You’ve Never Read The Supernaturals?!
The Most Supernatural Superheroes of them all!™️
The 1990s were an interesting time for the comic book industry, and it was an especially interesting time for Marvel Comics in particular. As I discussed last week, Marvel had filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and was bought by Toy Biz in 1997. The two subsequently merged into Marvel Entertainment in 1998. One of the strategies employed by Marvel during this period to try and salvage the brand was to farm out certain characters and properties to other studios in an attempt to inject some excitement into them. Fantastic Four and Iron Man were given to Jim Lee’s WildStorm Productions in 1996, Captain America and the Avengers were tossed to Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studios in 1996 as well, and the Marvel Knights imprint was handed off to Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti’s Event Comics in 1998. One of the less discussed examples also took place in 1998 when multiple supernatural-themed characters were handed off to Brian Pulido of Chaos! Comics for a four issue limited series called The Supernaturals.
Chaos! Comics became popular in the 1990s for publishing titles like Evil Ernie, Lady Death, and Purgatori. The theme that connected all of the titles published by Chaos! Comics was a horror aesthetic (and also scantily clad women), so having them work on a limited series featuring Marvel’s supernatural characters near Halloween made a lot of sense. Pulido is credited as the “creepy story-teller and re-creator” for the series but not as the writer (Mark Andreyko received that distinction), so make of that what you will.
The characters Pulido chose were Brother Voodoo, Black Cat, Ghost Rider, Satana, Gargoyle, and Werewolf-By-Night (or just Werewolf as I’ll be referring to him here). The story takes place outside of main Marvel continuity, so Pulido tinkers with the characters and their powers to better suit his story. Brother Voodoo’s alter ego is Jericho Drumm who is a world famous record producer in this universe. His power set is essentially the same as in the main continuity in that he is a powerful sorcerer with a command over magic. Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) is the most radically different here. She is a political advisor and organizer who can make her own luck with probability-altering voice commands. Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) is basically the same as the original 1970s version. He is a motorcycle riding daredevil who is possessed by a demonic spirit of vengeance (i.e. he has a flaming skull for a head). Satana is also very different here. She is also a vengeful demonic spirit inhabiting a teenage model named Maria Ramos (who happens to be a devout Catholic for added fun). Gargoyle (Isaac Christians) is also fairly different from how he’s traditionally portrayed. He’s a high school honor student who also happens to be possessed by a powerful hulking demon (exorcists are doing a terrible job in this universe). Lastly, we have the Werewolf (Jack Russell). He’s a werewolf who retains his human personality and intellect when he changes in this reality.
The plot of this limited series is as follows: thirteen years ago there was an apocalyptic cataclysm dubbed the Chaos! Event (get it?) that wiped out every super powered being on the planet who wasn’t supernatural in nature. Now the person responsible for the original event has returned with the intention of finishing what he started and wiping out all remaining heroes regardless of whether they are supernatural or not. This person happens to be a radically new take on the villain Jack O’Lantern who is a sarcastic sorcerer who enjoys cracking jokes as he tries to bring about Armageddon while summoning all manner of demons, monsters, and ghouls to do his bidding.
Brother Voodoo (who happens to be Jack O’Lantern’s brother) assembles his team of antiheroes to stop him. Over the course of the four issues we’re treated to sequence after sequence of our spooky protagonists battling equally spooky villains (drawn by Ivan Reis). If you’re a fan of classic Universal monster movies or the later Hammer adaptations then you are the target audience (spoiler alert: that describes me as well). The climactic final issue in particular really cuts loose and shows how much Pulido loves the old Atlas Comics of the 1950s as he trots out a parade of giant Kirby monsters from that era for our heroes to fight.
The series may not have garnered a lot attention, but it’s a fun artifact from its era. Chaos! Comics went out of business in 2002, and the characters it published now belong to Dynamite Entertainment. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see this universe or its kooky cast of characters again, so do yourselves a favor and keep your eye out for this forgotten gem next time you’re flipping through a long box. It’s a fun little trip and well worth your time