Demon Nic

Paul Grist was born on this day in 1960 in Sheffield, England. Among his earliest work are a story with a young Grant Morrison called St Swithin's Day, a Grendel story with Steven T. Seagle, and a Judge Dredd story with Robbie Morrison, and he has produced stories for both Marvel and DC. But what we're really here to celebrate today are the works that Grist both wrote and drew, several of which he published himself via his own company, Dancing Elephant Press, in the '90s: Kane, Jack Staff, Burglar Bill, Mudman, Demon Nic.

If you've missed the first two chapters of Demon Nic, currently running in the pages of 2000 AD's Judge Dredd Megazine, here's what you need to know before the third chapter hits shelves this week: First off, it's a new supernatural action series from writer/artist Paul Grist, the man responsible to for the single greatest superhero comic ever printed, and frequent collaborator and colorist Phil Elliott. Second, the main character is a demon named Nic --- hence the title --- in a world where an uneasy truce between humanity and the forces of Hell has been broken and now demons are just sort of hanging out in the world making front-page news. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Nic was killed at the end of the second chapter by a karate nun. There, now you're all caught up. Now check out a preview.

I've written about it before, but there are few things in this fallen world more perfect than Paul Grist's Jack Staff. It's my favorite superhero comic, and I'm a big enough fan that I've made it a point to track down pretty much everything else Grist has done, from the bizarre superheroics of Mudman all the way to the stylish crime drama of Kane, and there's not a single one of them that's disappointed. Grist, along with frequent collaborator and colorist Phil Elliot, has an impeccable track record, and I'm always up for checking out something new. So when I found out today that not only do Grist and Elliot have a brand new project called Demon Nic running in the pages of 2000 AD's Judge Dredd Megazine, but it's been going for two months, I was pretty surprised. What wasn't surprising, however, is that it's great.