BROTHERHOOD of BAAL
Membership: Danton Vayla (leader), Croft (acolyte), Lissa Russell (former member)
Purpose: Demon worship, human sacrifices and whatnot
Affiliations: Baal, Satan, or some other demon (object of their worship)
Enemies: Lissa Russell, Werewolf (Jack Russell), the
Frankenstein
monster;
Abbot and Costello (ok, you got me, not
the last two!)
Base of Operations: Vayla's beach property, Los Angeles, California
First Appearance: Giant-Size Werewolf by Night#2 (October, 1974)
HISTORY: The exact origins of the Brotherhood of Baal are unknown. They were presumably founded by Danton Vayla to worship the demon Baal, which they took to be another name/aspect of Satan.
(Giant-Size Werewolf by
Night#2) - Vayla's claims of being capable of performing the
transfer of souls made it into national newspapers. The
Frankenstein Monster heard two men discussing this and decided to
see if he could gain a new body for himself. He stowed away on a
train bound for LA.
Lissa Russell, the sister of the Werewolf, joined the
Brotherhood, hoping they could help cure her brother. When she
learned that they performed human sacrifices, she attempted to
quit, which just moved her up to the front of the line of such
sacrifices. The Brotherhood abducted Lissa from her stepfather's
house, and left a message in blood on the wall warning of the
fate of those who betray them (and conveniently pointing Jack
Russell in the direction of her captors).
The Frankenstein monster located Vayla and the Brotherhood, and made his wishes known to him. Vayla was more than happy to do this for him, and prepared the appropriate rituals. The monster wasn't sure what to think when he saw Lissa Russell strapped to the altar by Vayla, but he did know how to react when the Werewolf came crashing in and attacked him. After a brief struggle, the monster smashed the Werewolf to the ground, knocking him out (go Frankie, go Frankie!). Vayla raised the sacrificial blade above Lissa, but the monster realized what he was doing, and stopped him from killing her--and then killed Vayla instead. The Werewolf woke up and joined the monster in smashing/shredding the cultists, until one of the torches set the whole place on fire. Frankie, Wolfie, and Lissa all made it to safety, but none of the cultists were seen escaping before Vayla's place before its flaming ruins went tumbling over the cliff.
COMMENTS: Created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin.
The demon Baal is not actually seen in these stories (see comments). It's uncertain whether the Brotherhood had any actual direct connection to Baal or any other demon. If so, I guess that would put the Baal-meister behind the scenes in this issue.
According to Will U, one of
our myth-masters:
"Baal is two things; One it was the name of Hadad as a
short time ruler of the gods, and second: it was a word/title
meaning god. It was used in Baal-Hammon, Baal-Athirat, Baal-him,
Baal-her.
Technically, <as far as the Mesopotamian Gods go> it was Baal-Hadad and then just Baal. The
Hebrews really hated this figure. They never cared much for any
of the old Sumerian gods, but the Babylonian gods in their newer
forms really got a bad rep.
When the Assyrian Empire came to power, guess what, another word,
more titles. There were gods Nin-Girsu, Nin-Karrak and Ninhursag
(used slightly differently for goddesses, Ninhursag was a name
for Mother Earth/Gaea)."
CLARIFICATIONS: No
connection to:
other Brotherhoods or other demon-worshipping cults
Baal, aka
Ba'al, the object of worship of the Brotherhood, is presumably
the demon who ruled Gehenna in millennia past,
@ Wolverine II#11, 12
Baal the demon is not to be confused with:
Danton Vayla's past is virtually unknown. Interest in the legendary work of Victor Frankenstein is part of what inspired him to begin his experiments in transmigration of the soul. He claimed to be able to perform this procedure and even achieved national recognition for these claims. He attempted to commune with Satan himself in order to transfer the soul of the Frankenstein monster into a more normal form. However, The monster didn't take too kindly to the ideal of human sacrifice, and hurled Vayla across the room. Vayla was killed when a giant-inverted cross fell on him (now there's some irony for you...predictable irony, but what are ya gonna do...).
Croft was just a poor, innocent Satanist, who probably messed up his shorts pretty badly after meeting the Frankenstein monster. I hope he cleaned them before his subsequent flaming death when Vayla's place got all burnt up.
Appearances:
Giant-Size Werewolf by Night#2 (October, 1974) - Doug Moench (writer), Don Perlin (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Last updated: 11/17/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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