D.O.A.
(Department of Occult Armaments)
Membership: Lt. Gregory
Belial (leader), Edgar, Innards,
Malpractice, Pyre, Rotwrap, many unnamed HYDRA agents
formerly: Bronskon,
Madame
Jasmine, Moorek
Purpose: Terrorism
Affiliations: Suze Harlow (pawn), HYDRA, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
Enemies: Bloodstorm, Bronskon, Jeb Harlow, Madame Jasmine, Moorek, Nightstalkers (Blade, Frank Drake, Hannibal King), US Army
Base of Operations: A New England HYDRA base
First Appearance: Nightstalkers#2 (December, 1992)
History:
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) ) - D.O.A. created super-agents by supernatural means. The results of these rituals were Rotwrap, Innards, Malpractice and Pyre.
(Nightstalkers#2 (fb) - BTS) - Bronskon, Jasmine and Moorek were empowered and armed by D.O.A. to take down the Nightstalkers, but the trio had other plans in mind.
(Nightstalkers#2) - Strucker met with his lieutenants including Gregory Belial. After their meeting he went with Belial to his department. Belial told Strucker about D.O.A.'s plan to create vampire stormtroopers from Hannibal King's DNA and although Strucker was impressed by D.O.A.'s work he warned Belial not to disappoint him. During Strucker's walk through D.O.A.'s lab, agents worked on religious artifacts and resurrection rituals. There was also a presentation on "Resurrection and Decomposition" announced for the burial rituals team.
Belial bailed out Jasmine, Bronskon and Moorek after they were handed over to the police by the Nightstalkers (read their own profile). He went with them to a Chinese restaurant and was angered by fortune cookies because he knew about the roots of aleuromancy (divining the future through patterns in flour). The restaurant was closed and Belial explained to his former allies that D.O.A.'s main operatives were with him and they couldn't await to meet Jasmine, Moorek and Bronskon. He told them that they wouldn't get a deal, but they would still tell him everything they had learned about the Nightstalkers before they were killed by Innards, Malpractrice, Pyre and Rotwrap.
(Nightstalkers#3) - Major Patton and his team had just left Newbury College when the driver was suddenly attacked by Malpractice's hand. Patton hit the breaks and helped his soldier, who was unconscious already. Belial, Innards, Malpractice, Pyre and Rotwrap appeared in front of their car when it stopped. One lieutenant ran away while Patton and another soldier went into a fight with the supernatural terrorists. Pyre was shot, but reappeared behind the soldier to burn him alive. Malpractice's hand went after the runaway and caught him. Patton kicked Rotwrap in the face, but her bugs were all over him and Patton got bitten and lost consciousness. The driver was up again and took a gun, but before he could even leave the car he was threatened with stomach acid by Innards, who then dragged him with his intestines around the soldier's neck to the others. Malpractice put machines into the necks of the four soldiers which turned them into his puppets. Meanwhile Belial used astragalomancy (divination by the casting of bone, wood and stone) to predict the outcome for their upcoming fight with the Nightstalkers.
The Nightstalkers, who were after Patton because he talked at a college about creating vampire soldiers, soon found a message at Patton's room which led them to the Franklin Park Zoo. Malpractice and Belial watched their arrival and how the Nightstalkers found the talking puppets. Patton and his soldiers, who were already dead, dropped to the ground before them when they realized that it was a trap. The next second the Nightstalkers were attacked by Malpractice, Innards, Pyre and Rotwrap. Drake tried to take out Malpractice, but Innards knocked him out after disorienting King with a shot of adrenaline from Innards heart. Blade attacked Rotwrap and squashed many bugs. King was attacked by Pyre, who burnt him when he tried to mist away. King was still burning when Belial ran a wooden stick through his heart.
(Nightstalkers#4) - King regained consciousness while King still had a stake in his heart. Innards knocked out King again with his intestines. Blade was still not down and Rotwrap begged for mercy before Pyre arrived to knock him out with a burning fist. She helped Rotwrap up and they joined the rest of the team. Malpractice's jaws rolled away with King and Belial ordered Innards to take Blade and Drake out. Innards used stomach acid to finish them, but Drake blocked it with the Exorcist gun. Innards thought he was successful and left.
Drake and Blade were soon after their enemies again and Drake managed to shoot Pyre with the Exorcist gun. She survived, but Belial had enough of the fight and decided to meet their chopper on higher ground where the Nightstalkers couldn't reach them. His team stole a hot air balloon, but Blade and Drake followed them in another one. On board of Belial's balloon they discussed what they would do with King, but Innards saw that Blade and Drake were following them. When Blade jumped onto Belial's balloon, Innard climbed up and attacked him, but Blade took a rope, pushed it into Innards body and kicked him while Innards tried to hold onto it. Innards slipped down the road because it was slick with his insides and dropped down to the city. Blade now cut a hole into the balloon and Malpractice sent up his limbs to finish him, but Blade cracked Malpractice's remote control with his knife and the monster was attacked by his own limbs. Meanwhile Drake flew his balloon around Belial's balloon and shot Pyre again with the Exorcist gun. She began to burn and couldn't cremate anymore until the whole balloon had caught fire. Belial stumbled backwards and accidentally loosened the stake in King's heart. King removed it and Belial was shocked. Rotwrap attacked Blade again and burnt him with the poison of a spider and a scorpion. King knocked her out, took Blade and jumped off the burning balloon. It crashed into a building and then dropped into a river with Belial and his team.
Belial and all his super-agents survived and returned to Strucker, who was very disappointed in them and put on his new Satan's Claw to punish them.
(Nightstalkers#8) - Belial used ceromancy (divination through the shapes of melted wax quick cooled in water) to find a way to create his vampire stormtrooper.
(Nightstalkers#9) - Belial used icthyomancy (divined the way to a corpse fallen under the bite of the undead) and was joined by his main operatives when he was finished. Now he knew where they would find vampire DNA and he predicted easy success for them.
(Nightstalkers#11) - Belial landed with his main operatives at a graveyard south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Together they searched for a vampire victim. Belial used alectryomancy to find the way to the right grave, but he and his team were opposed by Jeb Harlow, who tried to protect his daughter, who was Belial's target. Jeb shot Belial's raven Edgar. Belial was protected by his Kevlar and ordered his team to kill the old man. Rotwrap and Innards attacked Jeb with bugs and stomach acid until the old man fell blinded to the ground. Meanwhile Malpractice dug up Suze Harlow's coffin. Belial's team took the coffin to their plane and left.
(Nightstalkers#16) - A Dreadnought was sent by D.O.A. to steal Frank Drake's Exorcist gun. The Nightstalkers failed to stop the Dreadnought and not only lost the gun, but also their HQ which burnt to the ground. The Dreadnought brought the Exorcist gun to D.O.A. and watched together with Belial and his scientists the birth of Bloodstorm, who immediately turned against his creators due to Varnae's psychic control over him. The Dreadnought was destroyed first while Belial and his allies tried to shoot the vampire. They couldn't stop him and Belial was killed by Bloodstorm. The other scientists watched Belial's death while Bloodstorm was given the order to kill them all.
(Nightstalkers#17) - D.O.A.'s laboratory was destroyed and everyone in it was dead. Bloodstorm used Belial's corpse to catch some bullets from other HYDRA agents then took the Exorcist gun to kill them as well. Afterwards D.O.A.'s creation left the building. A short time later Salomé arrived in D.O.A.'s lab to feast on the misery caused by Bloodstorm and to follow Bloodstorm's track.
Comments: Created by D.G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks).
In issue #2 a warning was heard in D.O.A.'s lab not to look in the light when opening Arks of the Covenant. This is a reference to the first Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I'm not sure, but I think the message that led the Nightstalkers to Franklin Park Zoo was planted by D.O.A., although it could be that Patton was meeting somebody at the zoo before after his speech at Newbury College.
Belial wasn't given a first name until he was dead and tossed around by Bloodstorm in Nightstalkers#17. Poor guy!
Belial's raven Edgar is a play on Edgar Allen Poe and his poem "The Raven". After Edgar's death Belial even said that the raven was "nevermore" which was the only thing the raven in Poe's poem ever said.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
D.O.A. has no known connections to
Belial has no known connection to:
Edgar has no known connection to:
Innards & Malpractice have no known connection to:
Pyre has no known connection to:
Rotwrap has no known connection to:
Belial was a born to become a leader for a supernatural terrorist team. He was taught everything about alectryomancy, aleuromancy, astragalomancy, ceromancy, icthyomancy and other similar rituals since childhood and now used his knowledge as a loyal agent of HYDRA to their advantage. He often worked on field operations and his dream was to create vampire stormtroopers for HYDRA.
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) - BTS) - At the age of 5 Belial used ceromancy for the first time. The candle he used was made from the fat of a seven year old child his mother had lured in a playground.
(Nightstalkers#2 (fb) - BTS) - Belial had Bronskon, Jasmine and Moorek turned into field agents, but they betrayed HYDRA to follow their own schemes.
(Nightstalkers#2) - Belial was praised by Strucker for the work of the Department of Occult Armaments. A short time later Belial bailed out the traitors after they were defeated by the Nightstalkers. He had them killed by his main operatives in a Chinese restaurant.
(Nightstalkers#3-4) - In an attempt to get vampire DNA from Hannibal King he lured the Nightstalkers into a trap set up by himself and his team. He staked King, but in the end the Nightstalkers escaped in mid-air and Belial was punished for his failure by Baron Strucker.
(Nightstalkers#8) - Belial searched with ceromancy for a new DNA donor for his vampire stormtrooper.
(Nightstalkers#9) - Belial found a corpse bitten by a vampire with icthyomancy and assembled his team to get it.
(Nightstalkers#11) - Belial took his raven Edgar and his team to a graveyard south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Belial's raven was shot by Jeb Harlow, but in the end the old man was defeated and the body Belial's team came for was theirs.
(Nightstalkers#16) - Belial overlooked the birth of his first vampire stormtrooper Bloodstorm, who turned against his creators and killed Belial.
(Nightstalkers#17) - Belial's corpse was used as a shield by Bloodstorm.
--Nightstalkers#2 (Nightstalkers#8 (fb) - BTS, 2-4, 8-9, 11, 16-17
He was a raven Belial used for alectryomancy. The seeds Edgar didn't eat pointed the way to Belial's target, the remains of one slain by a vampire. Edgar was shot be Jeb Harlow while doing his job.
--Nightstalkers#11
Innards could remove and use any of his inner organs to attack his enemies. Attacks he normally used including stomach acid from his stomach, intestines used as whips or to strangle somebody and a shot of adrenaline from his heart.
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) ) - The man, who would become Innards, was murdered and then resurrected in a voodoo ceremony that also granted him the ability to remove and manipulate his internal organs.
(Nightstalkers#2) - Innards joined the other main operatives in the execution of Jasmine, Moorek and Bronskon.
(Nightstalkers#3-4) - He was part of the team that failed in capturing Hannibal King. He survived a fall from a hot air balloon and returned to their base where he was punished by Strucker alongside the others for their failure.
(Nightstalkers#9) - Belial found a body bitten by a vampire and taught Innards what icthyomancy was when the agent arrived with a new uniform.
(Nightstalkers#11) - Innards was part of the team that stole Suze Harlow's body from her grave. He worked together with Rotwrap to take out their only opposition Jeb Harlow.
--Nightstalkers#2 (Nightstalkers#8 (fb), 2-4, 9, 11
Although the nature of Malpractice's power was supernatural it seemed like his body was changed into its seemingly artificial state by technological means. He possessed many additional body parts changed or given to him by the creatures he sold his body parts. He could use these body parts by remote control. Among those seen in action were eyes, arms, jaws and backbones. He possibly possessed more of those body parts.
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) ) - The man now known as Malpractice sold off parts of himself to beings, whose names were normally only whispered about for the secrets of performing medical atrocities on others.
(Nightstalkers#2) - Malpractice was part of the team that killed the traitors Bronskon, Jasmine and Moorek.
(Nightstalkers#3-4) - He participated in the failed attempt to capture Hannibal King and was punished by Baron Strucker.
(Nightstalkers#9) - After Belial had found a corpse bitten by a vampire, Malpractice joined him in a new uniform.
(Nightstalkers#11) - Malpractice was part of the team that stole Suze Harlow's body from her grave.
--Nightstalkers#2 (Nightstalkers#8 (fb), 2-4, 9, 11
Pyre could flame on and cremate on command. This allowed her to turn from her human form into ash and back within seconds. When she was held onto somebody she could burn him alive by using her power to cremate herself. This power also made her immune to bullets and other conventional weapons as she could survive them by turning into ash.
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) ) - The woman, who would become Pyre, offered everything from sexual servitude to her soul and screamed for freedom when she was burnt. What she got was the power to cremate on command and share her suffering with others.
(Nightstalkers#2) - She participated in the killing of Bronskon, Moorek and Jasmine.
(Nightstalkers#3-4) - Pyre was part of Belial's team that failed to capture Hannibal King. She saved Rotwrap from Blade and survived two shots by the Exorcist gun. She was punished like the others by Baron Strucker.
(Nightstalkers#9) - With a new uniform she joined Belial and the other main operatives when Belial had found the location of a corpse bitten by a vampire.
(Nightstalkers#11) - She was part of the team that successfully stole the body of Suze Harlow from her grave.
--Nightstalkers#2 (Nightstalkers#8 (fb), 2-4, 9, 11
Many kinds of insects nest in Rotwrap's folds and she controlled them. It is possible that the first species to nest in her folds, the one from Egypt, gave her the ability to control other insects. Among the insects Rotwrap used were different kinds of bugs, mantis, scorpions, spiders, bees and many other insects. Most of the insects were poisonous and some even deadly. Rotwrap could also use her folds like whips to strangle others.
(Nightstalkers#8 (fb) ) - She became Rotwrap when her body was buried in Egyptian sands until her putrefying flesh tempted an unnatural species of insects to nest in her folds.
(Nightstalkers#2) - Rotwrap was part of the team that killed the traitorous Jasmine and her allies.
(Nightstalkers#3-4) - As part of Belial's team she was punished by Baron Strucker after they had failed to capture Hannibal King. During their encounter with the Nightstalkers her bugs proofed to be not enough for Blade and she had to be saved by Pyre.
(Nightstalkers#9) - She got a new uniform and joined Belial when he had found a corpse bitten by a vampire.
(Nightstalkers#11) - Rotwrap took out Jeb Harlow with Innards help when their team successfully stole Suze Harlow's body from her grave.
--Nightstalkers#2 (Nightstalkers#8 (fb), 2-4, 9, 11
images: (without ads)
Nightstalkers#2, p14, pan1 (main image)
Other Appearances:
Nightstalkers#3-4 (January-February, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer),
Ron Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers#8 (June, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney
(pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers#9 (July, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Mark Pacella
(pencils), Don Heck (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers#11 (September, 1993) - D.C. Chichester (writer), Kirk Van
Wormer (pencils), Bill Anderson (inks), Hildy Mesnik & Bobbie Chase
(editors)
Nightstalkers#16 (February, 1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Bill Wylie
(pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper & Bobbie Chase
(editors)
Nightstalkers#17 (March, 1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Ed Murr
(pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper & Bobbie Chase
(editors)
Last updated: 11/17/06.
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