CARLTON BEATRICE
Real Name: Carlton Beatrice
Identity/Class: Human
magic-user Occupation: Owner and CEO of Carlton Industries
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Anung-Ite, Michel "Mickey" Souris
Enemies:
Roberta Elk Step, the Keewazi tribe,
Miriam, She-Hulk (Jen Walters), William Wingfoot, Wyatt Wingfoot
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Carlton Industries, Manhattan, New York,
United States of America First Appearance: She-Hulk: Ceremony#1 (1989) Powers/Abilities: Carlton Beatrice possessed several skills mystical in nature but limited to his use in totems and his habit of consuming souls. Within his power was the ability to take the souls of animals and human beings, manifest them as wafers or crackers and then consume them for their astral energies. He could conjure weapons of mystical force, appear on the astral and dream planes and teleport living beings into those realms. He could mentally enslave anyone whose soul he had removed as well as control and command Anung-Ite, a being from the cosmology of the Native American gods. Powered by a mystical object such as a sacred Keewazi
basket
of Roberta Elk Step could enable him to spread his power and influence across the planet.
He wore a mask of unrevealed nature,
significance, etc. during his ritual to marry the soul of the Earth. History: (She-Hulk: Ceremony#1 (fb)) - Carlton Beatrice was once a young opportunistic businessman who tried to purchase
certain mineral rights of the land from the Keewazi Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. Unable to budge William Wingfoot
(see comments) into the sale, he just happened to glance upon Wingfoot's
mother or mother-in-law, Roberta Elk Step, and her daughter ( or
niece-by-marriage, or possibly even her sister --see comments), Miriam, in a religious and mystical ceremony.
Beatrice studied the mystic arts under Roberta and Miriam to perfect and practice them as well as they could and even applied another obscure mystical art of stealing souls in his mastery of mysticism. Totally lacking in beneficent energy, that which Miriam called "female energies," he clashed with Miriam and killed her for her psychic energies. Fleeing the reservation
to avoid Roberta's wrath, Beatrice headed to
Manhattan, New York , where he used what power he had in the mystic arts to build his own company.
He collected a series of mystic totems to increase his power. (She-Hulk:
Ceremony#1) <20 years after Beatrice had first come to the Keewazi reservation> - Beatrice soon learned he needed a mystical basket that the Keewazi possessed to expand his power, but Roberta had sent it as a gift to her son Wyatt's then
former girlfriend, Jennifer Walters, the She Hulk.
Realizing the basket would only be useful if it was given to him (rather than
being taken by force), Beatrice immediately located She-Hulk (just after she had
received the basket) and attempted to convince her to give it to him in exchange
for his donating a large sum of money to her favorite charity. Appreciating the
gift and suspecting its greater significance, She-Hulk refused to give Beatrice
the basket. Failing to understand that the basket could
only be given to Beatrice, Beatrice's apprentice and vice-president, Michel
Souris, sent an Indian Anung-Ite spirit to take the basket; nonetheless,
She-Hulk thwarted the Anung-Ite's efforts. As punishment, Beatrice removed
Souris' soul, trapping it in wafer form. (She-Hulk: Ceremony#2) - Beatrice eventually ransomed Wyatt's soul for
possession of the basket in order to possess it. Beatrice then
had his people arrange for the
United States Department of the Interior to rescind the treaty that created the
Keewazi reservation, thus forcing the tribe to relocate. Carlton Industries then
"legally" acquired the land and the minerals on it.
Beatrice used the basket's power to started stealing power from all the souls on Earth. Jennifer and Wyatt attacked in on the astral plane by merging their psychic energies as one and breaking Carlton's hold on his power. With the basket's energy redirected through them, they were able to restore the souls Beatrice had stolen his power on them. His body destroyed in the process, his soul took the form of a harmless
black butterfly (as opposed to the other souls, which took the form of
brightly colored butterflies) as it departed.
Comments: Created by Dwayne McDuffie, Robin D. Chaplik and June Brigman.
Interesting villain, Carlton Beatrice seems to be part J.R. Ewing and part Doctor Doom. One would have to wonder he was such a nasty character because he was terrorized in school for having a girl's name.
The concept of souls as butterflies has occurred more than once in the Marvel Universe. The cosmic Akhenaton when he was destroyed by Thanos became one and Satana Hellstrom swallowed them after drawing them from her victims.
Although Carlton Beatrice has a certain control over mystical energies, he does not seem to be a true sorcerer in the sense of Doctor Strange or Jennifer Kale. In fact, the entry for Doctor Druid in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#3 remarks that because Druid does not manipulate ambient and extradimensional magical energy, that Druid cannot be counted as a sorcerer, his use of ritualistic Celtic Earth magic qualifies him as a mystic. Likewise, since Beatrice seems to manipulate Native American mystical energies without earning the right or discipline to do so, he can only be called a mystic rather than a true sorcerer. In fact, considering the threat that Beatrice poses, one would have to wonder why Dr. Strange wouldn't get involved in challenging him.
Possibly, Carlton Beatrice's company has location offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma near the Keewazi Indian Reservation.
The name of Wyatt Wingfoot's father is not mentioned in
the issue, just his role in defying Beatrice. His name comes from Fantastic
Four I#51, Wyatt's second appearance. --Prime Eternal
This entry was initially going to cover Mickey Souris in a
smaller entry, but given his connection to Damage Control, he got his own
profile. Comments from Donald Campbell (I edited the
profile to reflect most of these, but the reasons are discussed herein--Snood) As far as I know, Will Wingfoot has never been described as
being chief of the Keewazi tribe. Will's father, Silent Fox, was chief when
the FF first met Wyatt and, judging by Fantastic Four I#269, Will would have
become chief only after his father died. Unfortunately, since Will predeceased
his father, he never had the opportunity to be chief. Of course, if Will was
never the chief, then why was he the one who refused to sell to Beatrice? My
best guess would be that Silent Fox was preparing his son to succeed him by
delegating some of his duties to Will, like dealing with outside businessmen.
Alternatively, it's possible that Silent Fox retired and was succeeded by Will
but that Will later died and so Silent Fox became chief again (since Wyatt was
too young).
Roberta is
Wyatt's grandmother, not his mother. Therefore, Roberta was either William's
mother or his mother-in-law.
The profile
refers to Miriam as being Roberta's sister. This may be incorrect since
Roberta, when speaking to her grandson, mentions his "Aunt Miriam." This would
seem to indicate that Miriam was of a younger generation than Roberta and thus
was either her daughter or her niece-by-marriage. However, if Miriam was
Roberta's sister, then that would make her Wyatt's great-aunt and Roberta may
have just chosen to use the more general term of "aunt" instead of the more
specific "great-aunt."
The profile
does not mention that Beatrice's encounters with She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot
took place "twenty years" after he first came to the Keewazi reservation.
Personally, I think this is information that should be included since Beatrice
spent those years collecting various totems before he ever tried to get the
basket.
Roberta Elk
Step was the person who taught Beatrice much of what he knows about her
tribe's medicine (magic). Miriam seems to have also helped teach him.
After
killing Miriam, Beatrice fled to the White Man's world because he feared
Roberta's vengeance. Beatrice did not have
Souris send the Anung-ite to take the basket from She-Hulk because he
already knew that it would only retain its power if it was given and not sold
or taken.
Beatrice did
not use the basket's power to force the Keewazi tribe to sell their land to
him. Instead, he had his people arrange for the United States Department of
the Interior to rescind the treaty that created the Keewazi reservation, thus
forcing the tribe to relocate. Carlton Industries then "legally" acquired the
land and the minerals on it.
After being
defeated, Beatrice's soul took the form of a harmless BLACK butterfly. The
color may be significant since all other soul-butterflies were shown to be
brightly-colored. by
--I'd say that's an arbitrary division with no real purpose. Beatrice is a
magic-user, at least.--Snood
For what it's worth, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z
Update#1 (2010) noted Miriam as Wyatt's aunt. That does not directly
contradict the above discussion; that entry also notes a Roberta as Wyatt's
mother (in addition to Roberta Elk Step being his grandmother)
CLARIFICATIONS: Images taken from: Last updated: 06/26/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
Carlton Beatrice should not be confused with:
Main - SH: C 1, pg. 38, bottom right
Face - SH: C 2, pg. 6, bottom left
Powers - SH: C 2, pg. 35, full page
She Hulk: Ceremony#2, introductory page (ceremonial mask)
story page. 39, panel 4 (black soul
butterfly)
Appearances:
She Hulk: Ceremony#1-2 (1989) - Dwayne McDuffie &, Robin D. Chaplik (writers), June Brigman (pencils), Stan Drake (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
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