A horrific possible future is hinted at for the Fantastic Four as Marvel's Darkhold event kicks off with The Darkhold: Alpha one-shot.
Previews for The Darkhold: Alpha #1 show Wanda Maximoff awakening from a frightful dream where the God of Chaos Chthon invades with a host of demons, bringing pain and suffering to a host of heroes from across the Marvel Universe. Among these characters are Valeria and Franklin Richards, the children of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman. Valeria runs to her brother, urging him to be wary of the madness spreading from Chthon's demonic forces -- a madness that unfortunately for her, already seems to have infected Franklin. With a swipe of a clawed hand, Franklin slices his sister's face in half, and Wanda wakes breathless from her vision.
THE DARKHOLD ALPHA #1
- Written by STEVE ORLANDO
- Art by CIAN TORMEY
- Cover by GREG SMALLWOOD
- Scarlet Witch Cover by GREG SMALLWOOD
- On Sale 9/29
Aside from Franklin's murderous turn, the preview also shows the eldritch Darkhold unearthed in Abysmia, the subterranean kingdom stretching out far beneath the United States. Also known as the Book of the Damned or the Book of Sins, the Darkhold is a collection of Chthon's writings that remained on Earth after the Elder God departed eons ago for a new dimension known as the Flickering Realms. The book can bestow unrivaled power -- and possible mental corruption -- upon whoever comes into contact with it.
Darkhold begins with Doctor Doom discovering the Darkhold and unleashing its powers. Scarlet Witch organizes a group of Marvel's finest to combat this threat, but several of these heroes are terribly transformed by the cursed tome, with their fates revealed in tie-in one-shots accompanying the main story. Iron Man, for instance, gets a grim body horror makeover, with his limbs transforming into twisted masses of flesh that are barely contained by his armor. Meanwhile, Blade morphs into a more feral vampire form with elongated limbs and fangs.
Both Chthon and Darkhold were directly inspired by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which contains a similar cursed book called the Necronomicon that has also appeared in the Marvel Universe, albeit as a supposed fragment of the Darkhold. The monstrous book most recently made a live-action appearance in Disney+'s WandaVision, and it also appeared in the television shows Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Runaways.
Described by Marvel as a grim "descent into chaos," The Darkhold: Alpha is written by Steve Orlando with artwork by Cian Tormey and two covers by Greg Smallwood. The 40-page one-shot will hit comic shop shelves on Sept. 29.
Source: Marvel