Mister E
Encyclopedia
Mister E is a fictional character
that appears mainly in the Vertigo Comics universe, though he sometimes appears in the DC Comics
universe
. Created by Bob Rozakis
and Jack C. Harris, the character first appeared in Secrets of Haunted House
and was a recurring character for ten issues. He was then radically redesigned by Neil Gaiman
for use in The Books of Magic
, after which he appeared in his own mini-series
.
Erik moved to Boston and under the name Mister E he achieved some fame as both a historian and a vigilante who sought out and destroyed what he perceived to be evil. His forte was the supernatural, and he battled many magical beings over the years. At one point, he met "the Superman
". He hired a young woman recently emigrated from Dublin named Kelly O'Toole to be his assistant after she helped him defeat her former employer, Judge Kobold, who was both a werewolf
and a vampire
who had sentenced numerous alleged witches to hang. He fought with false zombies, creatures built from corpses by mad scientists, and a leprechaun
who had allowed Kelly's mother the financial opportunity to visit her in Boston. He assisted a young man, David Neu (Neu is Rozakis's wife's surname), who was researching manuscripts by Cotton Mather
, to kill a hound that allegedly belonged to Salem witches, and also hired him on as an assistant. He guided the two into hanging
another hound out the window. The three also fought a descendent of Mathew Maule
who claimed to be Maule himself.
Mister E joined Doctor Occult
, John Constantine
and the Phantom Stranger
to teach young Tim Hunter
about magic. Tim was destined to become a powerful sorcerer, but Mister E believed that he would one day pose a threat to humanity. Mister E journeyed into the future with Tim, showing him a timeline in which Tim led the forces of evil against the world. Mister E then tried to kill Tim at the end of the universe, but was interrupted by Destiny
and Death
. Death sent Tim back to his own time, but did not help Mister E, so he had to go back in time one step at a time.
Mister E was determined to return and kill Tim, but he was sidetracked in time by the Temptress and the Shadower. These two mystic beings represented repressed parts of Mister E's own mind. In the end Mister E and the Shadower destroyed the Temptress.
On his walk back from the end of time E encountered Pyotr Konstantin, who tagged along with him back to the present day.
Mister E made the difficult decision to let Tim Hunter live in peace, thus breaking the cycle of abuse started by E's own father.
to have a chat with him. E took the Trenchcoat Brigade on a trip to the possible future of his vision, where the only person left alive was Pyotr. E staked Pyotr through the chest, but it didn't kill him, and Pyotr summoned the Whining Ones to attack the Brigade. The Brigade won the fight and Pyotr told them they could avert the tragedy he caused if they took him back in time to the 17th century, so E complied. In the past Pyotr cast a spell to force the Brigade to confront and deal with each other's past failures and guilt while he set off to prevent his past self from setting off the chain of events that unleashed M'nagalah. The Brigade conquered each other's guilt and found Pyotr, who'd failed to stop his past self. E took the Brigade to the time of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, when Pyotr's past self and Elliana of the Leshy, whose people had been destroyed by mankind, would bring M'nagalah to Earth. E took M'nagalah, who needed a mortal filled with guilt to allow him corporal existence on Earth, and allowed him into his body. E conquered his guilt and M'nagalah, preventing his vision of a cancer destroyed world from occurring.
Timothy Hunter would later magically try to contact Constantine, Stranger and Occult. His power sent the message to everyone, including E. He showed up with the others and tried to apologize to Tim for what had happened earlier.
.
In the Books of Magic storyline Mister E was blinded as a child, when his deranged father scooped out his eyeballs for gazing at a woman of low moral character (his mother). He still has the mystical ability to see "what needs to be seen", but can now see the good and evil in the souls of others. He learned the ability to walk through time from his older self. Mister E also suffers from dissociative identity disorder
(formerly known as multiple personality disorder), swinging from a mild personality to a psychotic fundamentalist Christian.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appears mainly in the Vertigo Comics universe, though he sometimes appears in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
. Created by Bob Rozakis
Bob Rozakis
Robert "Bob" Rozakis is a comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man".-Biography:...
and Jack C. Harris, the character first appeared in Secrets of Haunted House
Secrets of Haunted House
Secrets of Haunted House was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1982.-Publication history:...
and was a recurring character for ten issues. He was then radically redesigned by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
for use in The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...
, after which he appeared in his own mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
.
Fictional character biography
As a young boy Erik was repeatedly beaten by his father. Erik tried to protect his sister Katarina from his father, but failed. One day Erik found degrading and perverted pictures of his mother and his sister hidden under his father's bed. His father found out that Erik knew his secrets, so he took out Erik's eyes with a sharpened spoon. His father believed humanity was inherently evil, and thought that by blinding his son he was saving him from temptation. These childhood experiences made Erik psychotic and a dangerous fanatic. He still had a deep love for his father, so he blocked out the reason his father maimed him, making up a fiction in his mind that his father did it because he caught Erik sneaking a peek at an adult magazine.Erik moved to Boston and under the name Mister E he achieved some fame as both a historian and a vigilante who sought out and destroyed what he perceived to be evil. His forte was the supernatural, and he battled many magical beings over the years. At one point, he met "the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
". He hired a young woman recently emigrated from Dublin named Kelly O'Toole to be his assistant after she helped him defeat her former employer, Judge Kobold, who was both a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
and a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
who had sentenced numerous alleged witches to hang. He fought with false zombies, creatures built from corpses by mad scientists, and a leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
who had allowed Kelly's mother the financial opportunity to visit her in Boston. He assisted a young man, David Neu (Neu is Rozakis's wife's surname), who was researching manuscripts by Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
, to kill a hound that allegedly belonged to Salem witches, and also hired him on as an assistant. He guided the two into hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
another hound out the window. The three also fought a descendent of Mathew Maule
The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The house is now a non-profit museum, with an admission fee charged for tours, as well as an active settlement house with programs for children...
who claimed to be Maule himself.
Mister E joined Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the . Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....
, John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
and the Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
to teach young Tim Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...
about magic. Tim was destined to become a powerful sorcerer, but Mister E believed that he would one day pose a threat to humanity. Mister E journeyed into the future with Tim, showing him a timeline in which Tim led the forces of evil against the world. Mister E then tried to kill Tim at the end of the universe, but was interrupted by Destiny
Destiny (DC Comics)
Destiny is a DC Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson, first appearing in Weird Mystery Tales #1 , and was regular host of that series for the first fourteen issues, after which he hosted Secrets of Haunted House. He is one of the Endless in Neil Gaiman's comic book series,...
and Death
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....
. Death sent Tim back to his own time, but did not help Mister E, so he had to go back in time one step at a time.
Mister E was determined to return and kill Tim, but he was sidetracked in time by the Temptress and the Shadower. These two mystic beings represented repressed parts of Mister E's own mind. In the end Mister E and the Shadower destroyed the Temptress.
On his walk back from the end of time E encountered Pyotr Konstantin, who tagged along with him back to the present day.
Mister E made the difficult decision to let Tim Hunter live in peace, thus breaking the cycle of abuse started by E's own father.
Attempt at normalcy
E attempted to live a normal life in New York City, going so far as to make friends and talk to women. He suffered from visions of a world eaten up by the cancer god M'Nagalah, and knew that Pyotr Konstantin somehow caused it. In the dead of night E broke into the homes of Russian immigrants in an attempt to find Pyotr, and threatened them with his hammer and stakes. E's nighttime activities made the news, and John Constantine knew it had to be E, so he summoned the other members of the Trenchcoat BrigadeTrenchcoat Brigade
The Trenchcoat Brigade is a four-issue comic book limited series that was published in 1999 as a part of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.The title references an offhand joke used by John Constantine in the earlier Books of Magic series to label a loose affiliation of mystics including himself, Phantom...
to have a chat with him. E took the Trenchcoat Brigade on a trip to the possible future of his vision, where the only person left alive was Pyotr. E staked Pyotr through the chest, but it didn't kill him, and Pyotr summoned the Whining Ones to attack the Brigade. The Brigade won the fight and Pyotr told them they could avert the tragedy he caused if they took him back in time to the 17th century, so E complied. In the past Pyotr cast a spell to force the Brigade to confront and deal with each other's past failures and guilt while he set off to prevent his past self from setting off the chain of events that unleashed M'nagalah. The Brigade conquered each other's guilt and found Pyotr, who'd failed to stop his past self. E took the Brigade to the time of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, when Pyotr's past self and Elliana of the Leshy, whose people had been destroyed by mankind, would bring M'nagalah to Earth. E took M'nagalah, who needed a mortal filled with guilt to allow him corporal existence on Earth, and allowed him into his body. E conquered his guilt and M'nagalah, preventing his vision of a cancer destroyed world from occurring.
Timothy Hunter would later magically try to contact Constantine, Stranger and Occult. His power sent the message to everyone, including E. He showed up with the others and tried to apologize to Tim for what had happened earlier.
Character appearances
- Secrets of Haunted HouseSecrets of Haunted HouseSecrets of Haunted House was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1982.-Publication history:...
#31 (December 19801980 in comics-Year overall:* Big Rapids Distribution, a major Midwestern comics distributor, goes under, and two former employees , form Capital City Distribution, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin....
): "The Twice-Cursed Man" - Secrets of Haunted House #32 (January 1981): "Those Who Pass Judgment"
- Secrets of Haunted House #33 (February 1981): "Of Death and Life and Voodoo Drums"
- Secrets of Haunted House #34 (March 1981): "The Left Hand Never Knows"
- Secrets of Haunted House #35 (April 1981): "The Lair of Lady Frankenstein"
- Secrets of Haunted House #36 (May 1981): "Demon Spell"
- Secrets of Haunted House #37 (June 1981): "The Third Wish is Death"
- Secrets of Haunted House #38 (July 1981): "Conglomerate of Evil"
- Secrets of Haunted House #39 (August 1981): "The Witch-Hounds of Salem"
- Secrets of Haunted House #40 (September 1981): "The Were-Witch of Boston"
- Secrets of Haunted House #41 (October 1981): "The Blood-Curse of Maule's Well"
- Books of Magic vol. 1, #1 (January 19911991 in comics-January:* Checkmate is canceled by DC Comics with issue #33.* El Diablo vol. 2 is canceled by DC with issue #16.* Count Duckula is canceled by the Marvel Comics imprint Star Comics with issue #15....
): "The Invisible Labyrinth" - Books of Magic vol. 1, #2 (February 1991): "The Shadow World"
- Books of Magic vol. 1, #4 (April 1991): "The Road to Nowhere"
- Mister E #1 (June 1991): "At the End of Time"
- Mister E #2 (July 1991): "Master!"
- Mister E #3 (August 1991): "The Temptress"
- Mister E #4 (September 1991): "The Power"
- Doom PatrolDoom PatrolThe Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
(vol. 2) #53 (March 1992): "And Men Shall Call Him -- Hero!" - Underworld UnleashedUnderworld UnleashedUnderworld Unleashed was a multi-title comic book cross-over event released by DC Comics in 1995. As well as the core story-line of the three-issue Underworld Unleashed mini-series, most of the DC titles published in November and December 1995 and a number of one-off titles were part of the...
: The Abyss: Hell's Sentinel (December 19951995 in comics-January:*After Xavier: The Age of Apocalypse is launched. All X-titles change to different names for the next four months.* Thor marks his 400th appearance in Marvel Comics with issue #482....
) - Arcana Annual #1 (January 1994): "Long Walks in Dancing Shoes"
- The Books of Magic (vol. 2) #6 (October 1994) 'Sacrifices, Part 1: Instruments'
- The Books of Magic (vol. 2) #51 (August 1998): "A Thousand Worlds of Tim"
- The Books of Magic (vol. 2) Annual #3 (19991999 in comics-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
): "A Thousand Deaths of Timothy Hunter" - The Trenchcoat Brigade #1 (March 1999): "Mercy Killer"
- The Trenchcoat Brigade #2 (April 1999): "The Kindness of the Wolf"
- The Trenchcoat Brigade #3 (May 1999): "Eyes of the Blind"
- The Trenchcoat Brigade #4 (June 1999): "A Lingering Death"
- The Names of Magic #1 (February 2001): "Chapter One: Invocation"
- The Names of Magic #5 (June 2001): "Chapter Five: Truth"
Powers and abilities
In spite of Mister E's originally unexplained blindness, his major power was the ability to "see" evil. He often carried weapons for fighting supernatural creatures (silver bullets, wooden stakes, crucifixes, etc.). Hints of his psychological disturbance were implied when he justified the executions of the Salem Witch TrialsSalem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
.
In the Books of Magic storyline Mister E was blinded as a child, when his deranged father scooped out his eyeballs for gazing at a woman of low moral character (his mother). He still has the mystical ability to see "what needs to be seen", but can now see the good and evil in the souls of others. He learned the ability to walk through time from his older self. Mister E also suffers from dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
(formerly known as multiple personality disorder), swinging from a mild personality to a psychotic fundamentalist Christian.