel and Duma, who then transformed Hell into a place of spiritual rehabilitation rather than eternal punishment. In the interim, Lucifer was shown as the ruler of Hell in the mainstream DC Comics series "The Spectre" (vol. 2) #1–31 (April 1987–November 1989, plus one "Annual" (1988)) and "The Demon" (vol. 3) #1–58 (July 1990–May 1995, plus two "Annual"s (1992 and 1993) and one #0 issue (October 1994)) and the mainstream DC Comics miniseries "Stanley and His Monster" (vol. 2) #1–4 (February–May 1993).
Lesser demons.
Arch-Dukes of Hell.
In his appearance in "Constantine the Hellblazer" #8–13, Neron is mentioned as now being an Arch-Duke of Hell (a far cry from the ruler of Hell that he had once been) by no less an authority than John Constantine the Hellblazer himself.
In other media.
Television.
Hell exists in the CW's Arrowverse. It was first mentioned in season 4 of "Arrow", where Oliver Queen stated that he could not call for John Constantine's help, because he was literally in Hell. Hell was then depicted in season 4 of "Legends of Tomorrow", where Constantine and Nora Darhk traveled there to rescue Ray Palmer's soul. The Arrowverse's version of the Triumvirate of Hell was made up of the demons Beelzebub, Belial and Satan, who were engaged in a power struggle against another demon, Neron.