| Jericho Drumm Brother Voodoo / Doctor Voodoo | |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Strange Tales #169 (September 1973) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jericho Drumm |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Avengers Unity Division[1] Heroes for Hire S.H.I.E.L.D. Paranormal Containment Unit New Avengers Savage Avengers Strange Academy |
| Notable aliases | Brother Voodoo, Doctor Voodoo,Sorcerer Supreme,Houngan Supreme, Lord of the Loa, He-Who-Has-Died-Twice, Voodoo Lord; Master of All Reptiles, the Voudoun, and the Spirit World |
| Abilities |
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Dr. Jericho Drumm is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He first appeared inStrange Tales #169 (September 1973) asBrother Voodoo.[2] The character was created by Marvel publisherStan Lee, writerLen Wein, and artistJohn Romita Sr. Since replacingDoctor Strange asSorcerer Supreme inNew Avengers #53 (July 2009), the character has been referred to asDoctor Voodoo,[3] a title originally assumed by his evil twin brotherDaniel, whose ghost he controls.
Marvel Comics publisherStan Lee proposed a heroic practitioner ofVoodoo, and when editor-in-chiefRoy Thomas suggested the name "Doctor Voodoo", Lee rebounded with the suggestion "Brother Voodoo".[4] The task of fleshing out the character was then assigned to writerLen Wein and Marvel's art directorJohn Romita Sr. Wein recounted, "We talked about the sense of the character. I designed the 'V' in the circle on the forehead in John's office."[4] Romita did most of the costume design, while Wein's concept for Voodoo's character and powers drew partial inspiration fromthe Phantom.[4]
Brother Voodoo starred in his own feature in the Marvel comic-book seriesStrange Tales #169-173 (September 1973-April 1974), and in a backup feature in the black-and-whitehorror-comicsmagazineTales of the Zombie #6 (July 1974, in a story continuing fromStrange Tales #173) and #10 (March 1975).[5] He has gone to guest-star very sporadically in other Marvel series, into the 21st century.[6]
Voodoo's run inStrange Tales was written by co-creator Len Wein and drawn byGene Colan. Though they worked on the series under theMarvel method, Wein left little for Colan to do in the way of plotting and pacing, writing plots which laid out the story page-by-page and often even panel-by-panel.[4] According to comics journalist Michael Aushenker, Colan "took what would surely have been, in lesser hands, a very corny idea and infused it with an artistry which not only gave it flair and style but a kind of realism and straight-faced credibility that these otherwise ridiculously costumed individuals would actually appear to belong to our world."[4] Though theletters pages for these issues feature angry letters from religious readers, Wein has said this should not be taken as an indication that Voodoo was controversial, since Marvel staff often stacked letters pages with the most extreme responses they could find as a form of publicity.[4]
Brother Voodoo's name was changed to "Doctor Voodoo" when he replaced Doctor Strange asSorcerer Supreme during the "Dark Reign" storyline. He was the second comic book character to bear the name; an earlier Dr. Voodoo had been published by Fawcett Comics as a back-up feature inWhiz Comics in the 1940s.[7] The newly renamed Marvel character received his owneponymousongoing series written byRick Remender,Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural,[3][8] which was canceled after five issues.
Returning to his nativeHaiti after 12 years of education and practice as an accreditedpsychologist in theUnited States, Jericho Drumm discovers that his twin brotherDaniel Drumm, the localhoungan, is dying, a victim of avoodoo sorcerer who claims to be possessed by the spirit of the serpent-godDamballah.[9] Just before he dies, Daniel makes his brother vow to visit Daniel's mentor, Papa Jambo. Jericho does, and becomes Jambo's student. After studying under Jambo for several weeks, Jericho gains a greater mastery of voodoo practices than his own brother, becoming a houngan in his own right. Jambo then performs a rite that summons Daniel's spirit from the dead and joins it with Jericho's own. Having fashioned a worthy successor, Jambo dies.
Taking the name "Brother Voodoo", Jericho challenges the priest (who goes by the same name as his god, Damballah) and his cult. With the help of Daniel's spirit possessing one of the cult members, Jericho removes Damballah's artifact of power (wangal), causing Damballah's snakes to turn on him and evidently destroying Damballah's cult. Voodoo becomes Haiti's houngan supreme and champion, and establishes a sprawling mansion as a base of operations. He places the wangal in a safe, its combination known only to Voodoo and his servant Bambu.[10]
Brother Voodoo eventually succumbs to the lure of power that Damballah's wangal represented.[volume & issue needed] The god Damballah takes over Voodoo's soul, burns down the mansion and apparently kills Bambu.[volume & issue needed] He travels toNew York City to attempt to take over the mind and body ofDoctor Strange, who frees Voodoo of Damballah's influence.[11] He later becomes involved with the supernatural 'Howling Commandos" operation of the espionage agencyS.H.I.E.L.D.[12]
TheEye of Agamotto leaves Doctor Strange after showing him and the New Avengers nearly thirty candidates who would possibly replace Strange. Because he comes into possession of the Eye, Drumm becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme.[13]
Aided by the New Avengers, he eventually battles the entityAgamotto itself to prevent Agamotto from retrieving the eye and gaining the power to rule Earth's dimension, and appears to sacrifice himself to destroy Agamotto and the Eye.[14]
During theAXIS storyline,Doctor Doom makes aFaustian deal to resurrect Brother Voodoo, reasoning that he and Daniel are the only ones who can stop the invertedScarlet Witch from destroyingLatveria.[15] The spirit of Daniel Drumm subsequently possesses Scarlet Witch to undo the spell that inverted the morality of the heroes and villains. He is offered a full-time role inSteve Rogers'sUncanny Avengers.[16]
Brother Voodoo possesses numerous mystical and quasi-physical powers derived from the Loa, the spirit-gods of voodoo. He can easily enter into a trance-like state in which he does not feel the heat from fire and his skin becomes impervious to burning. He can also control flame and lower life forms. Voodoo can mystically create smoke accompanied by the sound of drums. The smoke conceals his presence while he is able to see through it. He has the ability to command certain living things by a mystic sort of hypnotism, most effective over animals and plants. He can summon the Loa to request transport for himself and others instantaneously if they deem it necessary to his mission.
Brother Voodoo can also summon the spirit of his brotherDaniel Drumm from within his body, doubling his own strength. He can send the spirit to possess another person's body and then has total control over their actions.
Brother Voodoo also has more mundane escapist talents, once entering Strange's building, not through magic, but through the chimney. He has extensive knowledge of voudoun (voodoo) thanks to training by Papa Jambo, as well as conventional medicine and psychology with a Ph.D. in psychology.
He wears a mystic medallion that serves as a focus of his powers and as a focus for his contact with his personal loas. He has, at times, employed conventional firearms.
Brother Voodoo's time spent as the new Sorcerer Supreme had bestowed upon him not only the power of theEye of Agamotto, but also theCloak of Levitation and the Books of Knowledge, which were formerly in the possession of Doctor Strange.
An alternate version of Brother Voodoo appears as the leader of the Avengers of the Undead, the team of Avengers from Earth-666.[17]
CartoonistFred Hembeck regularly featured the Brother Voodoo character in the promotional magazineMarvel Age, beginning with issue #14 (May 1984). He generally showed him as a lame character trying to get his own series. Hembeck also introducedSister Voodoo as his long-lost sister andVoodoo Chile, her child.
An alternate universe variant of Brother Voodoo from Earth-2149 appears in theMarvel Zombies series.[18][19]
TheminiseriesSupernaturals (October 1998), written byBrian Pulido, featured an alternate-universe Brother Voodoo leading a team composed ofGhost Rider,Werewolf by Night,Gargoyle,Black Cat andSatana, to fight a mystically poweredJack O'Lantern.
Brother Voodoo was one of the main characters in an alternateAge of Apocalypse, first seen in the February 2007What If? Featuring X-Men: Age of Apocalypse one-shot. In this issue, Voodoo replaces Doctor Strange as Sorcerer Supreme. He battlesDormammu and helps the heroes take downApocalypse, though Jericho himself is killed by Dormammu when the Eye of Agamotto is taken away from him.
| Title | Material collected | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 2 | Brother Voodoo stories fromStrange Tales #169–173,Tales of the Zombie #6, 10,Marvel Team-Up #24 and material fromSupernatural Thrillers #5, 7–15,Haunt of Horror #2-5,Monsters Unleashed #11,Strange Tales #174, 176–177,Marvel Two-In-One #11, 18, 33,Marvel Chillers #1-2,Marvel Two-in-One #33,Dead of Night #11,Marvel Spotlight #26 | November 2008 | 978-0785130673 |
| Marvel Masterworks: Brother Voodoo | Strange Tales #169-173,Marvel Team-Up #24,Werewolf by Night #39-41,Marvel Two-In-One #41,Doctor Strange #41,Moon Knight #21, material fromTales of the Zombie #6, 10,Tomb of Dracula #34-37,Werewolf by Night #38,Marvel Super-Heroes #1,Doctor Strange #16-17, 20 | June 2021 | 978-1302929237 |
| Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural | Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural #1-5 | May 2010 | 978-0785144090 |
In 2003, theSci Fi Channel announced it was developing a live-action television film andbackdoor pilot calledBrother Voodoo, based on the character. Hans Rodionoff was announced to write the screenplay, withBen Silverman,Avi Arad, andRick Ungar producing the film.[20] However, nothing came of development afterwards and the project was abandoned.
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