Devil-Slayer

Devil-Slayer
Devil-Slayer. Art by Stefano Caselli.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Spotlight #33 (April 1977)
Created by	Rich Buckler
In-story information
Alter ego	Eric Simon Payne
Team affiliations	Defenders Agents of Fortune Point Men Revengers
Notable aliases	Agent of Death, The Reaper of Souls, "Cape Man"
Abilities	Telepathy, Telekinesis, Teleportation

Devil-Slayer (Eric Simon Payne) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe.

Devil-Slayer first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #33 (April 1977), and was created by Rich Buckler who had created a similar character in Demon Hunter (1975) for Atlas/Seaboard Comics and Bloodwing for his magazine Galaxia in 1980. For a time he operated as a member of the Defenders.

The character subsequently appeared in The Defenders #58–60 (April–June 1978), #97–101 (July–November 1981), Marvel Team-Up #111 (November 1981), The Defenders #103–104 (January–February 1982), Marvel Graphic Novel #1 – 'The Death of Captain Marvel' (April 1982), Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions #1 (June 1982), #3 (August 1982), and The Defenders #110 (August 1982), which was a Devil-Slayer solo story cited by writer J. M. DeMatteis as one of his two favorite Defenders stories. The character faded into obscurity for several years until the 1990s, when he appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #37 (December 1989), #46–49 (March–May 1990), #143 (December 1993), #146 (January 1994), Over the Edge #2 (December 1995), Man-Thing #3–5 (February–April 1998), Strange Tales Vol. 5 #2 (October 1998), and Avengers: the Initiative #14 (August 2008).

In September 2008, Marvel released a limited series, as a part of the MAX imprint. It was titled Dead of Night Featuring Devil-Slayer and starred a new Devil-Slayer, a man named Danny Sylva. Sylva is the great-nephew of Payne, the original Devil Slayer. This series is written by horror novelist Brian Keene with art by Chris Samnee.