MILTON DEEVER
Real Name: Milton Deever
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Charlie (last name unrevealed), Madam Rosa, Malleus, Ned (last name unrevealed)
Enemies: Nightmare
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Believer (name given by Nightmare)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed (looks American)
First Appearance: Marvel Fanfare I#51/2 (June,
1990)
Powers/Abilities: Milton Deever was eager to learn magic and have magical items, but otherwise had no unusual abilities.
History:
(Marvel Fanfare I#51/2 (fb) - BTS) - Milton Deever
was keen to learn magic and gather magical artifacts. He was swindled,
believing he had once bought a magic lamp, but it was just painted
gold. Deever persevered and had his psychic advisor, Madam Rosa, make
contact with a reclusive wizard, Malleus, who was willing to sell an
audio recording of magic incantations for a large up-front fee. The
incantations were integrated into a subliminal hypnosis tape, making it
a powerful tool.
(Marvel Fanfare I#51/2 (fb)) - Deever was led
blindfolded by the plain-clothed, silent Occult Guard to an old
warehouse and left alone. He initially felt foolish but then fell
through the floor via a long, winding chute into a dark vaulted maze.
Although fearful from seeing a beast-like shadow, he pressed on and
found Malleus. Deever tried to be casual but was very nervous. Malleus
advised caution as he handed over the tape and said that he wanted to
better know his enemies when Deever asked why a would-be white wizard
would engage in this. Malleus touched Deever's forehead and the novice
feel instantly to sleep, waking again in his apartment with the audio
tape still in his hand.
(Marvel Fanfare I#51/2) - From afar in his nether-world throne, Nightmare watched his next victim Deever, whom he chose to call the Believer, and molded a replica from phantasmic black liquid.
Deever went to his regular bar where his would-be friends, Charlie and Ned, made fun of him. Deever told of his latest efforts and was ridiculed. They all left, but Charlie decided to play a prank and secretly added an extra recording of a dramatization of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to the tape using the spare key Deever had loaned him.
(Marvel Fanfare I#51/2 (fb) - BTS) - Deever played
the audio tape, but Charlie's added recording triggered a nightmare
that, combined with the magic incantations, unleashed hellish forces.
(Marvel Fanfare I#51/2) - Days later, with no sign of
Deever, Ned and Charlie visited Deever's apartment and instead found
something bizarre: a suffocating blast, silent human screams, bleached
emptiness with piles of dust, a slaughterhouse stench, and a man's
agonized shadow staining a wall. From afar, Nightmare laughed.
Comments: Created by Dean Schreck (writer), Gene Colan (pencils) and Al Williamson (inks).
Great art, but the coloring is a bit "washed out", and the story is not entirely clear...
The villain is identified in the text as Nightmare,
but the skull-like profile (seen in shadow) in Colan's art looks much
more like D'Spayre.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Milton Deever has no known connections to:
Malleus was a shape-shifting were-wizard who dwelt
far underground. Deever made contact with him via his psychic advisor.
Malleus was willing to sell an audio recording of magic incantations
for an up-front fee of $1000. Deever agreed; he was later left
disoriented in Malleus' chamber and saw a beast-like shadow just before
meeting the wizard. Malleus said the choice was Deever's whether the
recording rendered "heaven or Hades", and that he was willing to sell
such magic in order to better know his enemies. The transaction
complete, Malleus set him to instant sleep and Deever awoke again in
his apartment.
--Marvel Fanfare I#51/2
images:
(without ads)
Marvel Fanfare I#51/2, p2, pan4 (main image)
p2, pan5 (headshot)
p5, pan2 (Malleus)
Appearances:
Marvel Fanfare I#51/2 (June, 1990) - Dean Schreck (writer), Gene Colan
(pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Last updated: 05/20/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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