Jason Blood

474 - Jason Blood is born a member of the Druids of Cymru.

491 - 17-year-old Jason is forbidden by to Blackbriar Thorn from joining Arthur Pendragon's rebellion against the Saxons, so he leaves the Druids of Cymru, unaware that Merlin has selected him a the future host of Etrigan.

496 - 22-year-old Jason is knighted by Arthur Pendragon.

513 - 39-year-old Jason falls in love with Morgaine Le Fay.

517 - 43-year-old Jason betrays Camelot for Morgaine Le Fay, who in turn betrays him. Merlin punishes him by bonding him with Etrigan. He participates in the 2nd Shadowpact. He is bound to live endless lives, constantly forgetting his connection to his own past.

1680 - Jason has an affair with a protestant woman in Salem, Mass while under the influence of Etrigan.

49 years ago - Jason meets Glenda Mark, a part-time occultist. Together, along with famed mentalist Randu Singh, they uncover hidden magic within the tombs of an ruined English castle, accidentally restoring Morgaine le Fay's youth & power. Randu first forges the spells allowing Jason & Etrigan to change places, finally allowing Jason to remember his past lives.

48 years ago - Jason first confronts Klarion when he escapes Limbo Town and tries to hide with him, using his magic to take control of Etrigan. Jason manages to outwit & banish him.

46 years ago - Jason and Glenda Mark track evidence of the connection between Etrigan & the demon prince Belial. Etrigan manipulates Glenda to summon Belial and is taken to hell. Jason discovers that Belial is Etrigan's father. To free Glenda Jason agrees to allow Etrigan to take him to hell as well. Glenda is freed, Jason discovers that Merlin is Etrigan's half-brother. He begins to work with Etrigan to undo the magic binding them together, but when they both start to rapidly age they discover that they are still trapped together.

42 years ago - Jason reconnects with a now-married Glenda Mark. Etrigan steals her newborn son to use as a vessel for his own offspring Golgotha. With Randu Singh's help, Jason takes the child's place, allowing both Etrigan and Golgotha to occupy his mind at once, forcing Etrigan to accept a demon's bargain for control over Jason's mind to destroy Golgotha in return for never harming those Jason cares for. Glenda takes her child and refuses to ever see Jason again.

35 years ago - Jason & Zatara manage to coerce Etrigan to stop Morgaine Le Fay from breaching the Paths Beyond and freeing Mordred.

25 years ago - Jason Blood is found by Sir Ystin. He is brought to the weirwood in Wales where Blackbriar Thorn has awakened. As the only surviving Druid of Cymru, he is able to seal Thorn back within the wood before his consciousness fully awakens.

13 years ago - Etrigan helps Alec Holland navigate the realm of the dead as he searches for Abigail Cable's soul. He fights to allow him to free her so that he will be the only demon who knows of the flower blooming in Hell named after Abigail.

11 years ago - Jason first works with Batman, who comes to trust and empathize with his battle with his demon. He ventures into purgatory with Diana Prince to defeat Klarion & free the kidnapped Etta Candy.

9 years ago - Jason agrees to help Daniel Cassidy hunt for a pair of tablets that could hold the secret to undoing Dan’s transmutation. They find them in the Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, revealed to be a trap laid by the demon Nebiros, allowing him to escape imprisonment. Blood ensures that he is unable to leave hell or enter the mundane world.

5 years ago - Etrigan guides Jack Ryder into hell. He appears as one of the demons vying for Superman's soul, leaving Jason as one of the only witnesses to the event. Etrigan raises Dan Cassidy in the hierarchy of hell until he outranks Nebiros and defeats him, now serving Etrigan. Dan deals with heaven to expunge his demonic contract, but Etrigan now controls Nebiros's domain, upsetting the balance of power in Hell

3 years ago - Etrigan usurps Trigon's throne over his circle of Hell. With his heightened power, Jason gains more autonomy on earth.

2 years ago - Jason helps Tatsu Yamashiro journey into her enchanted sword to free the souls of her family.

1 year ago - Jason is recruited into the Outsiders.

Jason Blood's Comic History

Jason Blood first appeared in the Demon #1 in 1972, by the king himself. Kirby's run with DC was short, from 1970 to 1975, and while it's probably most notable for his invention of the Fourth World, he also created several short-run standalone series, all of which are just fantastic reads. Of all of them it would be very hard to argue that any of them had as lasting an impact as the Demon, which defined huge swaths of DC's mainstream continuity.

The story followed the adventures of Jason Blood, a demonologist traveling the world uncovering the secrets of the occult, whose memories hazily recalled endless lives lived over a millennia... until the magic of Morgaine Le Fey unlocks his true origin; he is the vessel for Etrigan a demon bound to Earth by Merlin himself during the fall of camelot. The series is absolutely bombastic, drawn with an epicness of scope that absolutely has to be seen to be believed. It builds worlds of magic that endured long after the series ended, and both Etrigan and his human counterpart Jason would regularly appear all over the DC landscape in books like Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Saga of the Swamp Thing and Blue Devil.

In 1987, in the midst of all the newly rebooted series of the Crisis of Infinite Earths, A second Demon series was published in a four-issue volume by Matt Wagner in some of his first work for DC. Wagner's inimitable style helped to redefine the character. The original Kirby series actually heavily implied that Jason wasn't actually a person, that he was actually just the human form granted to Etrigan when Merlin bid him to walk the Earth. By this point it was understood that Jason Blood was a seperate person that Melin bound to the Etrigan, and Wagner dove into the antagonism between the two beings. He also further defined the relationship between Etrigan & Merlin; revealing that they were half-brothers both fathered by the Demon Lord Belial. Etrigan hated being forced to serve Merlin, and by the end of the series he had successfully played Blood against him, freeing himself form their bond. It didn't last, but it remains one of the coolest stories in the character's history.

This was followed by another longrunning ongoing series by writers like Alan Grant & Garth Ennis from 90 to 95 that continually plunged the characters into the depths of Hell, eventually featuring Etrigan claiming the throne of hell itself, interacting with the worldbuilding done in Sandman.

Etrigan is one of the most prolific characters in DC, but one story in particular is relevant to us; and that's in the pages of Joe Kelly's JLA in 2002. When the League was lost in time and Batman's contingency plans were activated, creating a new League led by Nightwing, they were joined not by Etrigan, but by Jason Blood, acknowledging that he is one of the most experienced practitioners of magic in the world.

Our Jason Blood Story

There is so much content to adapt for this character. Etrigan's stories form the backbone of a lot of DC's version of the Arthurian tales, and they do so here as well. This is where we get our version of Merlin and Morgaine Le Fay. We're using the idea from the original comics that for much of history, as Jason lived life after life and had innumerable adventures, his curse prevented him from really understanding what was happening to him... a millennia and a half of never once thinking to try to escape the curse just seems farfetched otherwise.

We're making the distinct choice to take specific stories from Jason's solo adventures from some of his comics and having those events play out very early in our timeline. These are big sweeping events that make huge changes in Jason's relationship to Etrigan, and we want those to happen, but by moving them back in the timeline they then free Jason to play a role in the comings and goings of DC at large. He is regularly a part of other characters stories, particularly when their adventures take them into hell, like in Blue Devil's slow acceptance of his role as a demon himself, or as a guide for Jack Ryder. Jason's regular role as a confidant of Batman's is also depicted here.

Jason Blood's Future

We're using a few big ideas from a few different series to define the paths of Jason Blood and Etrigan moving forward. The 90s Demon series ends with a story of Etrigan rising to rule hell, and lead them against an assault of angels. It's an amazing series, and I really do recommend anyone who doubts that the extreme violence and sensationalism of the 90s was capable of producing some real art to check it out. The idea of Etrigan raising in the ranks of Hell was again brought up in the 2008-2009 miniseries Reign in Hell, which was a fun read, even though it might have set records for managing to include more abortive attempts to restructure continuity than anything I've ever read. Between these two series, we hit on the idea that Etrigan would take advantage of a disruption in the ranks of hell and claiming the seat of Trigon himself. This idea has gone on to provice a foundation for lots of other stories and characters.

As we mentioned earlier, Joe Kelly's Replacement JLA team included Jason Blood specifically, not Etrigan, as their magical expert, and that idea works exceptionally well for out Outsiders team, particularlty in a world where Etrigan, despite still being bonded to Blood, has assumed a higher rank in hell and therefore Blood is granted greater autonomy on earth. It's a great opportunity to explore Jason further, giving him a role more directly tied to the superheroes of Earth... even though his curse will contiune to draw him into the worlds of his counterpart.

Related Characters