Greetings, boils and ghouls! Tis’ your old pal, the Symbi-Keeper, with a tale from a Marvel Universe much like the one we know, yet somewhat….altered. This yarn begins in the distant land known as Louisiana….(Cue the maniacal laughter!) Whew! I bet reading that in your best HBO “Crypt-Keeper” voice really wore you comic fans out! Not to worry, I think I got most of that out of my system now. I guess it’s just the season. Halloween just seems to bring out your inner monster. That brings me back to the subject of this month’s article, Marvel Comics’ Supernaturals 4-Part miniseries.

The story begins with action. The first panel shows two young African-American boys standing in the center of a creepy graveyard in the middle of the night. They stand within a circular arcane symbol with a strange dagger. The elder boy, Daniel, slashes his hand, dripping his blood within. His younger brother Jericho is more unsure. But he does the same after promises that this ritual will bring their deceased mother back to them. As you can imagine, the whole thing goes horribly awry as there is a blast of fire. Nearly blinded by the inferno, Jericho opens his tear-filled eyes to see the bloody dagger hit the ground. Daniel is gone! At this moment, all non-mystically powered superheroes around the globe simply disappear! The story picks up again 13 years later, near Halloween. A now-grown Jericho Drumm awakens in his bed, screaming the name of his sibling. Jericho is soon to find out that now, nearing the anniversary of that fateful night (Dubbed the Chaos Event.), the remaining mystical heroes of the planet are now starting to turn up missing! He immediately takes on the guise of his super alter ego, Brother Voodoo, and seeks out the Sorcerer Supreme himself, Dr. Strange. But, upon reaching the good doctor’s home, it is discovered that he as well is now gone! Not to worry, though. Sensing his impending doom, Strange set up a failsafe. A relic meant to seek out five other “chosen” individuals to prevent another Chaos Event. Of course the relic I speak of is the Eye of Agamotto. Wasting no time, Brother Voodoo searches out the others: Black Cat, Ghost Rider, Satana, Gargoyle, and Werewolf By Night!

The problem? Another has risen and is rallying the forces of darkness into an army. His name is Jack O’ Lantern and he knows of the “chosen” as well. In fact, while Voodoo was busy at Strange’s, all of them have been under attack! But, using the powers at his disposal, Brother Voodoo teleports to each one in turn, snatching them from the clutches of evil. All but one are taken to sanctuary….except Werewolf By Night. No, Voodoo was too late to save this poor beast. While the group gets to know each other a bit better (and squabble about even joining this band of supernatural misfits!), the villainous Jack O’ Lantern has our good friend, the Werewolf By Night, chained in a strange dimension. While there, he uses his incalculable arcane abilities to separate the werewolf from its human host! Meanwhile, the others are finally convinced that the time has come to use their powers against the coming threat. (Oh, and the recently resurfaced Werewolf By Night joins them as well. Convenient, eh?) That is when N’ Kantu, the Living Mummy, and other evil creatures choose to attack the unsuspecting city! Led by their master, there seems to be no stopping them! Who will save the day?! The Supernaturals, baby! Or they would, if Jack O’Lantern hadn’t blasted Brother Voodoo into a coma and separated the others throughout time!

As the heroes confront monstrous adversaries in different times, they must also confront their own fears. Ghost Rider and Black Cat face crazed witch-hunters, Headless Horseman, and the Scarecrow in Salem during the witch trials. Gargoyle goes it alone against a horde of zombies, and the Chupacabra. Satana and Werewolf By Night take on Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and an army of vampires and werewolves in old Transylvania. As the heroes battle on they all fall, one by one, to the forces of evil.  But, in the Transylvanian past, a shocking event (yeah, right!) occurs. The Werewolf betrays Satana by knocking her out and delivering her to Jack O’Lantern! All of this, along with Brother Voodoo being mentally tortured by memories of the night his family perished!

As Halloween night fast approaches and our heroes are underpowered and chained, Jack O’ Lantern is given a mystical horn by his minions upon his request. Upon blowing it, the giant monsters from Marvel’s past arise all over the world: Grottu, Droom, Gruto, Gorgorilla, Moomba, Grogg, Roombu, and Groot! (I am Groot. Sorry. “Guardians” flashback.) Meanwhile, Jack O’Lantern reveals that he just requires the blood of an innocent to complete his goal of Hell on Earth. To do this, he chooses Satana’s human counterpart. But as he raises a familiar looking dagger into the air, Brother Voodoo recognizes it from that fateful night, 13 years ago, with his brother at the cemetery in Louisiana! Jack O’ Lantern is his missing brother! Voodoo snaps out of his catatonic state and attacks.

At the same time, Werewolf By Night reveals himself to be on the side of angels and frees Satana! (Shockers abound, right?!) As the Supernaturals all fight for the future of the universe and their very lives, other mystically-powered superheroes appear around the planet defeating the menace of the titanic conjured monsters! While this is going on, Brother Voodoo seems to be failing in his battle against his evil sibling! Sensing this, the Supernaturals all grasp the Eye of Agamotto and channel their combined might into Voodoo. Empowering him he uses all of this, plus his own might, and sends the now depowered Jack O’ Lantern into a void, never to return! But, as he falls into nothingness, he warns that only he has the power to return the other heroes of Earth! The end. Quite a climactic ending huh kiddies? Too bad the series was never picked back up to tell us what happened next. But I’m sure that the as long as there was a mighty team like the Supernaturals out there, the day was eventually won. Well, that’s it for me fellow comic fans. But before I leave you….Happy Halloween from all of us at the Unspoken Decade! (‘Nuff said!)