Nightcrawler Vol. 1

This volume collects the single-issue Nightcrawler comics launched by Marvel in 2004, specifically issue #1 of the series' third volume, subtitled "The Devil Inside," Part One: "The Chapel." Nightcrawler, whose real name is Kurt Wagner, is a demon-looking mutant of the X-Men: blue skin, a tail, three-fingered hands, and the power to teleport in an instant. He looks like a devil but is a kind, honest soul at heart, and has always lived between "the daylight world of superheroes" and "the underworld of demon-angels and ghostly monsters." In this issue, Storm asks Kurt to go to Metro General Hospital to investigate a horrifying crime: thirteen children have died mysteriously in a locked ward, and the sole survivor, little Seth Walker, has shut down from extreme trauma and will not speak. Kurt's investigation is blocked at every turn: Dr. Childs is openly hostile to his arrival, and the security guard on duty, Franks, was strangely absent from his post when the crime occurred. Unable to get answers in the ward, Kurt teleports to the hospital roof and unexpectedly finds hoofprints burned into its surface, which lead him to the Dakota apartments where Dr. Childs lives. The guard Barney Franks then shows up at his door, only to burst into flames before Kurt's eyes. This issue opens the entire "The Devil Inside" storyline.