WITCH WOMAN
WITCH WOMAN
Real Name: Linda Littletrees
Identity/Class: Human, Magic User
Occupation: Agent of Satan; former owner of Linda's (a restaurant)
Affiliations: Satan/Mephisto (master), Jennifer Glatzer (Satanist, former roommate) and other members of the satanic cult
Enemies: Ghost Rider/John Blaze, Roxanne Simpson, "Big Daddy" Dawson and the Ruthless Riders, Sam Silvercloud
Known Relatives: Snake Dance (father), Sam Silvercloud (husband), Koh Silvercloud
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
formerly an Apache reservation in the deserts of Arizona;
formerly an "exclusive women's college in the East"
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight I#10 (June, 1973)
Powers: Witch Woman could generate and manipulate hellfire, as well as real, conventional fire. She could form solid objects, drain the hellfire from a being of lesser power, and even open warps in space over a short distance (a few miles). When she was possessed by Mephisto, she presumably possessed some fraction of his abilities.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Marvel Spotlight I#10 (fb)) - A young Linda Littletrees was saved from getting
run over by a car by an Officer Simpson, who later, of course, started his own
motorcycle stunt show and became Crash Simpson.
(Marvel Spotlight I#11(fb)) - Linda left the reservation to go to college. Her roommate, Jennifer was a Satanist, and got Linda involved, convincing her it was harmless fun. However, before she knew it, Linda was in too deep, and her soul was offered and taken by Satan.
(Marvel Spotlight I#10-11) - Linda
returned to the reservation, on a mission from Satan to defeat
the Ghost Rider, and obtain Johnny Blaze's soul for Satan. She
saved her father, Snake Dance, from a lynching at the hands of
the rest of the tribe. This was led by her fiancé', Sam
Silvercloud, in response to Snake Dance's efforts to lead them to
slay Blaze and Roxanne Simpson. Linda delivered the anti-venom to
a local hospital, which saved the life of Roxanne, who had been
bitten by snakes under the control of Snake Dance.
Linda located and captured the Ghost Rider. She easily overpowered him and forced him to hear her origins, which filled her with pride. She became so wrapped up in them that her control of his bonds faded, and he made a break for it. Linda quickly recovered and could have recaptured Ghost Rider, but Satan was furious over this small failure, and forced her to turn her own hellfire powers back on herself in front of Blaze, both as punishment and a warning to Blaze.
(Ghost Rider II#1-2,
Marvel Spotlight I#12) - Linda's virtually comatose form was found by Sam and
Snake Dance and brought back to the reservation. Snake Dance
recognized the signs of possession, and Sam contacted Daimon
Hellstrom to exorcise the demons from her soul. However, Satan
offered Linda another chance if she would allow him to take full
possession of her body. She agreed, and Satan took her form,
broke free from her restraints, and went after Blaze.
Satan, in the
Witch Woman's form, attacked Blaze and Roxanne, and brought Blaze
to his realm of Hell (Despite the attempted interference of Big
Daddy Dawson). There Satan abandoned Linda's form and returned
to its own. Blaze/Ghost Rider was saved by the arrival of the Son
of Satan, who had tracked Linda from the reservation from which
she had fled. Together Hellstrom and Ghost Rider fought off the
hordes of Satan and escaped back to Earth with the body of Linda.
(Ghost Rider II#3-4) - Linda, now recovered and her body purged of the influences of Satan, taught Blaze how to channel the hellfire to create a motorcycle, to escape the desert. He was forced to leave her there, and promised to return for her, but didn't. Nonetheless, Linda developed the hots for Blaze, and attempted to compete with Roxanne for his affections. Johnny wanted nothing to do with the woman would caused him so much trouble, and sent her on her way.
(Ghost Rider III
Annual#2/3(fb) - BTS) - Linda gave up on her hopes for Blaze, and
went back to the reservation. Despite the fact that she no longer
loved him, she eventually married Sam, and they moved away, had a
son, and opened up a restaurant, "Linda's." However,
she soon grew bored with this life. When Mephisto called to her
again, she answered, and became the Witch Woman anew. She tried
to take their son away from Sam.
(Ghost Rider Annual#2/3) - John Blaze took a road trip across the USA after the death of Roxanne Simpson. He happened along the struggle between Sam and the Witch Woman. Linda tried to seduce him, and convinced him that she was the victim. Blaze opposed Sam, but was nearly run over by his truck. Linda revealed herself and used her power to blow up Sam's truck. Blaze saved Sam, who revealed the truth to him. Blaze subdued her with his hellfire gun, but couldn't bring himself to kill her, because of her son. She was taken away by the authorities.
Comments: Created by Gary Friederich and Tom Sutton.
It was the Witch Woman who first taught Blaze/Ghost Rider how to make a cycle out of hellfire.
The Marvel Chronology Project lists Spirits of Vengeance#23 as an appearance for Witch Woman. There is an elderly crone who acts as a prophet for Centurious. He thanks her for her advice and calls her Witch Woman. She's not seen again, nor is there any clarification given. I don't think it's Linda, so I'm leaving it out of here, but you never know.
I know Wicca/Witches are not Satanists. They were both hot topics in the 1970s, and someone got confused.
One of the issues mentioned that the "Witch Woman" is allegedly a form used by Satan. This does not refer specifically to Linda Littletrees, but presumably to the form of any female witch.
Hmm...I wonder if the police could hold the demon-powered Witch Woman...not so much.
Witch Woman has an entry in Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic. Her son's name was revealed in her newer entry in OHotMU A-Z HC#13.
Clarifications:
Linda Littletrees, the Witch Woman, has no KNOWN connection to:
Sam Silvercloud
was a member of the same Apache tribe as Linda and Snake Dance,
and was Linda' fiancé' prior to her trip to college. When Johnny
Blaze planned to jump Copperhead Canyon, this plan angered
several members of the tribe, who feared that the publicity of
the stunt would make the land too valuable to ever allow the
Apache to purchase for their own. Sam Silvercloud picked Blaze up
in alleged preparation for the stunt, but then left him in the
desert, when he refused to cancel the jump. Blaze made it back
and fought Silvercloud, but was then confronted by Snake Dance
who broke up the fight and warned Blaze to stay away from the
Canyon. Silvercloud sabotaged Blaze's cycle, and Snake Dance and
his "Serpent-Men" ambushed him as he traveled back to
town that evening, as the Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider fled, and
tried to use his cycle to escape by jumping the Canyon. However,
the engine blew up (as a result of Silvercloud's sabotage) in
mid-leap and Ghost Rider fell towards "Certain Death."
Satan, not wanting to lose his rights to Blaze's soul, which would happen if her were killed by a mortal, protected Ghost Rider from dying from the fall. Thinking Blaze to be dead and wishing to cover up loose ends, Silvercloud kidnapped Blaze's girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson, and brought her to Snake Dance. Ghost Rider then arrived, easily overpowered Snake Dance and his allies, set their ritual site on fire, and took Roxanne to get help.
After Snake Dance's defeat by Ghost Rider, Silvercloud led his former followers to strip him of his ceremonial garb and prepared to string him up for leading them astray. Only the timely arrival of his daughter, Linda, saved his life. She forced (at gunpoint) the others to let him go. Sam attempted a reunion with Linda, but she was changed by her experiences, and brushed him off.
Later, when Linda was nearly comatose after her punishment, Silvercloud used an advertisement to contact Daimon Hellstrom to exorcise the demon from her. Hellstrom arrived, but had them bind his wrists in a chain of ankhs and lock him in a room to prevent his "evil" Son of Satan form from getting loose at night. Silvercloud fell for the Son of Satan's deception, and released him from his restraints. The Son of Satan bullied Silvercloud and Snake Dance into telling him where Linda had gone.
When Linda eventually returned to Satanism, Sam took their son away to protect him, and attempted to kill Linda, to stop her from killing or corrupting them both. Using his truck, he ran head-on into her restaurant. This was initially mistaken as a malicious attack by John Blaze, who tried to stop Sam and his truck. Linda revealed herself when she used her powers to blow up Sam's truck to stop it from running down Blaze. Sam explained the truth in time for Blaze to stop Linda. Sam was severely injured, and hospitalized from his injuries in the truck wreck.
Recovering from his injuries, Sam later wrote an article on the Apache Kid(s) for an American Indian Studies project.
--Marvel Spotlight I#8 (11(fb), 8-10, Ghost Rider II#1, 2, Marvel Spotlight I#12, Ghost Rider Annual#2/3, Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (2006): Apache Kid Entry
Linda's son
Koh Silvercloud was caught up in the struggle between Sam and the
Witch Woman. Sam took him away to relatives to care for him,
before heading back to try to kill the Witch Woman. (Maybe
Snake Dance, if he's still alive, is caring for the boy).--Ghost Rider Annual#2/3
Jennifer Glatzer
She was Linda's roommate in college. She led a satanic cult, and got Linda involved by convincing her it was harmless fun. She offered Linda to Satan, who accepted her. She then brought Linda to a ritual, where she and the other cultist ambushed her, bound her to the altar, and sacrificed her to Satan (Mephisto).
--Marvel Spotlight I#11 (11(fb)
Appearances:
Marvel Spotlight I#8 (February, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Mike Ploog (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Spotlight I#9 (April, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Tom Sutton (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Spotlight I#10 (June, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Tom Sutton (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Spotlight I#11 (August, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Tom Sutton (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Spotlight I#12 (October, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Frank Chiaramonte (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ghost Rider II#1 (September, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Tom Sutton (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ghost Rider II#2 (October, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Jim Mooney (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ghost Rider II#3 (December, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Jim Mooney (pencils), John Tartaglione (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ghost Rider II#4 (February, 1974) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Jim Mooney (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ghost Rider Annual#2 (1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Kevin Kobasic (pencils), Philip Moy (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (2006): Apache Kid Entry -
Last updated: 06/25/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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