How many did you help him kill, Claude? It didn't matter, did it? They were only bitches, right? Dumb whores with titties bigger than their brains! 
- — Voodoo
Voodoo #4 is an issue of the series Voodoo (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1998.
Synopsis for "Damballa"
After Christian Charles managed to summon the spirit of his dead father, Jean-François LaCroix, the Midnight Lounge was transformed into an otherworldly church, with Voodoo and her companions trapped inside.
Now, Voodoo struggles to get Lieutenant Dave Dove and her friend Purity out of the church, for their own safety. She can hold her own, given her past as a super-hero in New York. Suddenly, they are horrified to discover that the church is beginning to swarm with evil looking snakes. Voodoo decides to lead them down a side-passage to escape. The snakes seem to want to avoid a particular passage, so they head there. Purity, however, seems not to want to go down it any more than the snakes do.
The reason why becomes apparent when Dove enters the room at the end of the passage and discovers that it is the torture room where Christian Charles made his human sacrifices. They find the room empty apart from excessive amounts of blood and the corpses of Christy and Frisko in the hanging cage.
Christian Charles appears, surrounded by the spirit of his father, explaining that in order to perform the ritual that would bring his father back, he needed more and more blood. Dove tries to pull his gun, but he is thrown back by Charles' voodoo magic. Charles sends his man Claude after them, but Voodoo leaps into action, and tosses him into the ethereal cloud in which LaCroix' spirit resides. He finds himself paralyzed before Charles sacrifices him as well.
Tiring of the ineptitude of his own men, Charles calls on Mait' Carrefour, the evil voodoo god of the crossroads to help him. Dove and Purity are growing increasingly agitated, so Voodoo orders them to get back while she goes to work. Tonight, the gods will dance.
Voodoo finally understands what her life's purpose is, and what her body is for. She is the vessel of the Loa, the voodoo spirits. She begins dancing, and her dance spawns an manifestation of the spirit of Erzulie and desire inside her. She taunts Carrefour with her desire. He tries to fight back, explaining that fear is the strongest motivator. Voodoo draws attention to her assets, and Christian Charles' response proves that desire is stronger than fear. The desire he feels for her draws him to follow her as she leads him out of the church.
Voodoo leads Charles and Lacroix to the Royale Hotel amid the man's attempts to deny her hold over him. All the same, he follows. The Royale Hotel is magically resurrected, and once she has lured him inside, Charles is surprised to discover that he has crossed the threshold into the domain of Papa Legba, the good spirit of the crossroads. Not only Legba, but Baron Samedi and Erzulie are there, and they plan to intervene.
They explain that despite having been brought back by Christian Charles, Jean-François LaCroix is dead, and he has an appointment with Damballa, the god of balance. They lure him up to the room where Christian Charles was born of Lydia Charles, a woman that LaCroix influenced with voodoo magic into conceiving a child with him. When Christian Charles - possessed by his own father - enters that room, the whole building explodes in a brilliant fire with him inside. Voodoo leaps out of the blast just in time.
Lieutenant Dove and Purity appear, wondering what's happened, revealing that the church changed back into the Midnight Lounge minutes ago. Voodoo doesn't exactly know what's happened.
Some time later, Voodoo meets with a voodoo priestess and tells her story. Afterwards, she explains that she would like to be taught in the ways of voodoo, to harness the power inside of her. The old woman gladly agrees.
Appearing in "Damballa"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Purity
- Detective Dave Dove
- Voodoo Gods/Rada
- Papa Legba
- Erzulie Freda
- Baron Samedi
- Dambalada
Antagonists:
- Christian Charles
- Jean-François LaCroix
- Claude
- Mait' Carrefour
Other Characters:
- Christy (Appears only as a corpse)
Locations:
- Georgia
- Savannah
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Originally published by Image Comics.
- This issue is reprinted in Voodoo: Dancing in the Dark, Alan Moore: Wild Worlds and DC Universe by Alan Moore.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- WildC.A.T.s Recommended Reading
- Grifter Recommended Reading
- Mr. Majestic Recommended Reading
- Spartan Recommended Reading
- Voodoo Recommended Reading
- Zealot Recommended Reading