THE RED BREATH

Classification:  Extraterrestrial cloud creature

Creator:  Lord Dyvyne's chief Toysmith

User/Possessors:  Lord Dyvyne

First Appearance:  Rocket Raccoon#2 (June, 1985)

Powers/Abilities/Functions:  The Red Breath was a cloudlike creature made of unknown materials that erased and absorbed anything it touched, organic, inorganic, and sound effect.  It could create tendrils and manipulate them to erase any item it wanted.  It could survive and hold itself together in the harsh environment of space.  It was stored in (I'm guessing) its own room underneath Lord Dyvyne's audience chamber on the space station Spacewheel until summoned by him, at which point it would rise from vents in the chamber's floor and await Dyvyne's orders.  It may have had some intelligence, since it seemed to understand what Dyvyne wanted when he ordered it to erase all his enemies without needing more specific instructions (such as who exactly it was supposed to erase).  The Red Breath's other distinguishing feature, besides its color, was its smell -- it smelled like bad breath magnified a hundredfold.

History: (Rocket Raccoon#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Red Breath was the last major creation of Halfworld toy mogul Lord Dyvyne's chief Toysmith before said Toysmith was assassinated by one of rival toy mogul Judson Jake's Killer Clowns.  Its sole purpose was to please Lord Dyvyne by erasing his enemies on command.

(Rocket Raccoon#2) - When Lord Dyvyne was informed by his employee, mercenary rabbit Blackjack O'Hare, that O'Hare planned to marry Lylla the otter and gain control of her family's fortune (instead of O'Hare following orders and delivering Lylla to Dyvyne so Dyvyne could marry Lylla for control of that same fortune), Dyvyne summoned the Red Breath and sent it from Spacewheel to Halfworld to erase all his enemies, starting with O'Hare and ranger Rocket Raccoon (who was busy trying to stop the ongoing toy war between Dyvyne and Jakes).  The Breath arrived on Halfworld just outside the human Loonies' sacred shrine, Asylum, and began erasing the trees it was hiding behind.  It entered the building during the Loonies' annual Masquerade Ball, and began erasing the walls as well as some of the frightened Loonies.  Rocket Raccoon tried to kill the Breath with his laser gun, only to find the Breath wasn't harmed in the least by it.  The Breath ate one of Rocket's rocket-skates, sending the raccoon careening across the room and into a fireplace.  Eventually the Red Breath trapped Rocket into a corner, and began its final approach to erasing him.  Just then O'Hare, chased by Killer Clowns on flying vacu-sleds, jumped down from the balcony above Rocket and lured the Clowns into diving into the Red Breath, diverting the creature's attention long enough for Rocket to fly himself and O'Hare away from danger.  The Clowns' vacu-sleds began pulling apart the Red Breath even as the Breath erased both the sleds and their riders; the two quickly destroyed each other.  With the cloud's passing, everything it consumed (outside of the Clowns and their vacu-sleds) rematerialized, alive and well.

Comments:  Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Mike Mignola (penciler), Al Gordon (inks).

The Red Breath was an homage to Edgar Allen Poe's short horror story, "Mask (sometimes Masque) of the Red Death", where Death, wearing a red mask, attends a masquerade ball held by Prince Prospero and his wealthy guests.

If you ever get the chance, pick up Mantlo's four-issue Rocket Raccoon mini.  Fun lighthearted series that still holds up well after twenty+ years.  And if someone tells you Rocket and Co. aren't "kewl" characters to read because they're not done in a hateful mocking style by the current hot writer(s) (like all the kewl comics are supposed to be nowadays), then feed 'em to the Red Breath.  Or sic some Killer Clowns on vacu-sleds on 'em.  Whichever's easier to get ahold of.

Profile by Elf with a Gun.