Abigail Williams,
Betty Parris and Mary WalcottAbigail Williams,
Betty Parris and Mary Walcott
Membership: Abigail Williams, Betty Parris and Mary Walcott
Identity/Class: Human, 17th Century
Purpose: To harm people they did not like
Occupation: Students
Affiliations: Tituba
Enemies: John Burroughs, Sarah Good, John Proctor and his wife, a judge; a lot of other people they didn't like
Base of Operations: Salem, Massachusetts, USA
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up I#42 (February, 1976)
{Albo Italiano: L'Uomo Ragno#197 Editoriale Corno}
Powers/Abilities: The three girls did not have special abilities. They were normal humans who probably attended some lessons about black magic from Tituba. The girls were skilled in lying, simulating that they were being pitched and tortured by the Devil or by his emissaries. They could simulate epilepsy, simulate asthma, simulate pain
History:
(Marvel Team-Up I#42 (fb)) - In the winter of 1691, in Salem, Betty Parris, her
cousin Abigail, and Mary Walcott, bothered by the long dark winter days, took
lesson of Black Magic from Tituba, Reverend Samuel Parris'
cook, a slave who was secretly performing a revenge for his master, Dracula,
against the people of Salem, for what had happened to Charity
Brown.
The three girls tried to harm Ms. Sarah Good using a doll and a pin to sting it.
Their behavior changed. A day later, they were admonished by
Sarah Good for their leisure, the three girls pitched to the ground drooling, turning their eyes around, and simulating epilepsy. The girls claimed (lying) that Sarah
Good was a witch.
Sarah Good and many other people were accused of witchcraft
by the tribunals listening and giving credit to the three girls' witnesses. In
Salem nearly everybody believed the three girls' words.
Sarah Good was executed by hanging. The girls attended and
smiled.
Salem lived in the fear of witchcraft.
Many other people were executed by hanging, also John
Burroughs, a Church' Minister was hanged with the intervention of Cotton
Mather.
John Proctor denounced the girls'
suspect behavior and claimed that they were liars. He and his wife, and other
innocent people not liked by the three girls were incarcerated after Abigail,
Betty and Mary declared they all were witches.
(Marvel Team-Up I#43) - On August, 18th, 1692, Abigail, Betty Parris and Mary Walcott were called as witnesses in the John Proctor's witch trial. Simulating spasm, epilepsy and devilish possession, they convinced the jury that Proctor was a wizard and also accused one of the members of the jury to have been confused by the "Sirens of the Hell", spiritual beings which the girls invented (or were so mad and that they believed themselves to have seen). The judge was removed from his charge and John Proctor and all his family condemned to die for hanging on the Gallows Hill.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, and Mike Esposito/Dave Hunt.
It is possible that the three girls were
strongly impressed, conditioned or plagued by Tituba
(who acted for her master, Dracula) to act in a such a depreciable manner, or they were drugged or enchanted by her.
However, Tituba's
actions brought anguish and despair in Salem.
It is
not showed if the voodoo technique of stinging a puppet had any result on the
poor Sarah Good (so I'm uncertain to classify the three girls as magic users).
Clarifications:
Abigail has no known connections to
Betty Parris has no known connections to
John Proctor has no known connections to
Mary Walcott has no known connections to anyone else with a similar name.
Betty
Parris
Betty Parris was a normal human.
She was Reverend Samuel Parris' daughter. She and her friend were bored by the long winter days of 1961. She was 9
years old when she and her cousin Abigail
started to attend to Tituba's lessons about black magic.
Betty was the first to try to sting a doll with the purpose
to harm Ms. Sarah Good.
Her friend and her accused many people they didn't like of
wichcraft and many of these were executed. They also accused one of the judges
of the trial to John Proctor.
--Marvel Team-Up I#42 (Marvel Team-Up I#42(fb), Marvel Team-Up I#43
Abigail was a normal human.
Abigail was Betty Parris' cousin. She and her friend were bored
by the long winter days of 1961. She was 11 when she and her cousin Betty
started to attend to Tituba's lessons about black magic.
Abigail supported Betty to try to sting a doll with the purpose of harming Ms. Sarah Good.
Her friend and her accused many people they didn't like of
wichcraft and many of these were executed. They also accused one of the judges
of the trial to John Proctor.
--Marvel Team-Up I#42 (Marvel Team-Up I#42(fb), Marvel Team-Up I#43
Mary Walcott
Mary Walcott was a normal human.
She was a friend of Abigail and Betty and was the oldest of
the three.
She supported Betty when she tried to to harm Ms. Sarah Good
by stinging a doll with a pin.
Her friend and her accused many people they didn't like of
wichcraft and many of these were executed. They also accused one of the judges
of the trial to John Proctor.
--Marvel Team-Up I#42 (Marvel Team-Up I#42(fb), Marvel Team-Up I#43
John
Proctor
John Proctor was a normal human.
(Marvel Team-Up I#42 (fb)) - He lived in Salem, 1961, with his family. A hard winter arrived on the Salem village. John Proctor had a quarrel with Master Hathorn.
Proctor saw a series of injustices, due to the accusation of innocents executed for witchcraft. He was not liked by Abigail, Betty and Mary, and he and his family were accused of witchcraft by them. They were imprisoned.
(Marvel Team-Up I#42) - While in jail, Proctor knew Spider-Man and met Vision
and Scarlet Witch, who were imprisoned there after having been defeated by Cotton
Mather and an angered crowd. Proctor told to Spider-Man the history of the
"witchhunt" in Salem. He invited Spider-Man to pray but Spider-Man
preferred to break his own chains using his Spider-Strength.
Spider-Man captured the guardsman and broke the cell door but
Proctor refused to flee, sure of his innocence, as an escape could have been
seen as admitting
their guilt. Proctor's wife took care of Wanda, slightly wounded and weakened
for the close presence of the Dark
Rider who was secretly stealing her magic powers.
(Marvel Team-Up I#43) - On August, 18th, 1692, John Proctor claimed his own and his family's innocence in front of the tribunal. Abigail, Betty Parris and Mary Walcott faked devilish possession and convinced the jury that Proctor was a wizard. John Proctor and his family were condemned.
(Marvel Team-Up I#44 - BTS) - On August, 19th, 1692, John Proctor and all the other condemned people died for hanging at Gallows Hill.
(Marvel Team-Up I#44) - Spider-Man, after the fight versus the Dark Rider, ran to Gallows Hill but didn't arrived on time and found the corpses hanging from the tree.
The
Jury of John Proctor's trial
At the trial, the judges offered to John Proctor the possibility to confess his involvement in witchcraft in order to live. But Abigail, Betty Parris and Mary Walcott claimed that Proctor had sent the "Sirens of the Hell" to tempt the judges and accused a judge of being a wizard, too. The accused judge tried to deny it but the other two judge, although they had seen nothing, had him arrested, and believed to the girls, condemning John Proctor and his family to die for hanging.
--Marvel Team-Up I#43
Images:
Marvel Team-Up I#42, p8, pan6 (Abigail, Betty Parris and Mary Walcott)
Marvel Team-Up I#42, p8, pan4 (Tituba)
Marvel Team-Up I#42, p8, pan6 (Betty Parris)
Marvel Team-Up I#42, p8, pan6 (Abigail)
Marvel Team-Up I#42, p8, pan6 (Mary Walcott)
Marvel Team-Up I#43, p11, pan8 (John Proctor and his family)
Marvel Team-Up I#43, p11, pan4 (the judges)
Marvel Team-Up I#43, p11, pan1 (the judge accused by the three girls)
Other appearances:
Marvel Team-Up I#43 (March, 1976) {Albo Italiano: L'Uomo Ragno#198 Editoriale
Corno} - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Mike Esposito & Dave Hunt (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Last updated: 12/19/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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