Zombie (Marvel)
The Zombie is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Simon William Garth was a highly successful businessman and well known public figure who was notorious for treating his employees ruthlessly. Garth's gardener, Gyps, vowed to get revenge upon his employer for his years of mistreatment and recent firing. Kidnapping Garth, Gyps stabbed him to death with a pair of garden shears in the bayou near New Orleans. Gyps was not satisfied by Garth's relatively quick death, however, and so he turned the corpse over to a nearby Voodoo cult and forced the voodoo vienne (voodoo queen) Layla to turn Garth into a zombie. Layla, who also happened to be Garth's secretary, called upon Damballah, the serpent god who is the most powerful of the Loa (the gods of voodoo), and with the aid of matching talismans, resurrected the corpse of her former employer as a mindless zombie. One of the two amulets was placed around Garth's neck; the other was given to Gyps. Using the amulet, Gyps was capable of controlling the Zombie. (Zombie v1 #1)
The Zombie attacked a pair of grave robbers, Rafe and Mitch, who had been sent by Mr. Six to steal a magic ring from the corpse of Joseph Travers. The Zombie killed Mitch, but Rafe escaped. Sensing a connection to Haiti, the Zombie stowed away on a ship, on which Donna was also traveling. In Haiti he made his way to the Port-au-Prince home of his old friend Anton Cartier. Cartier brought the Zombie to a cavern in the forest miles from his home to keep him hidden while he sought a means to return to normal. However, as soon as Cartier left he wandered out into woods, encountering Donna who had been transformed into a monstrous Spider-Thing by the treatment of Dr. Richard Ricard. The Spider-Thing attacked the Zombie, but her bites and venom did her no harm, and after exhausting herself she returned to normal form, passing out. The Zombie wandered back to its cavern before she revived. (Tales of the Zombie v1 #2)
Wandering out from his cavern, the Zombie was attacked by and slew a large constrictor. Vaguely remember his prior need to eat, he consumed the snake's flesh. He was later drawn to a voodoo ceremony, where the priestess Katanya had condemned and mutilated Moira Mason for disrupting the events by filming them. When Moira's husband Bruce agreed to become Katanya's zombie in exchange for restoring Moira, the zombie intervened to prevent Bruce from sharing his fate. The Zombie fought off the cultists and then, sensing her wishes, quickly killed Moira to end her torment. (Tales of the Zombie v1 #3) The Zombie fought Katanya and her cultist, who wished vengeance for the theft of their victim. Katanya used a 'devil-doll' to cause him to collapse to the ground, and her cultists cast the Zombie off of a cliff. He sank to the ocean floor, remaining inert until the other Amulet of Damballah was found by Phillip Bliss, who jokingly used it to call up a Zombie, little realizing that his call would be answered, as the Zombie began its trek across the ocean floor towards him. A week later, the Zombie climbed onto the docks of New Orleans and confronted Phillip Bliss. Though initially terrified, Bliss soon realized the power he now wielded, and he directed the Zombie to wreak havoc in a courtroom, seeing this as enabling him to gain vengeance on the lawyers who had ruined Bliss' life. (Tales of the Zombie v1 #4)
Years passed, and Simon once again rose from his grave. The amulet of Damballah that he had worn for so many years was gone, and he instinctively began seeking it out. His search brought him to New York City where he unwittingly discovered the amulet in the possession of Daily Bugle employee Glory Grant. The amulet was infused with the spirit of the villainess Calypso, who had possessed Glory and forced her to do her bidding. While seeking the amulet, the Zombie ran afoul of Spider-Man. The two fought, but he ultimately reclaimed the amulet and returned to his restless slumber. (Spider-Man Annual v1 #1997)
A short time later, a wealthy student of the arcane named Kelsey Pierce acquired one of the amulets and offered it to the vampire Lilith Drake in the hope that she would reciprocate by turning him into a vampire. Lilith accepted the gift, but killed Pierce rather than turning him into a vampire. With the amulet, she took control of Simon Garth, and used him as her personal servant, forcing him to attack innocents and drag them back to her lair. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #20)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
As the Zombie, Garth is supernaturally strong and able to heal mystically from injuries. However, he is also virtually mindless. Also, due to the Amulet of Damballah, which he wears around his neck, he must obey anyone who holds that item's duplicate.
Notes
- Zombie was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett where he made his first appearance in Menace v1 #5 (July, 1953).
Appearances
- Menace v1: (1953)
- Zombie v1:
External Links
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