TEDDY REMSENTEDDY REMSEN
Real Name: Theodora "Teddy" Remsen
Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-148611/"New Universe") human
Occupation: Student, dream therapy assistant
Group Membership: Tutor, dream therapist
Affiliations: Dr. Lucian Ballad,
Peter Barron, Charlie & Joe Greyfox, Mambo Matilda, Martine, Estrallita (Lita)
Mercado, Frank Mercado, Mr. and Mrs. Mercado, Dr. Henry Salinger, Angie Saltzberg, Mr. Steel,
Dan Brody and his father, Doctor Clow, Sergeant Haldeman,
Hilary James,
Justice,
Dave
Landers (Mastodon), Captain Jack Magniconte
(All-American), Metallurge, Dr. Milhouse,
Randy
O'Brien (Antibody),
Overshadow,
Pit Bull, Psi-Hawk, Jeff Walters
(the Blur);
formerly
Ken
Connell;
possibly Damballah (all Earth-148611);
Aliases: "Squirt" (nickname from Keith)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
at least formerly the Ballad Clinic of
Dream Research, Washington, D.C.;
First Appearance: Nightmask#1 (November, 1986)
Powers/Abilities: Teddy has some sort of
mental rapport with her brother, Keith, aka Nightmask.
She serves as
his anchor when he is projecting himself into other people's dreams,
and she can pull him out of such dreams to prevent him from being
harmed when the dreamer awakened while Keith was still within the dream.
On a couple occasions, she could manifest in a Nightmask-esque costume
While unable to use her legs
following her injury in the explosion, Teddy physically exercises to
increase her upper body strength.
History:
(Nightmask#1
(fb) - BTS) - Working from research and theories by Horst Kleinmann at
the Kleinmann Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, Adam Remsen secured a
post at the University of Maryland. Lenore, now a psychiatrist,
collaborated him.
(Nightmask#1
(fb) - BTS) - Adam and Lenore's children, Keith and Teddy, were always close, and they sometimes shared similar thoughts.
(Nightmask#1
(fb) - BTS) - Keith nearly tricked Teddy into eating a caterpillar
sandwich. Thereafter, she never ate anything from him unless she saw
him eat it first.
(Nightmask#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Remsens were friends with dream analyst Lucian Ballad.
(Nightmask#1 (fb) - BTS) - Adam was experimenting with equipment to cybernetically tune in on people's dreams.
(Nightmask#1 (fb) - BTS) - Horst Kleinmann accepted Adam and Lenore's son, Keith, for a summer program at the Kleinmann Institute.
However, the paranoid Kleinmann had assumed that the Remsens were sending their son to spy on him, and so he sent a man to kill the Remsens with a bomb. Not trusting his own assassin, Kleinmann altered the timing on the assassin's bomb so that it would go off prematurely so that the assassin would be killed, too.
(Nightmask#1 (fb)) <Weeks before the White Event> - At Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport, Adam, Lenore, and Teddy said their goodbyes and well-wishes to Keith as he prepared to depart. None of the Remsens noticed as an agent of Kleinmann dropped a bag containing a bomb beside the Remsens as they stood there.
When Keith almost accidentally picked up the bag the assassin had left behind, Theodora corrected him, and then asked Keith to let her get the bag. As Adam jokingly offered to get it for guilt free service, Lenore suggested she get it before the whole airport got involved.
The bomb then went off,
killing Adam and Lenore, and leaving Teddy paralyzed below the waist. Keith was struck in
the forehead by a piece of shrapnel and sent into a coma.
(Nightmask#1
(fb) - BTS) - Teddy received physical therapy from Lita Mercado, who
worked hard to get her thinking and acting positively. While Keith was
in a coma, she sometimes felt that she would die from missing her
parents and feeling sorry and furious over what had happened to her.
Some nights while keeping watch over Keith, she resented him for being
unconscious and not sharing her pain.
(Nightmask#1) <July 22-24, 1986> - The White Event occurred, blanketing Earth with the energies of the Star Brand. These energies -- along with Teddy's voice -- awakened Keith from his coma and granted him the power to enter and manipulate the dreams of others.
While doing pool therapy, Teddy told Keith that it hurts if she let
herself think about what she could no longer do. Noticing that Keith
wasn't paying attention, she embellished her story, telling Keith Lita
was teaching her to grow gills and live underwater, and drown anyone
too preoccupied to carry on a conversation, a point she punctuated by
splashing him.
When he replied with annoyance, Teddy was pleased that he could talk,
noting that she was afraid that he had lost his voice. She further
noted the crescent moon-scar on his forehead turned red when he got
angry. Teddy shared that she was so happy to have one of her loved ones
back with her. He told her how much he appreciated her as well, and
that she made him feel needed.
That evening, Teddy went into Keith's room as he slept. As Keith's scar glowed, Teddy felt like she was going into a trance, and then she shared a dream with him in which KeithAlthough she could follow the dream, she was aware of the real world around her. In the dream, Keith met the man who had planted the bomb and was then confronted by the monstrous Gnome. Feeling like Keith was having sort sort of "attack" (neurologic episode?), Teddy screamed and pulled out of the dream by Teddy.
The stress of seeing Keith Remsen in his dream caused the assassin to have a heart attack.
Teddy drew a sketch of the
assassin (who had been covered in bandages since the explosion),
proving that they had truly entered his dreams. Lucian then took Keith,
Teddy, and Lita to Adam Remsen's University of Maryland research lab
where he further confirmed his powers by entering Lita's dreams; after
Keith interrupted Lita's romantic fantasy, Teddy pulled him out.
On the ride back, Keith sensed the assassin's dreams and re-entered them, this time taking a costume to avoid distressing the man so much. Nonetheless, Keith was overpowered by the Gnome, and Teddy pulled him out before he could be killed, although they rushed him back to the ER at the hospital. Lucian warned that both Keith and Teddy could be killed if trapped in the assassin when he died (which was likely as the assassin was noted to have severe cardiac disease).
Lita got Teddy a book on mythology, and she shared with Keith that gnomes were prominent in Germanic legends. Keith told Teddy to take her sleep medication so they could have aftrenoon naps and could work at night. However, just wanted her to be out so she wouldn't be at risk.
(Nightmask#1
(fb) - BTS) - Aware of Keith's potential for tricks, she didn't take her pill when she saw that he hadn't taken his.
(Nightmask#1 - BTS) - Keith re-entered the assassin's dreams.
This time he confronted the Gnome, identifying him as Kleinmann himself, which
disrupted the Gnome's confidence, causing him to revert to Kleinmann. Just then
the assassin died, and Kleinmann fell into the abyss despite Keith's efforts to
save him...
(Nightmask#1) - ...Teddy pulled Keith out in time, saving him.
(Nightmask#1 - BTS) - Kleinmann managed to escape the dying man's dreams, too,
though his equipment was destroyed in the strain of recovering.
(Nightmask#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lucian led Teddy and Keith, along with Lita, to leave the hospital and to start what was presumably the Ballad Clinic of Dream Research.
(The Official
Timeline of the New Universe#1) <August 17, 1986> - Keith began
therapeutic use of his paranormal power to enter the dreams of others
as the costumed Nightmask.
(Nightmask#2) - Teddy
backed Keith as he tried unsuccessfully to uncover the reason Dr. Henry
Salinger would not accept a lifetime humanitarian award from the
president. When Keith became frustrated, Lucian had Teddy pull him out.
Later, when Keith prepared to take Teddy out and asked her whether she wanted to go to the record shops or the ice cream store first, she reminded him that he usually made the final decision based on which place had the most Georgetown girls in shorts. When Lucian reminded them that they needed to be patient and go slowly with patients like Dr. Salinger, Teddy and Keith both complained about it being boring. Encouraging them both to be more enthusiastic about this venture, Lita instructed Keith to let Teddy start making trips on her own.
Upon her return, Teddy was frustrated by being treated differently
and/or ignored, as well as many places not having ramps. When Keith was
sympathetic, she told him she didn't want him to feel sorry for her,
too. After Keith discussed how Salinger had helped get health clinics
established all over the world with government support, he convinced
her to join him in entering Lucian's dreams during his daily nap. They
found him enjoying a Carnival festival, after which Keith saved him
from being crushed when a gaint statue toppled (symbolic of seeing his
idol, Salinger, toppled). Lucian subsequently scolded them for invading
his dreams uninvited.
After hearing federal agents threatening to cut Lucian's funding if he did not get Lucian to accept the award, Keith subsequently had Teddy back him as he entered Salinger's dreams, during which he encountered a vision of Salinger shooting and killing a large number of people. Teddy pulled Keith out of the dream.
(Nightmask#2 - BTS) - Keith and Lucian stopped Salinger from killing himself, and he revealed how a whole village had perished after he used a government program experimental medication designed to control violent tendencies on them. Lucian had some government funding cut as a result of the fiasco with Salinger.
(Nightmask#3 - BTS / The Official Timeline of the New Universe#3) <August 26, 1986> - Keith went back to their old hometown to help out Dan Brody with his drug addiction.
(Nightmask#4) - Teddy backed Keith as he treated control freak Mr.
Steel. When Nightmask kissed the woman in Steel's dreams to make him
realize he didn't control everything, Teddy didn't understand what was
going on and pulled him out forcefully, causing Keith a massive
headache. After Keith explained that everything had been going
according to his and Lucian's plans, Teddy was upset that she had not
been included in the planning. Teddy later discussed her frustrations
with Lita, including feeling how Keith enjoyed kissing the woman, and
Lita assured her that it was all very normal for a young man of
eighteen years.
Teddy later wheeled into the room as Keith
discussed with Lucian how he hoped to catch Horst Kleinmann in his
dreams, and she was upset about not being included again.
(Nightmask#4 / The Official Timeline of the New Universe#4) <November 24, 1986> - Still later, after Keith had gone out into town,
Teddy found him just as he was about to kiss Vivienne (secretly
Mistress Midnight, an agent of Kleinmann), telling him that he was
supposed to have been home hours ago. Keith tried to tell Teddy that he
was older and wanted to sometimes be with someone who wasn't his sister
but that that did not mean he didn't love her. As the youngest in her
family, Vivienne sympathized with Teddy and kissed her on the forehead.
Somewhat drained by Vivienne's powers, Teddy asked Keith to take her
home. After he did so, he noted that she was more quiet than usual, and
she asked Keith not to go back to that woman, as she sensed something
was off. Somewhat dismissing this, Keith felt that he at least had to
say goodbye to Vivienne, who suddenly kissed him. Keith's Nightmask
power was able to overload hers, and Vivienne fled.
Kleinmann, however, noted that Vivienne had established contact with Teddy, hinting that they could use this.
(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1 (fb))
- Vivienne's cybernetic implants transmitted Teddy's psychic signature
to Kleinmann's lab.
(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1 (fb))
- Kleinmann's machines locked onto her signal the next time she went to
sleep, and they plunged her psyche into Kleinmann's artificial dream,
from which there could be no waking unless he allowed it.
(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1) - After Teddy had been in a coma-like state for three days, an EEG identified her brainwaves as holding at 2.5 Hertz, totally normal for deep REM sleep, but the delta waves were evenly distributed both anteriorly and posteriorly, like in an alpha coma. Aware that this was likely a trap by Kleinmann, Keith entered her dream.
The Gnome attempted to trap and torture Nightmask, and as Keith was injured, Teddy's EEG mirrored his. When Nightmask's powers enabled him to surpass the Gnome's control, the Gnome tried to flee and leave him stranded, but Nightmask trapped him there as well. The Gnome then threatened to kill Teddy, but as they were both within her dream, Nightmask argued that that would kill them both as well. When the Gnome attempted to kill her anyway, Nightmask found the treasure chest hold her dreamself and opened it...
(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1 (fb)) - ...allowing her to awaken in the real world.(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1) - While attending a carnival, Teddy noted that what Keith had done to the Gnome had resulted in a new Gnome-based merchandising sensation swept the world.
(Nightmask#11 (fb) - BTS) - Lita gifted Teddy some magnolia perfume. She accidentally got some of it on Lucian, and he "broke out like he had the measles."
(Nightmask#5) - As Keith had a nightmare about not being able to save his family from the bomb, Teddy wheeled herself into his room and calmed him, asking if he was having the same dream again.
The next day, Lita told Teddy that while she had
lost the use of her legs in the explosion, Keith subconsciously still
blamed himself for the deaths of their parents and her paralysis; and
that his recovery from his own injuries had only added to his
self-imposed burden of guilt. Teddy added that when Keith acted as
Nightmask, she could sense that his mental outlook got better and
that he really seemed to come alive. Lita told her that this was
because he could immerse himself in other people's problems and avoid
his own inner demons.
(Nightmask#5 - BTS / The Official Timeline of the New Universe#5) <January 15, 1987> - Keith and Lucian accepted US government agents Bartle and Mason's request to treat Peter Barron, a former mob accountant who had walked away and turned state's evidence, after which his wife, Janet, and daughter, Julie, were slain in an assassination attempt. A subsequent assassination trauma left Barron with relatively mild head trauma, but he had remained apparently comatose, and his testimony was needed to convict the associated mobsters. Prior to the planned session, Keith invited Lucian to dinner with himself, Teddy and Lita, but he asked Lucian not to tell Teddy about this project or he would "never hear the end of it."
(Nightmask#5 - BTS) - Teddy presumably shared dinner with Keith, Lita and Lucian.
(Nightmask#5) - That evening, as Keith prepared to start the
session, Teddy discovered what they were doing and rushed to the
location, yelling that she had warned Keith that he needed more rest.
Despite her informing them that she was one of Dr. Ballad's
consultants, Bartle and Mason didn't believe her and told her to go
back to her room. After Lucian told Bartle and Mason that they needed
Teddy's expertise to evaluate their latest findings, Teddy snarkingly
asked him to tell the "night watchmen" that they were not to be
disturbed. 
Lucian acknowledged and agreed with Teddy's concerns that Keith needed some time off, but informed her of the urgency of the situation to prevent powerful criminals from being allowed back on the streets. While Teddy tried to warn Lucian about what Keith was experiencing inside Barron's mind, Keith revived and insisted that he was off the case. Teddy called out to him, but Keith told her that he didn't want to talk about it as he rushed out of the room and past Bartle and Mason.
Aware that Barron had retreated within himself to
a fantasy world where he was a heroic king and his wife and daughter
still lived, Teddy later spoke with Keith, advising him that Lucian's
readings indicated that if Barron wasn't brought out of his coma-like
state soon, the damage to his autonomic nervous system would be
permanent. Keith argued that at least he would die happy, which was
more than either of the two of them could say. Teddy was disturbed to
hear Keith speak thusly and hated to see him in so much pain, but,
after venting, he acknowledged that he knew that he had to make Barron
wake up.
The next morning, Keith made Teddy promise to stay out of the dream, as he didn't want anybody but him to take the blame. She tearfully agreed.
Keith then entered Barron's dreams and appreciated his fantasy existence, but when Barron's vital signs began to fade, Teddy mentally warned Keith that he needed to act quickly to save Barron, as well as that he could die if Barron died while Keith was in his mind/dreams. Keith then prevented Barron from saving his wife and daughter in his dream fantasy, which forced him to accept their deaths in the real world. As both Keith and Barron awakened, Teddy held Keith's hand as he anguished over what he had done.
(Nightmask#5 - BTS) - Peter Barron testified against the five gangsters, who were presumably imprisoned for many years to come.
|
(Nightmask#6 / The Official Timeline of the New Universe#5) <February 19, 1987> - Keith and Teddy shared a dream in which Teddy took the form of a giant, spike-wheeled monster and attacked Nightmask, mimicking Reality-87046. The next day, Keith and Lita played a game of football as part
of Ballad's Raiders (staff from the Ballad Clinic) against the County
General All-Stars. Watching from the sidelines, Teddy expressed
resentment for the game and her own limitations, and after the game,
she lashed out at Keith over the same frustrations.
Keith subsequently visited Teddy, and she apologized, explaining her frustrations. After they hugged and Teddy asked for time alone, Keith suspected that she had wanted to get rid of him. She subsequently received a phone call... (Nightmask#6 (fb) - BTS) - ..from Joe Greyfox, who asked her to
secretly come to his father's house (knowing Lucian would not permit
this). Teddy hoped she could help Charlie to awaken without Keith's
help. (Nightmask#6 - BTS) - After Keith encountered David Greyfox, Joe's brother, who had opposed Joe's contacting Lucian and who discussed Tarenyawajon, aka the Sender of Dreams, Keith went to talk to Teddy, who was missing. |
|
(Nightmask#6 / The Official Timeline of the New Universe#5) <February 20, 1987> - Instinctively following his connection to Teddy, Keith located the Greyfox house and found her in the room with the brothers and their sleeping/dreaming father. Fearing for Teddy, Keith broke in through a window, leading David to grab him, but Teddy and Joe convinced David to let him go, and Teddy explained why she was there. Teddy convinced the brothers (or, at least, she convinced Joe,
who shattered a bottle and threatened David to comply) to let both
Keith and Teddy try to help their father. In the dream, David took the form of Tarenyawajon, who threatened to destroy Keith/Nightmask, but then Teddy entered the dream, also in Nightmask form, and she flew through the air, punched Tarenyawajon in the face, and then both she and Keith fired energy blasts from their hands that drove off Tarenyawajon. After Teddy and Keith awakened, Charlie Greyfox revived and confirmed that it had been David who had drugged him. David shoved Teddy out of her wheelchair into Keith's arms, and then he pulled a gun, plotting to kill everyone else and then frame his father for wounding him, killing everyone else and then committing suicide in a "drug-induced frenzy." Instead, Teddy shoved her wheelchair into David, knocking him off the landing, and he apparently broke his neck upon hitting the ground on the floor below. As Keith thanked Teddy for saving their lives, she noted that Charlie Greyfox had been present in the dream with them and gave her the power to do what she had done. |
|
Teddy remained inside as Keith, Lita and her parents found her younger brother, Frank, in a fight with a member of the Potomac Sharks who fled upon their approach. After Frank refused to divulge anything to police officer Sgt. Sanchez, they all headed inside. Lita had Keith and Teddy stick around until Frank fell asleep so Keith could investigate his dream, and Keith observed Frank being plagued by nonsensical signs and monstrous incarnations of the Sharks who told him he had no hope but to join them. As Frank woke up, Teddy pulled Keith out. The Potomac Sharks, led by Mad Dog, returned and
called out Keith, and Teddy waited helplessly in the house while Keith
and Frank went outside. Lita tried to pull Frank away, but she had her
arm slashed by Mad Dog. After the Sharks fled when Keith grabbed one of
their guns, Keith drove Lita, Frank & Teddy to the hospital. Frank
subsequently took the car to confront the Sharks again, heedless of
Teddy in the backseat or Keith having leapt onto the back of the car. After a lesson, Frank took Teddy out for a burger. |
|
(Nightmask#8 (fb) - BTS) - Keith -- apparently
without Teddy backing him -- entered the dreams of the younger brother
of a drug dealer who had been killed by the paranormal vigilante
Justice. This man, Keith's age, had been brought to the Ballard Dream
clinic after retreating into "total shock. Catatonic fear."
(Nightmask#8 - BTS) - Within the dream, Keith's
guilt over his family's fate caused him to transfer Justice's focus on
him within his dream, and Justice began stalking Keith and dream
versions of Teddy and their friends. Lita and Lucian were destroyed in
this dream, and Teddy was pulled away and lost in a crowd...but this
was just versions from Keith's dreams and not actually those people
into the dream. Eventually Keith encountered dream versions of his parents who convinced him that it wasn't his fault, which helped him overcome the nightmare. (Nightmask#8) - After waking up, Keith checked on Teddy (and Lucian and Lita) and fround them all sleeping soundly. (Nightmask#9 - BTS) - Keith had dreams about his fantasy woman, but he
could not allow himself to get close to her because of fear that she might end
up like his family. He seemed to awaken from one such dream, only to enter into another, which mirrored Reality-87736, in which Lucian turned into a werewolf and Teddy took on a vampiric appearance. When Teddy viewed his dreams and shared them to Lucian and Lita, it was clear that Lita was the woman in his dreams.
(Nightmask#10 (fb) - BTS) - Frank got tickets to a rock concert for the next Saturday night.
(Nightmask#10) - As Keith helped Angie Saltzberg
overcome her fear of driving via his dream therapy, Teddy wanted to
pull him out when Angie was about to crash into the stands. However,
Keith refused and was able to regain control of things and had Angie
put the car into reverse, which allowed her to feel in control again. Afterward, Teddy headed down for a tutoring
session with Frank, although Keith worried about Frank's motivations
given Teddy being not yet 15-year-old, while Keith had just turned 18.
His concerns were confirmed when he walked in and found them holding
hands and stairing into each other's eyes. Lucian subsquently invited Keith and Teddy to join him at a New Orleans conference where they would reveal the findings of their dream therapy. Teddy reluctantly agreed to go if that's what Lucian wanted, although as she departed to start packing, she noted that she just wished it wasn't this weekend. She later apologized, explaining how Frank had gotten them tickets to a concert. Meanwhile, Lucian had several bouts of bad luck
or ill portents (in relation to voodoo tradition), and he received a
letter from Mambo Matilda in Haiti that his mother had died. After
Teddy and Keith observed as Lucian irately instructed the maintenance
man Geraldo to clean a pile of dirt (which reminded Lucian of the
voodoo belief that it was death to step across cursed soil), Lucian
treated the siblings to ice cream, and Teddy ordered a root beer float
with strawberry ice cream. As the carbonated water tank was empty,
Lucian offered to change it; however the combination of a faulty valve
and broken hose caused the water to be expelled explosively, soaking
him. The combination of events, combined with the letter of his
mother's passing (and presumably the knowledge that his identical twin
brother, Tullius, may now be targeting him) made him believe in bad
luck. Teddy told him she believed that you make your own luck, and
Lucian agreed before telling them to get a good night's sleep as their
plane left at 8am the next day. (Nightmask#10 (fb) - BTS) - Lucian shared with Keith
the news about his mother's passing and that he may have brought a
curse on himself by not participating in his mother's funeral, even
though he hadn't even known of her death. (Nightmask#10 - BTS) - Whether or not Teddy was aware, Keith began to have dreams about the Serpent God Damballah. (Nightmask#10) - After they had boarded the plane,
Lucian realized that the salesman next to whom had sat while waiting in
the airport had accidentally picked up his briefcase, which contained
his speech. Teddy and Keith distracted the flight attendants to help
Lucian deplane, after which they continued on their flight to New
Orleans. (Nightmask#10 - BTS) - Back in the airport, Lucian was abducted by agents of Tullius.. |
|
(Nightmask#11) - Keith and Teddy were joined in New Orleans by Tullius, who was posing as Lucian. Both Teddy and Keith suspected something was wrong, but he found that he could not break the barriers into the dreams of "Lucian." In the French quarter, Teddy saw some of the magnolia perfume Lita had gotten her, and she bought some more. (Nightmask#11 - BTS) - Keith later
encountered Martine -- whom he had met back in Washington -- in his dream, and she arranged a real world meeting with
him. Martine told Keith about Tullius and how he was an evil voodoo priest who
planned to kill Lucian. (Nightmask#11 (fb) - BTS) - Tullius took Teddy to check out of the hotel... (Nightmask#12 (fb) - BTS) - ...and he brought her to Haiti, using her as assurance against Nightmask, whose power he feared.
(Nightmask#12 - BTS) - Martine brought Keith to meet Mambo Matilda, and
she gave him a Nightmask costume she had knitted. (Nightmask#12) - With Lucian already bound to a post,
Tullius arrived with one of his men carrying Teddy. She was horrified
to see how Lucian was bruised, and she asked what they had done to her.
Lucian acknowledged that Tullius planned to kill him, but he asked why
he had taken the harmless girl; he further told Tullius he could do
what he wanted with him, but he asked Tullius to leave her out of it.
Tullius explained that he knew how Teddy was Nightmask's anchor in his
dreamwalking and that Keith would not dare to enter his dreams while he
held Teddy hostage. Teddy asked the people to free Lucian to prevent Tullius from killing him, but the people all feared Tullius and his power, and they were afraid to defy him. As Tullius' guede dancers began the ceremony, Teddy feared she would go crazy and stated that she wanted to go home, and Martine (who had accompanied Keith and Mambo Matilla there) told her that she may do so and that she had not come there alone. Keith then confronted Tullius as Nightmask, but although initially intimidated, Tullius appreciated that Keith was flesh and blood, and he had his men capture and bind Keith as well. Although Teddy despaired, Martine assured her that this was planned, and Mambo Matilda guided Keith to imagine himself as a serpent like Damballah -- in something akin to a waking dream -- to writhe out of his bonds. While his men were too intimidated by this to confront Keith, Tullius -- who imagined himself as and was believed to be representing the "chain beast" -- confronted and soon punched down Keith. With her mind connected to Keith's, Teddy conceived of a way to show Tullius' followers that he could be hurt even when seemingly possessed by the load, and she struggled to pull herself up a post to reach her bag. Using her body weight to tear the strap and get the bag down on the ground with her, Teddy then retrieved her magnolia perfume. Mentally communicating with Keith, she threw the perfume to him, and he sprayed Tullius in the eyes with it. As Tullius screamed out and rubbed his eyes,
Keith and Martine freed Lucian. After Mambo Matilda denounced Tullius
and shattered his symbolic staff, Tullius was seen with a facial rash
before fleeing, but his affliction caused the people to lose faith in
him. Later, as Lucian visited his mother's grave, Keith asked Mambo Matilda if she could heal Teddy's legs, but Matilda explained that she could not, because Teddy was not a believer. Matilda further shared how one of the most powerful loa, Legba, was crippled (he walked with a cane), and that Teddy was powerful in her own way. Teddy appreciated that everybody had to live with their own limitations, and that all humans shared a sense of loss. |
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and Tony Salmons
Nightmask was one of the New Universe series that didn't fit
the mold, with advanced technology, pre-White Event psychic abilities, etc.
See the New Universe primer.
The next issue blurb in Nightmask#4 was titled "Kingdom of the Gnome."
However, a new writer, Cary Bates wrote the next issue, and the Gnome
was not seen again until nearly 20 years later in Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask#1 (May, 2006),
which was written to fill in the story between #4 and #5. It even had
Udo and Gian in it. Somewhat oddly, in that story, the Gnomespoke with a
German accent, saying "Ja?" ("yes" in German) a lot, which he did not in the original story.
This profile
was completed 10/02/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was
intended for the New Universe's 40th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Teddy Remsen should be distinguished from:
 Teddy Remsen was an Olympic runner, and she carried the Olympic Torch--Nightmask#6 Note: This mirrored a dream experienced by Teddy Remsen-616 |
  Teddy took the form of a giant, spike-wheeled monster and attacked Nightmask--Nightmask#6 Note: This mirrored a dream experienced by Keith Remsen-616 |
|
When Keith became distraught from a nightmare, Teddy
pulled him back. She suggested that all of the "fooling around" in
other peoples' unconscious was starting to rattle him, and she
recommended they check with Lucian, despite the time, as he was always
up late. Lucian
noted that it wasn't surprising that his unconscious had been disrupted
by his "Nightmasking," and that it was actually quite amazing that they
hadn't run into serious problems maintaining his sanity. Lucian then
suggested that Keith had trouble relaxing, and he related how when he
had been a boy in Haiti, he spent a lot of time on the beach, just
relaxing, and that he would often get up in the middle of the night and
bathe in the moonlight. As Lucian stared at the
moon, he noted his frustration with Keith's being so uptight, and he
turned into a werewolf. After Lucian warned Keith that he should worry
about himself, Keith told Teddy to get help, but she took an a red-eyed
vampiric form as she mocked his pretening to be macho and noted
that they would see how he could handle himself in this situation.
|
First posted: 01/01/2025
First posted: 10/01/2026
Last updated: 09/24/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
� 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back at the Ballad Clinic, they encountered Joe Greyfox, who sought the
aid of his father, Charlie, who had taken some "old Indian drugs" to
help him sleep, and who had slipped into a deep sleep after insisting
that he not be taken to a hospital. When Teddy tried to suggest how
they might help, Keith silenced her, and Lucian told Joe that their
research was highly confidential but advised that he take his father to
a physician. After Joe remarked that his father may die and then
departed, Teddy complained that Lucian was so hardnosed about playing
by the rules that it was hard to remember that he still had a heart.
(Nightmask#6) - Keith connected to Teddy in her dream and found her
in the form of an Olympic runner (mirroring 
(Nightmask#7)
- While working out under Lita's direction, Teddy worried about getting
bulging biceps, but Lita assured her that she didn't have the
testosterone to do that and thaty they were lifting for strength, not
looks. Lita subsequently invited Teddy and Keith to dinner at her
parents' home in Adams Morgan, and Keith had to carry Teddy up the
stairs as there was no wheelchair ramp. Both Keith and Teddy
appreciated that both Teddy and her parents were on edge, and their
dinner was interrupted by a gunshot through their window, leading Keith
to tackle Teddy to the ground for safety. 
(Nightmask#10 (fb) - BTS) - Teddy continued tutoring
Frank Mercado, and she felt that he was highly motivated, although
there was also a spark of romantic interest between the two of them. 
(Nightmask#12 (fb) - BTS) - ...who brought him to Haiti.
Lucian Ballad was
a werewolf, and Teddy Remsen was vampiric.