West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #14
Tigra, Tigra, Burning Bright!
After Greer Grant made a decision to only become Tigra when needed, Hawkeye runs her through a training session to make sure she can keep the Cat Person side of her personality in check in the heat of battle.[1] As Tigra, Greer is able to hold her own but her anger gets the better of her and when she pins down Clint and tries to kill him, Mockingbird rushes in to intervene. When she swats Bobbi away, Wonder Man and Iron Man step in and Hank Pym manages to calm her down. Losing control of her emotions, Tigra breaks down into tears and asks Hank to hold her.[2] Reasserting control, Greer taps her amulet to change back to human form and decides that she is too unpredictable in her Tigra form and believes that this is the end of her career as an Avenger.
When Greer runs off, Hank goes after her and tells her that he still loves her no matter who she is. As the two hug, their tender moment is interrupted by a horde of demons who has been tracking Hank.
At that same moment, at his secret hideout, Master Pandemonium is trying to figure out where he can find the so-called “Five” that he has been seeking.[3] That’s when Azmodeus — a winged demon loyal to Master Pandemonium — emerges from the amulet around his master’s neck and tells him that it has detected a horde of demons in the area. Demanding to be brought to them, Master Pandemonium is teleported to the scene of the Avengers battle. His sudden appearance makes everyone pause, and the female demon leading the attack sees Pandemonium’s sudden appearance as proof that the Avengers have been working for him. In the ensuing chaos, the female demon grabs Hank and Greer and teleports away with her demonic horde. Furious that the Avengers have once again interfered with his plans, Pandemonium teleports away as well.
This frustrates Wonder Man who is upset that Master Pandemonium has escaped them for a third time. Hawkeye finally decides that they are way out of their league and decides it is time to call in the help of experts in the supernatural. However, rather than call on Doctor Strange, Clint knows someone closer to Los Angeles that can help them out.
These experts happen to be Daimon Hellstrom and his wife Patsy Walker — formerly the Son of Satan and Hellcat of the Defenders — who have since retired from costumed heroics to become paranormal investigators in San Francisco.[4] Out for a neighborhood stroll, the couple return home to find the Avengers waiting outside their home and after Patsy plays catch-up with Hawkeye and his new wife Mockingbird, they are invited inside.[5] After being informed of their troubles with Master Pandemonium and learning how he got his power from the demon Mephisto, Daimon informs the group that Mephisto is not the devil but a devil, quoting Mark 5:9 “My name is Legion, for we are many!”, and explains that the Mephisto is part of a concert of Hell-Lords that include his father “Satan”, Thog, Baphomet, Lucifer, and Satannish.[6] He is also recognizes the demon that attacked them as Allatou, a creature he has faced in the past.[7]
The couple agree to help the Avengers track down their captured friends after a quick change into costumes as they too would like to maintain secret identities. Daimon comes out wearing a new costume and codename Hellstorm, while Patsy changes into her Hellcat costume. Hellstorm then casts a spell to transport them to the Allatou’s domain. Moments after they disappear in a puff of smoke, Master Pandemonium and Azmodeus arrive to piggy back off the spell and follow after them.
Meanwhile, in the Hell domain of Allatou, Hank and Tigra have been locked in a cage. Hank explains to the demon that he wasn’t working for her enemies, but trying to find a line on Master Pandemonium. Despite her misunderstanding, Allatou decides to torture the pair anyway and orders her demons to attack them. Greer realizes that he has no choice but to become Tigra again but her mystical amulet is not working. This deeply upsets Greer because she believes that she is experiencing her own personal Hell, which apparently is being stuck in human form.
That’s when the Avengers and their allies appear on the scene and begin staging a daring rescue. Master Pandemonium appears moments later, adding more chaos to the scene. As Hellcat takes the fight to Pandemonium, Greer is upset to see Patsy in her old costume.[8] Trying to take control of the situation, Allatou attempts to take possession of Wonder Man, but is painfully rejected because he’s a being of living ionic energy and no longer human. As the battle tips in the heroes balance, Allatou blasts free the chunk of rock they are all fighting on sending the Avengers, Hellstorm, Hellcat, and Master Pandemonium onto the a passing ship on the Sea of Death. When the Avengers try to abandon ship, Hellstorm shows them that this is a bad idea by launching one of Allatou’s remaining demons into the air. The creature explodes, demonstrating that they cannot leave the ship until it finally comes to shore somewhere. As the River of Death is endless, they could be trapped aboard the ship forever. As the ship drifts down river, Allatou watches from her domain and laughs.
Recurring Characters
West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Tigra), Hank Pym, Son of Satan, Hellcat, Master Pandemonium, Allatou, Azmodeus
Continuity Notes
Tigra has been struggling with controlling her two conflicting personalities since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1. She entered a deal with the Cat People to remove the spirit of Tigra in issue #6 in exchange for killing Master Pandemonium, something her teammates don’t know about as yet. Last issue she discovered that her human side could reassert more control by using the mystical amulet on top to revert back to her human form.
Iron Man compares Tigra’s growing insanity to that of Quicksilver. After discovering that his wife was having an affair in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #10, Pietro became unhinged and lashed out against his fellow Avengers in Avengers Annual #15/West Coast Avengers Annual #1. What nobody knows at this point in time is that Pietro is being mentally influenced by the mad Inhuman known as Maximus. See X-Factor Annual #2.
A footnote here reminds readers that Master P. was last seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #4 and 9.
Hellcat and Son of Satan joined the Defenders in Defenders #46 and 92 respectively. During their tenure on the team the two fell in love. After Daimon lost his demonic powers in Defenders #121, the pair got married in issue #125 and retired from costumed heroics.
Patsy was briefly considered to be an Avenger as Hellcat. She paled around on the team from Avengers #144 through 151. She was offered membership but declined to allow Moondragon to train her in the use of her mental powers. Hawkeye had just recently gotten married to Mockingbird, see Hawkeye #1-4.
The revelation that there is no one true Satan in the Marvel Universe, but a concert of demons who all claim the title was explored more fully in Defenders #93-100. For the longest time, Daimon believe his father was the Satan, his true identity has some muddy continuity that I won’t go into at length here, however the accepted identity is a fallen Babylonian god named Marduk Kurios per Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #16.
Daimon previously clashed with Allatou in Son of Satan #18-19.
Before becoming Tigra in Giant-Size Creatures #1, Greer was the Cat as seen in The Cat #1-4. Her costume went into storage until it was found and worn by Patsy ever since Avengers #144.
