Reign in Hell #3 - DC

Like I've said so far this series . . . Keith Giffen has really pumped a lot of information into this little book. He's got to have this huge map, or chart or something, on his office wall showing the hierarchy of everything that he's developing here. It's tremendous . . and ominous . . and a little intimidating. But we're in Hell. What more would you expect? Last issue we spent a lot of time with Neron . . listening to his plans and ideas, and watching the destruction unfold. This issue we spend the majority of our time with Satanus and Lady Blaze. We also get a glimpse of the legion of magic-based beings from Earth down here who are trying to figure out which side to fight on, or against. There's not much of a choice right now, it's pretty much Satanus or Neron. The first to throw his hat into the ring is Danny, Blue Devil. Since Neron is the one who cursed him, he's hoping that if he curry's Satanus' favor, by helping him against Etrigan, that he can lift the curse for him at a later time. It's a 'pipe-dream' at best, but right now it's the only hope he's got. The other characters roaming around include . . Zatanna and Sargon who came in with Danny . . Eve, June and Rory, although I'm not sure yet what they're trying to accomplish . . the Creeper who's appearing in multiple formats and is acting as a brush-beater for Neron's forces . . Black Alice and Ibis . . . Doctor Occult . . and Fate, who hasn't really made a move yet but seems to be watching and taking in all of the drama. Like I said before, I definitely think that this series is going to serve as the blue-print for this corner of the DC Universe in the future. I also think that a lot of these characters are going to come out the other end of this changed . . or at the least, their alliances will be in question. Right now this is all taking place in the bowels of Hell. It'll be interesting to see what the ramifications are, back on Earth, when this is done. But, I don't see a clean ending happening here, so . . . I think this is going to be an influence for some time to come. On a bright note . . Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz artwork is amazing. They've really captured the feel and torment of this region. I love the dark colors and shadows that they use for everything. Justiniano is also the perfect artist for the Doctor Occult series. Overall I thought it was a fantastic book with huge aspirations. The way they're going . . I think they'll get there.