Prophecy

***Prophecy*** was a seven issue crossover series first published by Dynamite Entertainment in 2012. Written by Ron Marz and featuring art by Walter Geovani, it was Dynamite's first major crossover event featuring several different franchises all at once.

## Solicitation

In 2012, the Mayan doomsday prophecy is coming to pass, and the end of the world makes for strange allies. Vampirella, Red Sonja, Kulan Gath, Dracula, Eva, Herbert West The Re-Animator, Alan Quatermain, Athena, Dorian Gray, Purgatory, Pantha and many more choose sides and clash in battles that will decide the fate of the Earth and all of mankind. Will the forces of good be able to stop the end of days? Or will an army of darkness rise? A seven-issue, SELF-CONTAINED event! That's right, fans, no spinoffs, no add-ons, just seven issues of all out, apocalyptic warfare! Be there for the first crossover spanning the Dynamite line...before it's too late! DYNAMITE'S MOST POWERFUL AND AMBITIOUS CROSS-OVER EVER!

## Issues

Issue #1
Book 1
June 2012Issue #2
Book 2
July 2012Issue #3
Book 3
August 2012Issue #4
Book 4
October 2012Issue #5
Book 5
November 2012Issue #6
Book 6
January 2013Issue #7
Book 7
February 2013
## Plot

The story begins in London, England in the year 1890, with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson investigating a break-in and murder in The British Museum. Holmes determines that the body discovered in the museum (a full-blooded man of Mayan decent) was one of two thieves, and that more than likely him and his partner argued over who was getting to keep their stolen treasures and collect a reward for them. Dr. Watson returns to Holmes with a photograph of the single item that was stolen: a Mayan Ceremonial Knife.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, circa 632 AD, Kulan Gath is in the middle of performing a series of blood sacrifices (using the same Mayan Ceremonial Knife stolen in 1890) until the next victim is brought before him. Red Sonja manages to break free from the grip of several guards, but is quickly rendered unconscious by a hit from a handle of a sword. Gath reveals to an inquisitive audience that like himself, Sonja is not of this time, and that she followed him using a fragment of a magic amulet. When Sonja awakes, Gath informs her that the Maya are the focus of a great magical energy that is deeply connected to the Earth itself, and could be used to bring about the apocalypse. Sonja is brought to the sacrificial alter, but once again manages to escape the hold of her captors. Kulan Gath realizes that the Ceremonial Knife is now "energized" with magic, and uses it to travel to "the end of time". Before Gath can escape, Sonja grabs hold on the wizard, and the two are tossed into across time once more.

Sonja finds herself alone in a thick jungle, now in the year 2012. In the jungle, she meets Vampirella, Dracula, and Pantha, all of whom believe she is a servant of Kulan Gath. Meanwhile, at that same moment in the Miskatonic Asylum in Massachusetts, Herbet West, the infamous "Re-Animator", escapes his guarded cell using a copy of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. Back in the jungle, Red Sonja explains her story to the three strangers (chasing Gath during the Hyborian Age and getting teleported to 632 AD). After Sonja finishes her story, Eva, the daughter of Dracula, emerges from the jungle with Herbert West, who she discovered while on his way to a nearby pyramid. Now a team of six, Sonja and the others head off towards the pyramid, arriving just in time to see Kulan Gath entering. The six rush after him, just a few moments late, as he as already summoned seven Mayan Gods to help him fulfill the doomsday prophecy, and a fight ensures. When one of the gods raises it's enormous hand to crush a weakened Sonja, the Greek goddess Athena steps out of the shadows and kills the beast.

In 1890, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive on the docks of Southampton, boarding a large ship called the *Star of Solomon*. On-board, Holmes leads Watson to the room of one Allan Quatermain, an old and grey-haired adventurer who had allegedly died five years prior. Holmes claims that Quatermain is the murderer they seek, and removes the stolen knife from Quatermain's breast-pocket.

Back in 2012, Dracula and his team continue to fight the Mayan Gods until Kulan Gath sends his seven avatars of the apocalypse to the seven continents of the world, and in a flash of purple lightning, their eight enemies vanish. The team of heroes regroups, and Herbet West uses the Necronomicon to individually transport their little team across the globe to the where the gods are located (Eva is sent to South America, Dracula in Europe, Sonja in Asia, Vampirella to Australia, Pantha to Africa, Athena to Antarctica, and Herbert West to America). When West arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada, he is quickly stabbed in the chest by the god Chaac with a spear. Chaac's attack on a nearby casino is interrupted when Ash Williams arrives, shooting the god in the side of the head with his trusty "Boomstick". After using a magic blast from the Necronomicon (and finishing off Chaac for good using several more shotgun blasts), Ash revives the dying West using the doctor's own Re-Animation formula. West quickly brings Williams up to speed on what's happening, and Ash agrees to help. Around the world, Pantha, Athena, and Vampirella manage to kill their respective gods.

Aboard the *Star of Solomon* in 1890, Quartermain reveals to Sherlock and Dr. Watson that he had faked his own death five years ago, and while reading the Necronomicon in Cairo, discovered that the Mayan Ceremonial Knife was a weapon so powerful it could bring about the end of the world. By coincidence, the night he broke into the British Museum to steal and destroy the knife, another thief (likely an agent of a doomsday cult) had also come seeking the dagger. Quartermain killed the other thief and took the knife, coming straight to Southampton docks. As Quartermain finishes his story, another man has silently entered the room, holding a revolver to the back of Watson's head. The man reveals his name is Dorian Gray, and acquires the dagger before releasing Watson and leaving.

Atop an alter in the Yucatan in 2012, Kulan Gath begins the final step of starting the apocalypse by sacrificing an innocent man. While Eva and Dracula finish off their opposing gods, Red Sonja struggles against the giant serpent god Kukulkan in Asia.Kukulkan manages to bite Sonja in the shoulder with it's venom-laced fangs, but Sonja fights on, using the god's spear against it to stab straight through it's head. The other members of Dracula's team (now with the addition of Ash Williams) arrive, only to discover Sonja's body next to the dead god. Dracula quickly takes action, biting Sonja's throat, and in a moment, Sonja is resurrected as a vampire. The She-Devil, angered that she is now an undead monster herself, attempts to strike down Dracula, but calms down when she is reminded of their mission to stop Gath.

The team is teleported back to the Yucatan, where Gath has raised an army of the skeletal warriors at the bottom of the steps of his alter. As Sonja races towards the tower where Gath stands overlooking the scene, the remaining heroes fight their way through the undead army. Gath notices the quickly approaching Sonja, and his surprised to see that she has been turned into a vampire as she bites into his neck. The wizard falls to the ground, bleeding profusely from his throat, but manages to say that it's too late to stop what he has put into motion. Using her enemy's own tricks against him, Sonja picks up the Ceremonial Knife and the two are transported back in time to 632 AD, before Kulan Gath had arrived their the first time. Sonja repeatedly stabs Gath, making sure that he is indeed dead, and uses the dagger to go back to her own time.

"Trapped" in the middle of the English Channel, Sherlock Holmes notices Dorian Gray has procured one of the ship's lifeboats, gloating as he drifts away from the Star of Solomon. Allan Quartermain, now carrying an eight-bore rifle, quickly finds Holmes and Watson and takes aim at the knife in Gray's hand. Quatermain's aim is true, and the bullet strikes the center of Dorian's right hand, sending the dagger out of his hand and into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2012, the jungle around the temple is quiet, as if nothing had ever happened. Dracula thanks the members of the team, but states that this battle was ultimately Sonja's triumph.

In Sherlock's home of 221b Baker Street, Dr. Watson finishes writing down the tale of his and Holmes' encounter with Quatermain and Gray, saying that he feels like there's more to their side of the adventure. Holmes replies that they may never know the complete story, but assures him that they played their part.

While traveling to Aquilonia one night in the Hyborian Age, a group of bandits encounter the vampire Red Sonja, who tells them to come and learn why she is truly called "She-Devil".

## Notes

* *The Crimson Well* storyline (*Red Sonja* Volume 1 #76-80) is a direct sequel to *Prophecy*.
* The events of *Prophecy* would later be mentioned by The Traveler in the *Pathfinder: Worldscape: Swords of Sorrow* one-shot.

## Trivia

* Outside of the main seven franchises that this series focuses on (*Red Sonja*, *Vampirella*, *Army of Darkness*, *Re-Animator*, *Sherlock Holmes*, *Allan Quartermain*, and *Dorian Gray*), there is also cameos from Thulsa Doom, the cast of *Project Superpowers*, *Zorro*, *The Lone Ranger*, *Jungle Girl*, *Blackbeard*, *Flash Gordon*, *The Green Hornet & Mulan Kato*, *The Shadow*, *The Phantom*, and *Evil Ernie*.
	+ Red Sonja and Allan Quatermain had both previously appeared in Dynamite's *Savage Tales* #7 and 8 (though not in the same story).
	+ Sonja would later meet Mulan Kato (*Green Hornet*), Masquerade (*Project Superpowers*), and Jungle Girl properly in the *Swords of Sorrow* crossover, and be reunited with Vampirella and Eva (although the version of Sonja featured in *Swords of Sorrow* is not the same as the one from *Prophecy*).
		- A poster of Red Sonja (along with one of Vampirella) appeared in Dynamite's *Green Hornet* #12.
	+ *Red Sonja: Age of Chaos* would also see Sonja meeting Evil Ernie properly, as well.
	+ Previous to appearing in *Prophecy* together, Sonja made a cameo in the *Army of Darkness* comic *Ash Saves Obama* as a character on a large convention banner.

## External Links

* Prophecy on the Dynamite Entertainment Wiki