Curse of the Phantasm (Vol. 1)

**Publisher**: New Dawn

**Line**: Cursed Dawn

**Status**: Ongoing

## Details

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM**

 Plotted by EXCITER

 Written by JOSS WHEDON

 Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

 Concept: Andrea Beaumont continues to wage her one-woman war on corruption, engendering the wrath of criminals and the law alike.

 Cast: The Phantasm (Andrea Beaumont)

 Supporting: The Grey Ghost (Simon Trent), Tigress (Artemis Crock), V (for Vendetta)

 Villains: Bane, Sportsmaster, Chesire, Wetworks (team)

## Issues

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #1**

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“THEATRICALITY AND DECEPTION”

Since her father was betrayed and murdered by the mafia, Andrea Beaumont has waged a brutally violent war on organized crime, striking fear into the hearts of the world's mobsters as the reaper-like Phantasm. Trained in relentless vigilantism by the anarchist terrorist V, her most stalwart ally is out-of-work actor Simon Trent, famous for portraying the “The Gray Ghost” on the once-popular but long-since canceled television series of the same name. Now, Simon gets to play hero for real as he helps Andrea expose a drug trafficking ring operating in Southern Europe. But when the Phantasm kills the traffickers, she inadvertently draws the attention of the entire Santa Priscan cartel and its leader, the man who broke the Bat – Bane! When Bane travels to Italy and forces a confrontation, will the theatricality and deception of the Phantasm be enough to defeat the man who was born in the dark? Or will the Phantasm... be broken?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #2**

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“FORCED RE-EDUCATION” Part One “BROKEN”

Andrea's confrontation with Bane as the Phantasm was a disaster, and in the aftermath she finds herself both defeated and badly injured. Humbled, she returns to the place where she was trained to be a vigilante... a contraband-filled lair in subterranean London known only to a select few as the “Shadow Gallery.” But can even her mentor, the enigmatic anarchist V, forge her into a weapon capable of defeating Bane and the indomitable Santa Priscan Cartel that he operates? And if he can, can Andrea possibly survive the process?

Meanwhile, a potential ally against the cartel emerges. Who is Tigress and what is her connection to Bane's chief lieutenant, Sportsmaster? Andrea's friend Simon “Gray Ghost” Trent aims to find out...

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #3**

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“FORCED RE-EDUCATION” Part Two “REMINDED”

After suffering a severe and punishing defeat at the hands of Bane, Andrea Beaumont continues her intensive rehabilitation under the care and supervision of her friend Simon Trent and her mentor, the vengeful V. She's learned much from V, but has she learned [i]too much[/i] from him?

*“I'll never pause again, never stand still,*
 Till either death hath closed these eyes of mine

 Or fortune given me measure of revenge.”

3 Henry VI (2.3.31-3).
While surveilling Bane's Santa Priscan cartel, Andrea discovers an unlikely enemy of her enemy. The vigilante Tigress, with what appeared to be great personal enmity, attacked Bane's top lieutenant, the mercenary Sportsmaster. But she is failing. What's her connection to Sportsmaster? Can the Phantasm pull her from the fire? And if so, is Tigress ready for V's uniquely rigorous training?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #4**

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“BANE OF EXISTENCE” Part One “ANARCHY IN THE S.P.”

The Phantasm has a new protege, but can Andrea trust this “Tigress” when the young vigilante's sister comes looking for her? Oh, and did we mention, her sister is one of the most lethal assassins in the world – the astoundingly deadly Cheshire?

Meanwhile, the repressive South American kleptocracy, Santa Prisca, is ruled with and iron fist by the malevolent mastermind, Bane. The few good people left within its borders cower at the abuse inflicted upon them by the nation's criminal rulers. But people should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people! The anarchist terrorist V has found his next mission. It's Bane versus V! Who will be broken?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

**CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #5**

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“BANE OF EXISTENCE” Part Two “SISTERHOOD ON THE EDGE OF A KNIFE”

The Capitolio de Santa Prisca lies a smoldering ruin, the result of V's handiwork. He set out to end the reign of the nation's corrupt kleptocracy, led by none other than Santa Prisca's most lethal son – Bane! But he paid the price. Wounded and hunted by Bane's cartel minions, V's one hope to escape and fight for anarchy another day is his protege, Andrea Beaumont - the Phantasm!

But the Phantasm has recruited a protege of her own, and Tigress has a sister who may or may not be playing a very deadly game. Cheshire has proposed an alliance to save V, depose Bane, and kill his chief lieutenant, Sportsmaster – who happens to be their father! But can Tigress possibly be trusted? Is Andrea walking into a trap, or will this just be the most violent and dysfunctional family reunion of all time?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #6

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“WHATEVER WORKS” Part One “GRIM AND GRITTY”

The Phantasm, with the help of V, Gray Ghost, Cheshire, and Tigress, has succeeded. In a bloody coup, Bane and his regime have been ousted from control of Santa Prisca. But in the aftermath, will Tigress allow her sister Cheshire to kill their father and Bane's top lieutenant, Sportsmaster, even if he is a professional scumbag?

As Andrea and her erstwhile allies attempt to rebuild, the world's eyes are finally upon the much-beleaguered South American nation. With the Phantasm's cabal seen as terrorists due to the Capitolio's destruction at the hands of V, the clandestine International Operations has elected to send in their most capable covert operations team to ensure a new regime favorable to their interests is put in place. Enter the indomitable soldiers bonded with golden symbiotes known collectively as Wetworks! Their mission? Seek and Destroy! Their leader? Jackson Dane! Their problem? Dane and the Phantasm used to date!

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS: CURSE OF THE PHANTASM #7

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“WHATEVER WORKS” Part Two “FINALITY”

Andrea Beaumont, a.k.a. The Phantasm, has rekindled the spark with her one time paramour Jackson Dane. Problem: Jackson is now the leader of Wetworks, the special ops unit bonded to golden symbiotes and tasked with taking down Andrea's mentor, V! As their leader's new-found romance creates a rift in the team, it provides the opening that Santa Prisca's ousted ruler Bane needs to take them captive! Stealing Wetworks' symbiotes and infusing them with the steroidal wonder-drug venom, Bane has made himself more powerful than ever! Can the Phantasm stop him from retaking the country she just liberated and finally avenge her crippling defeat at the hands of Bane months ago?

Witness the culmination of the Phantasm's quest for revenge in the final issue before a bold new direction begins!

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #8: CURSE OF THE GRAY GHOST

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

No new ideas in Hollywood development hell

“DEVELOPMENTAL HELL: NO NEW IDEAS IN HOLLYWOOD”

Simon Trent's star has faded. Since portraying the titular character in the now classic Gray Ghost television series, he hasn't had any acting roles of significance. Relegated to sporadic cartoon voice-work, Trent has been spending most of his time assisting the vigilante Phantasm. But when Phantasm reunited with her ex, Trent realized she'd never feel for him how he felt for her. That's when he gets more bad news: there's a Gray Ghost movie in the works and it's a comedic 21 Jump Street-style re-imagining. They're making a mockery of his legacy, and the producers have the audacity to ask him for a cameo! Then again... it's a paycheck. He swallows his pride and heads to the set, but as soon as he arrives, mysterious accidents begin occurring. It quickly becomes apparent that someone, or some[i]thing[/i], doesn't want this reboot to happen. Can the real Gray Ghost get to the bottom of this, and how will he deal with the fact that the new millennial Gray Ghost insists on helping him?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #9: CURSE AND VENDETTA OF V

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“STOKING OUR FEARS WITH THEIR LIES”

To the world, V has no past, no identity, no face. Beneath the mask, there is not mere flesh, there is an idea - and ideas are bulletproof. This is the invaluable lesson V tried to impart upon Andrea Beaumont, but she could never fully make the transition into an idea. The Phantasm she created was always just a ghost of herself. In V's eyes, this made her a failure. He would need a new protege. Fortunately, there was no shortage of aspirants...

Many of the leaders of the United States, including the President, where recently killed when the Capitol Building was destroyed (see THE ELITE #16). In the wake of this tragedy, a fringe political movement calling itself the "Northfire Party" has gained significant momentum. Their prevailing ideology is that civil liberties must be stripped in order to ensure security. They prey on fear while scapegoating ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities and spying on everyone. But Northfire is not unopposed. V's mask has become a symbol under which protesters can unite and express their disdain for the repressive establishment. V's mask thus becomes a target for the burgeoning police state...

It's clear what must be done. For freedom to survive, the people must be awakened. The Northfire Party must be defeated. There must be a movement. Will Tigress and Cheshire stand with V? Will you? Are you prepared to rid your life of tyranny? You are the resistance!

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

feb 2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #10: CURSE AND VENDETTA OF V

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“COILED WITH THE SERPENT”

The Northfire Party is here, and they want your support to "Restore America's Greatness." Of course, by "Restore America's Greatness" they mean accept a fascist, nationalistic, nativist, misogynist, Christian and white supremacist government while at the time surrendering all your civil liberties in return for security. But hey, they do security well... Miles Craven, Northfire Chairman and former Director of "International Operations" and its "Wetworks" division, is tough on crime. Very tough. Organized criminals are being outright murdered in the streets by police and the Northfire Party has the people cheering them on. Wake up. First it's the mobsters, but they'll come for you soon enough. And until you wake up, V will fight for you.

But V never would have expected to fight... her. His protege, Andrea Beaumont, made herself into the Phantasm with one single-minded focus: killing mobsters to avenge her father. Northfire is seeing to it that mobsters are killed. Have the teacher and the student reached an impassable ideological divide that can only be settled through violence? Or can V make the Phantasm see beyond her personal thirst for revenge and finally accept the idea behind his great vendetta against tyranny?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

march 2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #11: CURSE OF V

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“WITCHTRIAL”: “ACCURSED ARREST”

[i]A JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK crossover event![/i]

America has never been more divided. V's mask has become the symbol of opposition to an oppressive government, though it is predominantly worn anonymously. Meanwhile, Miles Craven and his Northfire Party continue to push their ideology of firebrand fascism under the guise of “saying what you're all thinking.” Comments that would have traditionally destroyed a party's viability only make Northfire more popular, and V's resistance has only emboldened them. Craven's next target? Satanic musicians that are corrupting the good Christian souls of our country's youth! Anonymous information acquired by Northfire purportedly connects heavy-metal rocker Jason Blood to demons from Hell, and the party's influence spurs his arrest and the seizure of his home and tour bus on trumped up charges that subliminal messages caused suicides, homicides, and human sacrifices to Lucifer. V's solution is a brash one – blow up the Court where Blood is being injustly arraigned. Send a message. Northfire, however, has recruited the enhanced soldiers of Wetworks to provide security at the arraignment. In addition, V's estranged protege, the Phantasm, suspects the highly publicized proceeding will be a target for V and is prepared to intervene to protect the public from “domestic terrorism.” All this, and the arrival of members of the clandestine Justice League Dark, create an incredibly volatile situation. There will be an explosion, but will it be literal of figurative?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

april 2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #12: CURSE OF THE DAREDEVIL

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“TRUTH OR DARE?”

When he was just a boy, his parents were brutally murdered in an attack that rendered him mute and left him for dead in the Australian outback. But Bart Hill would not die. Found and raised by a tribe of mystical aborigines, he would become... the original Daredevil!

Bart traveled the world training to fight crime, and despite his disability, he became a master hand-to-hand combatant and enjoyed the company of many women. Yet, the only woman he ever truly loved was the sai-wielding assassin, Cheshire. He thought he'd lost her forever. But when the anarchistic terrorist V blew up the courthouse where rock-star Jason Blood was being arraigned on illegitimate charges (see last issue), it made the news everywhere - even Australia. Although hidden behind the mask of a smiling cat, the body language of the woman standing next to V when he gave his post-explosion speech to the assembled cameras was unmistakable. Cheshire... Seeing her left him with no choice. Daredevil is coming to America! But he won't make it without a fight. The nationalistic Northfire Party is looking to prevent any vigilantes from entering the country. Plus, Cheshire herself isn't very happy to see him. As it turns out, she wanted him to think she was dead for a reason...

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

May 2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #13: CURSE OF THE SPORTSMASTER

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“UNECCESSARY ROUGHNESS”

Multi-sport athletes are rare at the highest levels. Lawrence Crock was perhaps the rarest of them all. Major League Baseball. The National Football League. The Professional Golfer's Association. Crock was in them all. He might have gone down in history as the greatest professional athlete of all time if not for one problem: he was a completely amoral sociopath. His career was plagued with drug, animal, and spousal abuse, infidelity, and deflated balls, to name just a few of his scandals, and he was kicked out of every organization he competed in. What else to do but turn to a life of crime? As lieutenant to Bane, the leader of the Santa Priscan Cartel, the "Sportsmaster" would eventually come into conflict with the daughters he neglected and mistreated - Jade and Artemis, now calling themselves Cheshire and Tigress (see issue #6). The conflict would be fatal for Lawrence... but it wouldn't be the end of his story! Why did the necromancer Anton Arcane resurrect the Sportsmaster and draft him onto his fantasy team of undead athletes? And why is Arcane targeting the owners of major sports franchises for assassination? Can the opposing team of his daughters, who joined the anarchist V after the traumatic experience of slaying their own father, and the original Daredevil uncover the truth?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

June2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #14: CURSE OF THE WETWORKS

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS”

They were an elite United Nations covert operations task force who, when given a suicide mission, defiantly survived by bonding with powerful golden symbiotes. Now Dane, Mother One, Pilgrim, and Grail carry out the missions that no other team can... Their most recent assignment: locate and eliminate the anarchist international terrorist V and his co-conspirators, the sisters Cheshire and Tigress! However, unbeknownst to the team, these orders came about through the influence of Miles Craven, their former C.O. who recently began a career in politics and founded the controversial Northfire Party - a party that espouses what many consider a dangerous ideology. When the Phantasm and the original Daredevil uncover Craven's involvement with MJ-12, a United Nations' shadow council, they leak the information to Wetworks. Outraged, Dane believes that Craven has manipulated them for too long and must be stopped - but not everyone in his squad agrees! Witness a civil war within Wetworks as the team falls apart... never to be assembled again! Who will be left standing? And who will bring their own vendetta into the service of V?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99

July 2016

CURSED DAWN PRESENTS #14 \*\*\*Final Issue\*\*\*

Plotted by EXCITER

Written by JOSS WHEDON

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“GOVERNMENT AFRAID OF ITS PEOPLE”

It all comes down to this! The anarchist V has isolated the leader of the Northfire Party, Miles Craven, in his organization's highly reinforced headquarters. If he can fight his way to Craven, V can finally cut the head off the snake and prevent fascism from taking hold in America. But in the final confrontation, on what side will the Phantasm, Daredevil, Cheshire, Tigress, Sportsmaster, the Grey Ghost, and the remnants of Wetworks fall? And if they survive, where will they go next?

Witness the explosive conclusion of Cursed Dawn Presents - where not everyone's walking away alive!

[b]Back-up![/b]

“SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL \*\*\*Amalgamate Tie-In\*\*\*

Each pulled into the series of unfortunate events surrounding the Amalgamate event, the Daredevils of three worlds meet! Matt Murdoch is Blind. Bart Hill is mute. And Mark Hilloch is deaf! Can these heroes overcome their differences to play their part in defeating Dr. Doomsday?

32 PGs./Rated T+...$2.99