Darkhold
The Darkhold, also known as The Book of Sins, is a fictional book (a grimoire) appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Darkhold | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Marvel Spotlight #4 (June 1972) |
Created by | Gerry Conway Mike Ploog |
In story information | |
Type | Book, Mystic item/artifact |
Element of stories featuring | Chthon |
Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins | |
---|---|
![]() Cover of Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins 1 (Oct, 1992), art by Richard Case | |
Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a set of ongoing series. |
Genre | |
Publication date | October 1992 – January 1994 |
Number of issues | 16 |
Publication history
The Darkhold was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Mike Ploog. The Darkhold was first mentioned in Marvel Spotlight #3 (May 1972), but first shown in Marvel Spotlight #4 (June 1972). The book subsequently appeared in Werewolf by Night #1 (September 1972) and Marvel Chillers #3 (February 1976).
The comic book series Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins ran 16 issues, from October 1992 through January 1994.
The Darkhold received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #2.
Fictional book history
Origin
Chthon, a demonic Elder God who was the Earth's first practitioner of black magic, was the principal author of the Darkhold. Being academic, Chthon wrote all his collected knowledge of magic into the iron-bound scrolls that served as the first form of the Darkhold. It remained as the Darkhold after most of the demonic Elder Gods were slain by the Demogorge except for Chthon and Set. The Darkhold's power is so vast it took the combined strength and will of both Merlin and St. Brendan to contain it. Even together, they were unable to destroy it or its power. Mordred also seemed to believe that use of the Darkhold would grant him sufficient strength to challenge Merlin himself.
First vampire
Humans first found the Darkhold during the time before Atlantis sank into the ocean. When Kull slew Thulsa Doom, Doom's followers, the Darkholders, used the Darkhold to create the first vampire, Varnae, dying due to wounds suffered in battle with Kull. Varnae consumed one of the Darkholders who attempted to command him, and began creating other vampires. Some surviving Darkholders managed to make off with the Darkhold before Atlantis sank.[1]
When Atlantis sank, Varnae went into hibernation and did not revive until circa 10,000 BC. He found that some parchments of the Darkhold had been left behind in the Flaming Mountains of Khorasha. Varnae attempted to recover these parchments, now bound into "The Iron-Bound Book Of Skelos." In an altercation with Conan, Red Sonja, and the sorcerer Zula, Varnae controlled bat-like humanoids called the Afterlings. Zula used a spell from the Darkhold/Chthon Scrolls against Varnae, reciting, "Shemek Iref Wenek Tjhen Inek It-Ek Chthon Djedeni Emm-Maat Wenen Taeei Hemet Ankh-Ek Isheset Antioo Djedte Nes Sep Iree Nen Renek Anhkhu Wi-Im Valka!" He then noted, "I'm sorry the incantation ended where it did--and only hurt Lord Varnae, rather than destroying him." To Zula, the words appeared in Stygian, but it had long been known that Chthon had cast a spell that would make the Darkhold appear intelligible in any language. In any event, Varnae fled.[2]
Red Sonja
Zula also used the Darkhold against the Set-worshipping sorcerer Thugra Khothan. Later Red Sonja and Zula traveled to Zamboula, Zamboula serving as the western part of the Turanian empire. Totrasmek, the priest of the deity Hanuman (note that Hindus also worship a simian deity called Hanuman), came into possession of the Chthon Scroll/Darkhold. Totramesk had been searching for years for the Darkhold. Zula recovered the Darkhold and used the scrolls to transport himself and Sonja away. Zula noted that the scroll disappeared as a result of the spell.[3]
Later historians in the Vatican would note that at some point scrolls of the Darkhold were taken East during the Hyborian Age.[4]
Morgan le Fay
After the Hyborian Age, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hebrews came to possess the Darkhold scrolls. Morgan le Fay bound the scrolls into book form for the first time circa the 7th century. It is around this time they were translated from Chthon's arcane script into Latin. Saint Brendan tore them up. Numerous pages from the Darkhold have been scattered across the globe by cults of Chthon-worshipping Darkholders. The usage of a page of the Darkhold would summon the Darkhold Dwarf, a minion or manifestation of Chthon, who would attempt to manipulate and corrupt the page's invoker.
In the 12th century, a heretical monk named Aelfric had reformed the Darkhold. This monk was burnt at the stake, the Darkhold with him. The Darkhold reformed itself, and was purchased by a trader, who was then murdered. By the 17th century, the Vatican came to possess the Darkhold. Dracula sent a thief to acquire it for him, but Cagliostro slew the thief and took it for himself.
At some point the vampire Lord Ruthven may have possessed the Darkhold.
Werewolves
The Darkhold was also responsible for the curse of the werewolf; an 18th-century man named Grigori Russoff had been tainted by the Darkhold, and was subsequently bitten by a werewolf who served Dracula. Grigori passed this curse of lycanthropy on to his descendants, including eventually Gregor Russoff and his son Jacob Russoff. Taboo, the sorcerer, claims to have found the Darkhold in an old Balkan castle. He used to taunt Gregor Russoff with a possible cure.[5]
Gregor Russoff came to possess the Darkhold. He would later copy much of its content into the journal of his ancestor, and used it as a journal for himself. Accounts vary as to how he came to possess it. Some say he purchased it, while others say he took it from the sorcerer Taboo. Two accounts say that Russoff bought it. In any event, when he read of the origin of lycanthropy in the Darkhold, Gregor Russoff (whose ancestor Grigori had been a werewolf) also contracted lycanthropy. During this time, Dracula shadowed Russoff.
Gregor Russoff attempted to raise Chthon hoping he could cure him of lycanthropy. Chthon instead apparently struck Russoff dead, though Russoff evidently somehow revived. The High Evolutionary and Magnus managed to defeat Chthon at this point. Presumably, the revived Gregor Russoff recovered the Darkhold and somehow managed to hide his activities from the High Evolutionary and Magnus for some time. He was later slain by villagers no earlier than approximately 20 years ago.
Later, Russoff's son Jack also became a werewolf. Recovering the Darkhold from Miles Blackgar, he gave it to a Father Jacquez to translate. Aelfric's ghost possessed Jacquez. At the end of this struggle, Russoff incorrectly thought that the Darkhold was destroyed. Later, Russoff traveled to Transylvania with the Indian woman Topaz to visit Russoff Manor. There they found Gregor Russoff's diary. Dracula came to possess the diary, but he left it behind in a blizzard in the Alps once he learned that the diary contained a copy of the Montesi Formula to destroy vampires. Morgan Le Fay later recovered the diary.
At some point Doctor Doom found a part of the Darkhold that allowed him to cast a spell to access Belasco's Limbo. Also at some point, Mephisto imprisoned a demon called Darklove into a page of the Darkhold.
Marvel Zombies
The Darkhold played a role in the fifth Marvel Zombies series, specifically in the third issue.[6] In this series, Machine Man and Howard the Duck (from the primary Marvel universe) and Jackie Kane (from Earth-483) travel between dimensions collecting samples of the various zombie viruses in order to develop a cure. In this issue, they travel to a universe which contains zombies dubbed "Raimis" (a reference to the Evil Dead films directed by Sam Raimi). In this universe, though, the zombies are controlled by the Darkhold rather than by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, which is how they are controlled in the film series.
Later appearances
Carnage was augmented by the Darkhold and was successful in resurrecting Chthon, but were defeated by the Symbiote Task Force (composed of John Jameson, Eddie Brock as Toxin, Claire Dixon and Jubil van Scotter).[7]
During the Secret Empire storyline, Baron Helmut Zemo used the Darkhold on Blackout in order to enhance his powers enough to have Darkforce shadows cover all of Manhattan.[8]
Darkhold Redeemers
A group led by Victoria Montesi, the last member of the Montesi family, attempted to curtail the effects of the lost pages of the Darkhold. The group starred in the series Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins. Many pages of the Darkhold were being passed around by a demonic dwarf. The recipients of the page could use them to grant a wish at the cost of their soul; the wish tends to go horrifically wrong.[9]
Victoria Montesi
Louise Hastings
A member of the Darkhold Redeemers. Professor Louise Hastings was an expert in the occult. She spent her career fighting occult or demonic forces, usually alongside her peers and the Midnight Sons. During the crisis known as the "Midnight Massacre" it was Hastings who saved the day by reading from the Darkhold, sacrificing her soul to Chthon. She was killed months later during the "Siege of Darkness" by Morbius who was possessed by Lilin blood. She is survived by her grandson, Jinx.
Sam Buchanan
Little is known about Sam Buchanan. He is an Interpol agent who is assigned to protect Victoria Montesi after she barely survived an attack by a cult worshipping the Darkhold. After Victoria Montesi disappears and Professor Hastings was murdered, Sam walked away from the occult. He is presumed back at Interpol.
Modred The Mystic
Jinx
Jinx is the grandson of Louise Hastings, an expert in the occult and a mystic of limited power. It is likely that her experiences in the mystic affected her lineage, although her daughter, Caprice, never demonstrated any mystical abilities. Jinx proved able to access magic to perform small feats without any sort of training. Jinx's mother was killed in a struggle over of the Darkhold pages, and he came to live with his grandmother, Louise. Almost instantly, he became caught up in a Darkhold plot to reassemble the pages. Sam Buchanan was an agent of Interpol and was convinced by his superior, DeGuzman, leader of a Darkholder sect, to betray and bring in the Darkhold Redeemers. Jinx followed Buchanan back to a base in the southwest, where he accessed the energy of a page of the Darkhold to disperse a group of guards and free Victoria Montesi.
An ally of the Darkhold Redeemers, Blade, was temporarily corrupted by a page of the Darkhold, becoming an incarnation of the Demogorge. Modred teleported Jinx back to New Hope to prevent him from being injured in the battle against the Demogorge.
Jinx accompanied the other Redeemers when they investigated Lt. Frank Walsh after he used the "Troid" spell of the Darkhold. Following this, Victoria Montesi accessed a page of the Darkhold to gain healing powers. This resulted in the summoning of the creature Monstrosity, which was drawn to follow Victoria and slaughter those it encountered. Jinx attempted to engage the Monstrosity, but was stabbed in the chest by it. He was mortally wounded, but Victoria appeared and used her magics to heal him instantly. It was at this time that Jinx began training as an apprentice to Modred, much to the consternation of the other Redeemers. Jinx demonstrated the ability to focus mystic energy from his right eye while directly participating in the struggle against Spider-X, another Darkhold page user.
Modred's training allowed Jinx to participate in the "Siege of Darkness", amplifying Modred's power to oppose the forces of the demon Lilith I. Internal strife and misunderstandings amongst the Midnight Sons did briefly turn Jinx against Modred, but they soon resolved this. Jinx accompanied the others to the jungles of Central America to locate the Blood member Truth-Sayer. They succeeded, although Truth-Sayer was incinerated by the Fallen member Metarchus. Following this, in order to protect him against the final battle against Lilith and Zarathos, Jinx was sent to the Vatican to remain under the care of Vittorio Montesi.
In other media
- The Darkhold appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Mother of Doom". It was shown to be used to hold up the wobbly part of Doctor Strange's chair much to Chthon's annoyance.
- The Darkhold is referenced in the Marvel Anime: Blade episode "The Other Side of Darkness". In the post-credits of the episode, Blade's narration states that he is now fighting against the Vampires who are followers of the Darkhold as seen when he saves a woman from some of the Darkhold-worshiping Vampires.
- The Darkhold is featured in the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[10] It had aliases like the Book of Spells and the Book of Sins. The Darkhold is revealed by Coulson to be sought by numerous parties over the years. While its pages appear blank, words will manifest before corporeal readers in their native language. The book was found by Momentum Labs worker Joseph Bauer and his wife Lucy Bauer, using it in their research to create matter from nothing. When they touched it, the text appeared in English to Lucy and German for Joseph. But the lab technician Eli Morrow, became obsessed with the power that the Darkhold offered, turning Lucy and their co-workers Hugo, Frederic, and Vincent into ghost-like beings. Later, he assaulted Joseph in an attempt to get the Darkhold's location, putting Joseph in a coma. After freeing Hugo, Frederick, and Vincent in "Meet the New Boss", Lucy begins to search for the Darkhold to help restore her physical form and resume their work.[11] In the episodes "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire" and "Lockup", Lucy uses her ghostly abilities to revive Joseph from his coma to learn the location of the book, killing him unintentionally as a side effect of her touch. Lucy is forced to free Eli from South Ridge Penitentiary as her incorporeal state renders her unable to use the book. She succeeds at the cost of her fellow ghosts. When Eli touches the Darkhold, the text appears in Spanish. In the episode "The Good Samaritan", Eli and Lucy created a replica of their laboratory at the abandoned Roxxon Power Plant previously owned by Isodyne. After Melinda May contained the Darkhold and Lucy was vanquished by Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider, Eli uses the machine to become a powerful being able to create matter from nothing. In the episode "Deals With Our Devils", Holden Radcliffe uses AIDA to read the Darkhold where the text appears in binary. Using the information given to her, AIDA creates a dimensional portal to free Phil Coulson and Leo Fitz from between dimensions. By the end of the episode, AIDA uses her newfound knowledge to work on an artificial brain. In the episode "Hot Potato Soup", Eric Koenig's siblings hid the Darkhold in a place called the Labyrinth until it is found and stolen by Holden Radcliffe as part of his plans to learn the secrets to immortality. In the episode "Boom", the Watchdog Superior Anton Ivanov reads the book, with text appearing to him in Russian, which tells him how to fight the Inhumans. In the episode "Self Control", AIDA used the Darkhold to create a Life Model Decoy body of the crippled Anton Ivanov where the brain in his severed head controlled the body remotely. She then proceeds to create various LMDs of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., creating an alternate reality within a computer reality called the Framework, where she assumes the alias of Aida Ophelia / Madame Hydra. In the episode "World's End", the Darkhold is secured by Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider after AIDA is destroyed. He takes it to a distant area to hide it so that it would never fall into the wrong hands again.
- Morgan le Fay uses the Darkhold in the third season of Runaways.[12]
References
- Doctor Strange III #11/2
- Conan the Barbarian #244-245
- Savage Sword of Conan #194-195
- Doctor Strange vol. 3 #13/2
- Mystic Arcana #3
- Marvel Zombies 5 #3
- Carnage Vol. 2. Marvel Comics
- Secret Empire #0
- The Darkhold #1 (October 1992)
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2017-05-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Mitovich, Matt Webb (September 27, 2016). "S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: Catch the Spirit — Plus, the New Director Is [Spoiler]". TVLine. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- "Marvel's Runaways season 3: How did Morgan le Fay get the Darkhold?". Netflix Life. 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
External links
- Darkhold at Marvel.com
- Darkhold Redeemers at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- Darkhold on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki