#the last knight of st. hagan

[omercifulheaves]

The Last Knight of St. Hagan #2 Art by Sebastian Fiumara

[neuviemeart]

The Last Knight Of St. Hagan #1 - Cover by Sebastian Fiumara

[biggoonie]

The Last Knight Of St. Hagan #3 (Of 4)

Mike Mignola (W), Scott Allie (W), Andrea Mutti (A), Lee Loughridge (C), and Sebastián Fiumara (Cover) On sale June 17 FC, 32 pages $3.99 Miniseries A dire chase plays out against the backdrop of occupied Europe! Goaded on by the spirit of St. Hagan, a Polish spy pursues the Nazi soldiers who stole valuable rebel intel and left him for dead. What the envelope contains is the key to stopping an occult doomsday plan. But occult forces at work in the Third Reich have sensed his presence, and move to intercept. Will one man, even infused with such a spirit, be enough to overcome that which stands against him?

[collecting-stories]

Baby Hagan - Steve Harrington

Request: If you feel inspired to write for steve harrington I'd like to request something for him. Miss st so much and fanfiction is my only salvation lol // Request: What about hagan!reader? (I think that's Tommy's last name if i remember correctly). Reader always had a crush on steve, but she only got to really know him after his friendship with her brother ended. And like tommy is just a shitty brother overall

A/N: I feel like this whole fic is me going off on tangents or something but I sincerely hope that you like it! 

Stranger Things Masterlist 

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

You could remember, clear as day, the first time you knew that you were madly in love with Steve Harrington. It was the first day of sixth grade and you were finally in middle school. It felt a little surreal but you’d been planning since August. Outfit laid out on the bed, backpack ready with all the essentials, shoes picked out, hair style perfected. Your mom had even caved and agreed to let you were cherry lipgloss to school. All in all, it was a fresh start, even if you’d just be going to school with all the same kids you’d been going to school with for the last six years.  

But a fatal snag in your plan had almost ruined the best first school day you could ever have. It was just after the warning bell went off in the hallway, three minutes to homeroom and you were trying desperately to get your locker combination to work. Your stomach had been in knots all morning but you chalked it up to nerves, anyone would be nauseous on their first day. But just as your locker swung open you felt someone push up behind you, a jean jacket tying around your waist and your brother’s best friend squeezing your sides gently as he let go of you again.  

“Steve, hi…what, uh, what are you doing?” You looked at the jacket in confusion, turning to face him. Just beyond his shoulder, your brother stood on the other side of the hallway, laughing. “What’s the matter?”  

“Walk with me to the nurse?” Steve asked, nodding his head back toward the lobby and the nurses office.  

The confusion that had been on your face a moment ago slowly disappeared as you felt your stomach lurch again, the discomfort clear to you now. It was the first day of sixth grade and you had gotten your period for the first time. “Oh my god…oh my god, oh my-“

“It’s okay,” Steve reassured, putting his arm around your shoulder as the final bell rang, “let’s go.”  

Steve guided you to the nurse’s office, away from Tommy who hadn’t stopped laughing even as he headed to class. The jacket was unharmed, thankfully, and when the nurse came in to ask what happened Steve took as his cue to leave, though he left the jacket for you. The moment, though embarrassing, romanticised itself in your head. Steve Harrington, super cool even in seventh grade, had rescued you from total ostracism on the very first day of school like the hero knight he was. It was later that night while you were laying in bed, staring at his jacket on the bedpost, dreaming of the valiant rescue, that he stopped being your brother’s best friend and started being your crush.  

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that baby Hagan having some premium Milwaukee booze?” Steve’s voice cut through the late night silence of the grocery store parking lot and you looked up from the six pack of beer that was sitting beside you on the trunk of your car to where he was standing. The Shop’n’Bag was officially closed though the lights in the parking lot were still on. It was overcast, a little eerie, the moon was hidden behind clouds and you were trying to drown your sour mood in beer before you’d have to go home and torture your ears with the sound of Tommy and Carol making out all night long.  

“Would you like to partake?” You asked, pulling a can from the plastic holder and extending it to him. It’d been a while since Steve and Tommy actually hung out. Senior year, they’d dissolved their friendship over your brother’s bizarre need to kiss Billy Hargrove’s ass and Steve’s realization that your brother was arguably the worst person on earth, but you kind of missed Harrington.  

Steve took the beer, popping the can and then climbing up next to you on the trunk. The now-four pack of beer scraped against the paint as it was pushed back but you didn’t pay it any mind, taking another sip from your can. “So, what’s got you out here at night?” Steve asked looking over and meeting your eyes in the dim light of the parking lot.  

“Shitty date, what else?” You grumbled. As much as you imagined some alternate universe in which Steve would find out that you went on a date and suddenly realize his undying love for you, it hadn’t happened yet. “Is every basketball player in Hawkins a massive asshole?”

“Hey,” Steve looked mildly offended, “I used to be a basketball player!”

“Yeah? You also used to be a massive asshole.” You laughed, “you know I’ve known you like, all my life Steve? I remember what a dick you could be when you were friends with Tommy.”  

He grimaced around another sip of beer, you had a point, he couldn’t deny that. “Point taken. I’m not now though...we should hang out more often, I’ll prove it to you.”  

“How are you gonna prove to me that you’re not a dick? Like, help an old lady across the street or something?” You teased.  

“I have plenty of character references.” He replied, taking a sip of his beer and side-eyeing you.  

“Like...I’m gonna need written statements Harrington.”  

“Dustin-”

“Henderson? That kid is a dick too!” You laughed, laying back against the window of the car, “I used to baby sit him in eighth grade. Unless you’ve got Will Byers vouching for you, none of the brat pack are gonna suffice.”

“Okay, okay...Robin Buckley.” Steve replied, “and Nancy will tell you too. I’m fully reformed. Besides, you know I’m not a dick.”

You smiled, “yeah, I know, I just like pushing your buttons. Besides, Tommy’s not around to bust my ass for not ‘being nice’ to you. And I might be a teeny, tiny, bit drunk.” You said, holding your forefinger and thumb close together to signify how little you’d had. In actuality it was a bit more than that, you’d gone through two tall cans before Steve had come up.  

“Yeah, let's take these and get you home,” Steve slid off the trunk of the car and took the remaining four cans, opening the backdoor to put them in under the seat. You were still laying back against the car, watching him as he shut the door and came back over to you. “Keys?”

“I can drive.” You promised, holding up the keys to your car as if you were showing them off to him, the little disco ball Vicky had bought you as a birthday present glittering in the light.  

“I would feel better if I did.” He insisted, taking the keys with little resistance.  

You slide all the way off the car and stood up once your feet hit the ground. “We should hang out more.” You announced, going around to the passenger side of the car. “I mean, you and Tommy aren’t friends, so we should be.”  

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” Steve replied, waving his arms at you. “You’re the one who told me I was an asshole.”  

“I said all basketball players are assholes and you used to be a basketball player so...yeah. Whatever that conclusion was.” You said. You slumped in your seat, putting your feet up on the dash and staring out the window as Steve pulled out of the parking lot. Hawkins was pretty much dead at this point, everyone off the streets and home. The streetlamps felt dimmer than usual as Steve drove the familiar roads back to your house.  

Steve had spent almost every day from the moment he got his license until the falling out with Tommy driving the road from his house to yours. He could probably drive it blindfolded if he had to. It felt like just yesterday that he was driving to hang out with Tommy and Carol at your house, pulling into the carport behind your mom’s station wagon.  

“You know, I miss you coming over.” You mentioned, mirroring Steve’s thoughts as he parked the car.  

“Even though I’m an asshole?” He joked. Steve pushed the driver’s side door open and then came around to your side, opening it for you and helping you out.  

“Tommy’s a bigger asshole.” You replied, letting him help you stand up, “at least when you were around, he didn’t bother me so much.”  

Since Steve still had your keys, he flipped through the keychain, finding the one to your house and unlocking the front door for you to go in first. He handed the keys back over and hung in the doorway, the screen door against his back. “So...my car is back at the Shop’n’Bag...”

“Do you wanna come in Steve?” You asked, rolling your eyes at him as you stepped aside to make room for him to walk passed you.  

“I mean, if you insist.” He teased, walking into the living room.  

You weren’t sure if you actually did more than pass out on the couch after that. When you woke up in the morning you knew you were dressed in your pajamas and you vaguely remembered changing before carrying blankets and pillows into the den for Steve. When he suggested watching a movie you agreed, putting on Fast Times at Ridgemont High and taking one of the blankets you’d brought for him.

By the time you woke up, you could hear your mom in the kitchen making breakfast, the smell of coffee already emanating through the first floor of the house. Steve groaned, stretching his arms above his head from the awkward angle of half-sitting while sleeping.  

“Your mom still burns coffee.” He whispered, grimacing as he met your eyes.  

-

After that, it felt like Steve was at your house all the time. If he wasn’t working or hanging out with Robin (or even when he was hanging out with Robin), he’d show up at your house. He was more than positive that it would be weird, coming over again when he wasn’t friends with Tommy anymore, and he was surprised that it wasn’t. There were a couple run ins with your brother but not too many and he didn’t really find himself caring either.  

Instead, he found himself actually enjoying spending time with you. So much so that Robin would tease him about his ‘girlfriend’ when you weren’t around and ask when he was going to “grow a pair and ask you out” as if it was that simple.  

“Finesse Robin, this takes finesse.”

“Finesse?” She almost choked on her soda as she looked over the counter at him. He was sorting new VHS tapes on the endcap and she was stealing the fries she promised to leave for him, “what’d you buy a dictionary over the weekend?”

“Haha, very funny.” He mocked, “all I’m saying is, I’ve known her like...most of my life. I can’t just walk up to someone who probably thinks of me the same way she thinks of her brother and profess my feelings.”

“Okay, first of all...if she thinks of Tommy the way I know she thinks of you...I’d be seriously worried about her. And second of all, just tell her. God, why do you people draw everything out like this? You think if I could just walk up to Vickie and tell her I liked her I’d be sitting here mulling over her day in and day out? No way! I’d be tongue deep-”

“Nope! No. Thank you, moving on.” Steve snapped, his whole face turning red, “Like I was saying, I need something more compelling.”

“More compelling than telling her you have a massive crush on her that you never had before because you were too busy being an asshole to realize what an awesome person she was?”

Steve glared at her, “you know you really put things in perspective for me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah...I need new friends.”  

The peptalk from Robin didn’t get any more helpful as the weeks turned into months and neither did his own peptalks, usually consisting of some sort empowerment speech in front of his mirror in the morning. It always felt promising but then he’d roll up to your house and you’d walk out and all the things he’d practiced saying to his reflection would die on his tongue. How was he supposed to do this?  

It was embarrassing, if he really thought about it too long. The more time he spent with you, the more time he wanted to spend with you and the more he felt himself getting tongue-tied and flustered and all the things that Steve Harrington did not get. Especially not around Tommy Hagan’s little sister. He’d known you since you were five, he had memories stacked like books in his head of all the times you’d even remotely embarrassed yourself in his presence and yet, somehow, he couldn’t conjure up the image of you doing a single embarrassing thing ever.  

Instead, on pizza nights when the two of you (or three because even when he specifically told Robin not to show up she was somehow already at your house, claiming she wanted to see Steve embarrass himself) hung out, it was like everything you did was endearing.  

“Why are you staring at me?” You’re voice broke him out of his thoughts and brought him back down to earth, looking over at you from where you were sitting on the other side of the couch. How was it that Robin managed to be sitting between the two of you?

“What?”

“You’re like hardcore staring at me eating this slice of pizza.” You replied. You knew he wasn’t staring at Robin, simply because she was slumped against the cushions, practically molding into them as she stared at Jodi Foster with wide eyes.  

“I was just...wondering if the pepperoni was any good?” It came out sounding more like a question than a statement, the whole sentence clunky and awkward anyway. What was he even talking about.

You looked skeptical as you appraised him, eyebrow arched in question and frown on your face, “well you ate like three pieces of pepperoni so...guess that’s your answer?”  

“Right, right.” He nodded, quickly turning back to the tv. God, what was this movie about? He’d gotten it because you’d said it was a favorite of yours and for the life of him he couldn’t even remember what he was suppose to be watching. “So...this guy like, drives a taxi?”

“I mean, yeah. That’s the basic like...concept I guess?” You replied, almost laughing, “are you not paying attention?”

“Can we all stop talking?” Robin asked, sitting up further in her seat, “I’m trying to enjoy this movie and you’re both yapping at each other.”  

“He was staring at me!”

“I was staring at the pizza!”

“That’s weird! Why are you being weird?” You pushed.  

“I’m not being weird!”

Robin leaned forward, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and pausing the VHS, slumping back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest. There was no use trying to enjoy the movie now.

“Oh my god, Steve, you’re being super weird. We’ve known each other forever, literally. I mean, you walked me to the nurse the first time I got my period. If that wasn’t weird for you, I don’t know why you’re being weird now.” You replied, insistent on the matter. You knew he was acting strange, he had been for a while now. The more the two of you hung out the weirder he was with you.  

“Note to self, revisit that story.” Robin muttered under her breath as she grabbed the pizza box and headed into the hallway and up the stairs to your room. She’d wait this out with some slices of pepperoni while you and Steve decided whether or not now was the right time to tell each other you were both majorly crushing on the other.  

“I’m not being weird.” He said, running a hand through his hair and then shaking it out, “I just...and I mean in school I was...and now...and you’re, you know. You know.”

“I literally don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Steve groaned, exasperated by the conversation and his inability to get his point across and the fact that he knew he was being weird. He was so painfully aware of it and he tried so hard not to be weird every day and it just never worked.  

“Listen,” he stood up, moving to stand in front of the television with his hands on his hips, looking more like your mother about to reprimand you and less like someone professing their undying love. “Listen,” he repeated, “I like you. A lot. And that’s weird for me okay. I mean, Steve Harrington,” he pointed to himself, “I was like...in highschool you know...and now. I mean, what, I work at the video store and I’m friends with a freshman and Robin?”

“Hey!” Robin shouted from the top of the steps, “you are lucky to be friends with me!”

“Sorry, I’m trying to do a thing here!” He shouted back.

“Not very well?” You laughed.  

Steve turned back to look at you, “look I’m just trying to tell you I want to date you.” It didn’t use to be this hard, was what he wanted to say. He used to know how to  do this, how to flirt and ask girls out and have them practically swooning over every word. Was it Nancy that broke him? Or the upside down? Or Billy stealing his top spot? Or everything bundled up into one?  

“So tell me you like me.”

“What?”

“If you like me so much, why don’t you just tell me.” You replied, “just because I think you used to be an asshole doesn’t mean I don’t like you. And just because we’re friends and I’m not swooning over your every word doesn’t mean I don’t like you either. I like you, a lot. I have since sixth grade Steve.”

“Seriously?” He felt surprised, he was sure he looked surprised. Whether it was just because you actually reciprocated the feelings he’d been agonising over telling you about or because you’d been harboring a secret crush on him this whole time, “so, you’ve liked me for like, years?” He asked, a smirk slowly washing away his nerves.  

“Oh my god,” you fell back against the couch cushions, grabbing a pillow to toss at him, “you are such an asshole!”  

“I’m just trying to get the facts straight here.”

“You know what, I liked you more when you were watching me eat pizza like a creep.”  

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 1/15

Is it hot in here, or is it just THE PLANET

Iron Man 2020 #1 (of 6) - Dan Slott and Christos N. Gage

The future is now! Artificial Intelligences presents a clear and present danger to humanity and must be brought to heel! The Robot Rebellion battles for the establishment of robot rights! And Arno Stark IS Iron Man!

Venom: The End #1 - Adam Warren and Chamba  

The alien symbiote who bonded with Eddie Brock has been through a lot... but not nearly as much as he has coming. In a tale that literally spans over a trillion years, Venom travels the length of space and time as the last defender of life in the universe!

Rising Sun #1 - Chien Ying Yu, David Rodriguez and Martin Coccolo

Chiyoko of the Koi Clan leads a group of powerful warriors, the best each clan has to offer, on a mission to save Japan from dragons and monsters. But perhaps the greatest threat she faces is not the many monsters who are ravaging the country, but her own team...

Hellboy Winter Special 2019 - Mike Mignola, Mark Laszlo & Various

Celebrate the season in true Hellboy fashion! Meet a ghostly miser in an alternate reality, fear the Boogam of rural New York, and embrace the wrath of St. Hagan in this trio of occult winter tales! The familiar faces of Hellboy, Sarah Jewell, and the legendary Knights of St. Hagan will help you ring in the new year with all the shivers you can take-and not all of them from the cold! Three short stories in one issue!

Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes #1(of 5) - Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum and Luca Maresca   

Black Cat's heroic days are behind her, but what is the secret behind the treasures she's thieving?  And why would Spider-Man let her go?! Delve into previously untold tales of Spider-Man and Black Cat's relationship, and a shock ending that will make your webs spin!  Don't miss the excitement as your favorite wall-crawler returns in the next GAMERVERSE series!

Whatcha snagging this week, Fantomites?

[eddycurrents]

The Bride of Hell & Others: “The Bride of Hell”

Words: Mike Mignola | Art: Richard Corben | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in Hellboy: The Bride of Hell | December 2009

Collected in Hellboy - Volume 11: The Bride of Hell & Others | Hellboy Library Edition - Volume 6 | Hellboy: Complete Short Stories - Volume 2

Plot Summary:

Hellboy travels to France in 1985 to save the daughter of a Zinco executive from a kidnapping, finding a cult dedicated to Asmodeus. 

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is solely in reference to the story itself and is not indicative of anything found within the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - This is a different sort of opening for Hellboy utilizing a news program to introduce the situation and provide a bit of exposition before starting the story in earnest. You used to see these all the time in the ‘80s and ‘90s in other comics, but they’ve kind of fallen out of fashion (Spawn probably being one of the few exceptions that still uses it regularly).

pg. 2 - This doesn’t look to be a good predicament to be in. At least the head priest doesn’t seem to be holding a dagger or anything.

pg. 3 - The tier structure that Richard Corben uses here is great, especially the top tier, reading as a wind blowing across the panels. Also, Hellboy walking into a bear trap is hilarious.

pg. 5 - I like that the monster is still in shadow throughout this initial confrontation and that we’re still confused about what’s going on.

pg. 6 - Dave Stewart’s use of orange all throughout this opening really gives the story a surreal atmosphere.

pg. 8 - Beautiful artwork from Corben and Stewart. The visual of a headless knight is interesting.

pg. 9 - We last saw the Order of St. Hagan in The Chapel of Moloch. I love that Mignola is fleshing out the Hagan character further here, giving him an interesting backstory about his part during the fall of Acre.

pg. 10 - It’s also interesting to see both sides of the argument to their execution of duties as being righteous to some, but out of line and heinous to others. How they may have started with noble intentions, but then gone down a path that wasn’t necessarily a good one. This kind of mirrors their real life analogue in the Templars.

pg. 12 - Like in The Crooked Man, I quite like the implication of Hellboy’s innate “goodness”. He’s repeatedly entering consecrated, holy ground of which their stewards say protect against evil, shown that it cannot enter, and Hellboy has no issue. It goes to show you that not all people who look like devils are devils.

pg. 14 - This page with the reveal of Asmodeus is just stunning. He’s looking a little worse for wear, but that just adds to the creepiness. The sickly green colour of his word balloons from Clem Robins just put it over the top.

pg. 15 - The Talmud includes the story of Solomon commanding and capturing Asmodeus. Western hermeticism goes further in him commanding an array of demons to build his temple, with that field of magick being known collectively as working the Goetia commonly pulled from the Lesser Key of Solomon. There are other traditions, folklore, and Islamic texts that outline some of this as well. 

I do find it interesting as to what Mignola and Corben chose for Asmodeus’ depiction, though. Many sources describe him as what you’d often think of as a “traditional” devil, red with horns and a tail, but very human in appearance. Others as a three-headed beast. What we get here, a lion with wings, is closer to what’s described as his mount in de Percy’s Infernal Dictionary. It does lead to a great visual, though.

pg. 16 - Demons giving excuses for why they have to do anything is hilarious. As is Asmodeus trying to rule Jerusalem.

pg. 18 - Everything’s always good until some religious order of knights decides to mess everything up.

pg. 19 - Yeah...he’s looking even more rough than before. Also, you’ve got to feel for a guy (or demon) who finds out all of his wives have been slaughtered.

pg. 20 - Ooh, that’s a twist. 

I also find it interesting that Asmodeus’ symbol is a simple heptagram. In many of the Catholic branches of Christianity, it’s seen as a good symbol. One that represents the seven days of creation and the perfection of God. I wonder if its use here was inspired by Babalon instead (though that’s not a Seal of Babalon), who is the consort of the Beast in Thelemic traditions. Taking Asmodeus in his incarnation as a demon of lust, maybe. It doesn’t really map, but it’s just weird to see a heptagram.

pg. 22 - This is just awesome.

pg. 24 - I know they were slaughtered again, but you do have to ask yourself, were Asmodeus and his bride really the bad guys here?

Final Thoughts:

This one’s interesting in building Mignola’s own Christian warrior sect in opposition to the Templars, but also furthers his own wonderful interpretation of the Goetia and the story of Solomon’s building of his Temple. It’s interesting to see this blend of history, western hermeticism, and Middle Eastern folklore going into this story.

d. emerson eddy thinks he may possibly have too many reference materials involving demons.

[omercifulheaves]

The Last Knight of St. Hagan #3 Art by Sebastian Fiumara

[omercifulheaves]

The Last Knight of St. Hagan #1 Art by Sebastian Fiumara New Hellboy-verse mini coming in April!