Edith "Eadie" Benton is a villain appearing in issue #11 of the horror comic Weird Mysteries, serving as the protagonist of the story "Live With A Man". She is a "black widow" serial killer, meaning that she repeatedly marries wealthy men and kills them to inherit their money.

Biography[]

Eadie Benton is described as "a woman who couldn't or wouldn't live with a man". Her first husband was a man named Al Arvin, the only one of her many husbands who Eadie genuinely loved. Their short marriage was relatively happy, until one day Eadie stabbed Al to death in an emotional flare-up during an argument. Although she was remorseful, Eadie still staged the scene to look like suicide so she wouldn't be arrested.

After she inherited Al's worldly goods, she learned that the lawyer handling his will, Ben Breen, was in love with her and the two rushed into a marriage. Eadie soon realised that marrying Ben was a mistake, and when Ben refused to give her a divorce she took drastic action. Ben "accidently" drowned in a lake and Eadie once again inherited her husband's money. This led her to realise that if she continued marrying and slaying wealthy men, she could take all their possessions and become rich. Eadie carried out this plan repeatedly, killing many more husbands over the next few years.

At the start of the story, Eadie has just killed her sixth husband while on honeymoon in England. The authorities are more suspicious of her than the American police however and Eadie is soon arrested for murder. Her cellmate suggests that she make a deal with Satan to secure her release, which she agrees to as she has nothing to lose. Satan refuses to accept Eadie's soul as payment, reasoning that she is already bound for Hell, but grants her request on the condition that she marry and stay married to one of his disciples, who will be reincarnated in a new body. Eadie chooses a random disciple from Satan's book.

Eadie is immediately released from prison and marries an unnamed man, knowing that Satan will ensure she marries someone with the resurrected soul of his disciple. She prepares to settle down for a long and happy life with her new husband, free from the consequences of her actions. Unfortunately for Eadie, on her wedding night she finds her new husband preparing to butcher her with a knife. Satan, arriving to claim her soul, reveals that the disciple she chose to marry is the infamous Jack the Ripper.