Confessor (Jeremiah Parrish)

*I didn't know **how** he did it. It had to be in the look he gave them. I'd have sworn the guy was too tough to say **anything** -- but --*
--**Altar Boy**[src]

The Confessor is one of the most unrecognizable heroes of Astro City. Known for his brutal tactics and seclusion, the Confessor patrols the dangerous slums of Astro City. Perched on the peaks of the Grandenetti Cathedral, the Confessor protects the city from criminals and even.. himself.

## History

### Origin

Jeremiah Parrish came to Astro City in 1869 as a young priest. He came in order to help *Cardinal Grandenetti* build a magnificent cathedral. He spent much of his early years in Shadow Hill tending to injured workers helping to build the city. He met a woman one night while tending to an injured stoneworker; he continued to visit the man in order to see the woman. On one unholy night, he finally succumbed and embraced her, but was bitten and changed.

When the local townspeople found out about Jeremiah's affliction, they hunted him down. He hid in the Cathedral and never ventured out. Eventually, he built a wall for himself within an unfinished part of the church and stayed there for many years. However, in the early 1920s he began to hear of heroes like Air Ace and began to come out to see them.

In the late 1970s, Jeremiah Parrish came out from his lair as the *Confessor* and began to try his hand at heroic deeds. From then until the 90s, the Confessor has had a long career of vigilantism but always felt like he had more to teach.

### Leap of Faith

The Confessor was at a dinner for the heroes of Astro City, undercover. It was there that he noticed the young lad, Brian Kinney, who defended himself from the villainous Glue Gun. Noticing that the other busboys didn't take too kindly to Kinney defending himself, Confessor waited outside until Brian needed him. Eventually, the Confessor announced himself and asked Brian if he would like to hear an offer.

Taking Brian Kinney under his wing, the Confessor started training him as his *Altar Boy*. Keeping the young man at a comfortable distance, the Confessor helped Brian by giving him purpose in life. Together they hunted down the dangerous gangs of Astro City but Brian began to notice Jeremiah's abilities over time. Jeremiah used Brian's suspicion to engage him and keep him on his toes so he could learn the harder lessons on his own.

Brian began to become too curious about Jeremiah's history, his abilities and who he really was. Brian began to become irate with the secrets Jeremiah was hiding. In order to keep his secrets, Jeremiah pointed Brian towards a bigger problem. People started to go missing in Astro City and the citizens were getting upset at their heroes. When it began to become too dangerous for Altar Boy, the Confessor ordered his protege to stay away. But Brian couldn't obey and without the major mystery to solve, he began to ask Jeremiah the hard questions.

While Brian and Jeremiah had their differences, the mayor of Astro City declared that heroes were unlawful and that he would hire government agents to remove any heroes from their streets and let the professionals take over. Brian eventually figured out that the Confessor was, in fact, a vampire. But the realization was unhelpful as a bigger threat loomed overhead.

### Death of the Confessor

When the mayor's government agent Mordecai Chalk was found nearly dead outside of Shadow Hill, the mayor declared an all-out offensive against the heroes. Attempting to take down the likes of Winged Victory and the Samaritan, he successfully turned the tide of fear against the heroes. Tired of being hunted by the special troops, Brian decided to quit being the Altar Boy. But the Confessor could not and would not be stopped. There was to be a press event for the mayor in a large park; the Confessor decided to intervene. He attacked the mayor but was restrained and attacked by the mayor's special troops. In front of hundreds of cameras, the Confessor was revealed to be a vampire to all. One trooper aimed a cannon and fired a spike directly through Jeremiah's chest. But on his dying breath, the Confessor took the cannon and shot the mayor who was pinned to a wall. As he died, the mayor was revealed to be an alien invader. Coming out from the shadow, Altar Boy was aimed down by the rest of the troopers. The Confessor had sacrificed himself to expose the alien invaders to the world.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Immortality**: The Confessor is effectively immortal. He does not need to drink or eat, he only needs to occasionally feed. Exactly how he feeds is unknown as he declined to speak about it. However he has lived for over 200 years in the same location without visible signs of aging.
* **Teleportation**: The Confessor can teleport in and out of dangerous situations in a puff of smoke.
* **Intangibility**: The Confessor can turn into an intangible puff of smoke that allows him to escape from any restraint.
* **Superhuman Speed**: The Confessor moved fast enough to dodge laser gun fire from special troopers.
* **Investigation**: The Confessor had a very analytic mind and used his years of experience to learn and understand how a crime was committed. He was also able to teach his sidekick, Altar Boy, how to trace fingerprints and case crime scenes.
* **Hand-to-Hand Combat**: The Confessor learned to defend himself from mobs and villains for years. He designed Altar Boy's suit in order to allow the young man the glide in and out of fights while the Confessor took on whole groups of gang members.

## Appearances

* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #4
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #5
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #6
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #7
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #8
* *Astro City* (Volume 2) #9
* *Astro City:* A Visitors Guide (Volume 1) #1

## References

1. ↑ *Astro City* (Volume 2) #6
2. ↑ *Astro City* (Volume 2) #5
3. ↑ *Astro City* (Volume 2) #7
4. ↑ *Astro City* (Volume 2) #8