BRASS BISHOP II
Real Name: Bishop Benedicto de Vica Severtes
Group Affiliation: None
First Appearance: Alpha Flight v2 #15 (cameo), #16
Last Appearance: Alpha Flight v2 #16
Creators: Steve Seagle & Duncan Rouleau

        Benedicto de Vica Severtes was bishop at the Basilica Alicante in Spain at some point in the past when he met a lovely lady by the name of Beatriz. Obsessed with her, the Bishop made a deal with the demon Mephisto to have her by his side. Mephisto agreed, with a price of the Bishop's soul upon Severtes' death.

        The Bishop then learned first hand the perverse nature of demons. The Lady Beatriz was indeed by the Bishop's side... as a nun. Feeling cheated, (as well he should,) Severtes was determined that Mephisto would not have his soul. His research had revealed to him how to make a suit of brass that would hide the soul of the wearer. Needing the blood of an innocent woman to seal the suit, the Bishop killed Beatriz to obtain the needed fluids.

        Once the suit was finished, Mephisto was unable to detect the Bishop's soul and sent a demon named Dargil to investigate. Severtes cut off the demon's head, turning it into a reliquary. At that point Severtes again confronted Mephisto, demanding to be released from his bargain. Mephisto instead offered another bargain: He would release the Bishop's soul if the Bishop provided him with Beatriz' soul instead.

        For years the Bishop refused, but after a time his sanity snapped. Enslaving an army by using Dargil to steal people's souls, he used that army to create a new representation of the Tower of Babel. The Tower would reach Heaven's Gates, where Severtes could use the Solomon Seal to get through into Heaven and capture Beatriz' soul. [The Seal is a "smart key", capable of opening anything. -C] The Bishop was stopped by the combined efforts of Puck and Modred the Mystic. Modred hid the Seal within the tower, with Puck the only other individual to know the location. The representation of the tower that the Bishop had created was then destroyed.

        [Compiler's notes: The Tower of Babel, as explained by Seagle, is an interesting piece of architecture. It always exists, and can be brought to Earth simply by creating a replica of it. If done right, the replica will become the Tower. The replica is physical, and can be destroyed... but the destruction of the replica simply banishes the Tower from Earth.

        The timing of this adventure is a little hazy. Puck referred to the adventure of the Brass Bishop in Alpha Flight v1 #12, which is about two to three years ago Marvel time. Yet the Bishop refers to the events as taking place "decades and continents removed." Puck also refers to "decades back" when talking about it. As well, the Modred of recent years has been a villain, completely corrupted by the demon Chthon. Since Modred acts as a hero here, it implies that the adventure took place when Modred was a much younger man, when his original ideals had not yet been corrupted by Chthon (and Modred is an immortal, who is much older than he appears). Yet Puck's costume in the flashbacks is accurate for v1 #12. It's possible that Puck ended up time-travelling back decades to confront the Bishop.]

        The Bishop returned years later, enslaving the crew of an icebreaker called the Navigator and the populace of White Cross, Newfoundland. He immediately started the building of a new Tower.

        Canadian authorities found a couple of the Navigator's crew adrift on an iceberg. The sole survivor blew up the iceberg so that he "wouldn't be taken." The authorities then started searching for the ship, eventually finding it in White Cross. When an army investigative unit disappeared in the town Alpha Flight, including Puck, were sent to check things out.

        Alpha confronted the Bishop, and Puck's soul was captured so that he could be forced to lead the Bishop to the Seal. While seperated from his body, Puck organized resistance amongst the other souls that the Bishop had captured. Momentarily retaking control of his body, Puck used the Soloman Seal to unlock the Bishop's brass suit. Without the suit's protection Mephisto immediately appeared to claim his prize.

        The Brass Bishop had a number of mystic abilities. He used his demon reliquary Dargil both as a weapon and as a means of consuming the souls of others. This turned the victims into zombie slaves. The brass suit that completely encased the Bishop both protected his soul from Mephisto and rendered him immortal for as long as he wore it.

        [Compiler's notes: This Brass Bishop has absolutely no connection to the first Brass Bishop, who appeared in Alpha Flight v1 #121. As that Brass Bishop was singularly uninteresting, I haven't bothered create a Guide entry for him. If enough people ask me to I will. :-)]