The Comics Go to Hell: A Visual History of the Devil in Comics

From the author of Black Images In the Comics comes this survey of Satan's many cartoon guises. The Devil is one of the most potent and longest-lived icons in the history of human civilization. It is therefore not a big surprise that images of the Prince of Darkness are so abundant in comics—a medium that by its nature builds upon the communicative powers of icons. In this book the author examines how cartoonists through the ages have used the myths about the Devil, in a wide variety of ways.

The book is divided into several thematic chapters, including "Ancient Devils"—about medieval artists rendering the Devil in sequential picture stories; "Religious Devils"—concerning the Devil in Christian comics; "Super Devils"—the Devil in superhero comics; "Funny Devils"—all the humorous ways the image of the Devil can be used; and more.

Comics featured in this book include, among others: the infamous Jack T. Chick tracts, Hellblazer, Love & Rockets, The Checkered Demon, Donald Duck, Mephisto, Dilbert, The New Adventures of Jesus, Stray Toasters, The Demon, Futurama, Preacher, Hot Stuff—The Little Devil, Castle Waiting, Sandman, The Book of Leviathan, Swamp Thing, Dragon Ball, Spawn, Silver Surfer, Picture Stories from the Bible, Uncanny X-Men, Tintin, Sshhhh! and Lady Death.

Like Strömberg's previous book from Fantagraphics, Black Images in the Comics, The Comics Go To Hell is designed for maximum browsability, with each spread featuring a short (but informative!) essay on a comic next to a representative panel of the work at hand.