Chastity is a fictional horror and

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comic-book character created by writer

Brian Pulido Brian Pulido (born November 30, 1961) is an American creator, writer and producer of comic books and films. Early life Growing up in Long Branch, New Jersey, Pulido first developed an interest in the horror genre after the release of ''Night of ...

and artist Steven Hughes. She first appeared in ''

Evil Ernie Evil Ernie, an undead psychotic killer, is a fictional supervillain created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes in 1991 and originally published by Eternity Comics. The imprint shifted hands in 1993 to Chaos! Comics and then Devil's ...

: Straight to Hell'' #1 (October 1995). Originally produced and published by

Chaos! Comics Chaos! Comics was a comic book publisher that operated from 1993 until 2002, mostly focusing on horror comics. Their titles included ''Lady Death'', ''Purgatori'', '' Evil Ernie'', ''Chastity'', ''Jade'', '' Bad Kitty'', and ''Lady Demon''. Chaos! ...

, Chastity and the Chaos! library of characters are now owned and published by

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

. Chastity is a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

fan turned

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. Undetectable to other vampires and spiteful toward her fellow occult beings, she became an assassin and slayer of vampires. Chastity was one of the most popular "bad girls" among a trend in 1990s comic books.

Publication history

Chaos! Comics

Initially appearing as a guest character in an ''

'' miniseries, Chastity went on to star in her first miniseries in 1997, ''Theatre of Pain''. Four more miniseries, several one-shots and guest appearances followed through 2002, when

ceased publishing due to bankruptcy. The Chaos! line was sold to comics retailer Tales of Wonder, which then sold them to

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

. Though other Chaos! characters appeared in titles published by Devil's Due, Chastity did not.

Dynamite Entertainment

now owns the Chaos! library and has been publishing titles starring the characters since 2010. Chastity appeared in the imprint-launching title ''Chaos'' written by

Tim Seeley Tim Seeley is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as '' Grayson'', ''Nightwing'', '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', ''G.I. Joe vs. Transformers'' and '' New Exiles''. He is also the co-creator of the Ima ...

and drawn by

Mirka Andolfo Mirka Andolfo (born 17 June 1989) is an Italian comics artist from Naples and creator of the comic book ''Sweet Paprika'' which won the Harvey Award for ''Best International Book'' of 2021. Andolfo has worked with numerous major comic book publis ...

. She has since starred in her own eponymous 2014 miniseries written by

Marc Andreyko Marc Andreyko (born June 20, 1970) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter, best known for the true crime series ''Torso'' he co-wrote with Brian Michael Bendis and for co-creating the character Kate Spencer for DC Comics. Career Mar ...

and drawn by Dave Acosta. Subsequent appearances include the Dynamite

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

event ''Swords of Sorrow,

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

vs. Chaos!'' and a crossover with

's '' Hack/Slash''. In 2019 Dynamite launched a new volume of ''Chastity'' written by Leah Williams and drawn by Daniel Maine. She made an appearance in the

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

spin-off comic called ''Sacred Six''.

Fictional character biography

Original Chaos! Comics

Chastity Marks was an average American teenager to begin with. She was born and raised in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, by an abusive father. In 1976 Marks – now seventeen years of age – decides to run away from home. Her goal was to travel to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to train with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and become an actress. She made it to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and arrived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

, broke and hungry. In order to make some money for food and further travel, she attempted to get a job as a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

dancer, but swiftly found the profession not to her liking. Leaving the club, she was witness to an argument between a black private investigator, Jackie Slade, and the club's manager, as Jackie endeavored to retrieve his young niece from the establishment. The manager attempted to kill Slade, and Chastity stopped him, though they were still far from safe. Slade got Chastity off the premises alive, and gave her all the money he had on him, before going back for his niece again. He died shortly afterwards in the ensuing gunfight. Finally reaching London, Chastity's dreams of making it as an actress were dashed when she was turned away at the Academy's door. Chastity instead got involved in the newly emerging

scene. Not too much later she was running a late night errand for a band called the Nobs when she was attacked by an obese

called Farley. She escaped by stabbing him in the eye with a drumstick, but she didn't get away with her life. Chastity awoke from the encounter to find that she was a guest of the Countess, a prominent member of the undead community. The Countess explained her new existence to her, and having discovered that she was uniquely undetectable to other vampires, trained her to be an assassin. She spent the next few years trying to stop her new peers from killing her mortal boyfriend, Billy Zone, lead man for the Nobs, and winning the grudging respect of the European Council of vampires. Chastity returned to America in 1980, again traveling to Manhattan, where she became part of the burgeoning

Goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

scene. That Halloween she was surprised to see Jackie Slade enter a club she was in and murder apparently innocent musicians. Afterwards she went to the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

to do some research, and discovered that ever since he died in 1976, his ghost was reported to return each Halloween to slaughter musicians. A bit more digging revealed that his targets, far from being innocent, were members of a group run by a mystery man called Danton, and calling itself the Church of the Immortal. Chastity disguised herself and tried to locate the cult, eventually being captured by some of them and taken to their leader. Danton revealed that he was a six-hundred-year-old demon who drained his victims' life forces to survive, and that he was planning to use his musicians to place

subliminal message Subliminal stimuli (; ' literally "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold or limit for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an indiv ...

s in their work so that others would be ensnared by his Church, just as Jackie's niece had been. Chastity escaped, and feeling indebted to Slade for what he had done years before, she set out to eliminate Danton. Initially he eluded her, but she finally caught up with him during the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

Costume Parade, where he was stealing the life forces of those in attendance. On her unfortune, he was too powerful, and far from ending his threat, he managed to drain her life too. This proved to be a mistake; now that he was contaminated with her vampirically tainted energies, Danton finally became vulnerable to Slade. The ghost made short work of the demon, freeing the spirits he had captured, including Chastity and his niece. His last communication with the vampiress was that she should live, for all of Danton's victims, advice she has taken to heart ever since. Following in Slade's footsteps, she tries to fight evil and protect the innocents, because she was one herself once. She'd love to live a normal life, but knows she can't. After

decimated the city in the early 1990s she gained a new goal, to see him eradicated once and for all. After a confrontation with Evil Ernie she suddenly developed a serious crush on him. Later on, she asked him if he wanted to join her in a "relaxing" murder spree in

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...

, but Ernie rejected her.

New Chaos! Comics

In 1976, teenager Chastity Marks was an American runaway living in London. Punk rock was all the rage, and Chastity was soon running errands for a local band. One night while on the job she was attacked by a vampire. She escaped, but not with her life: Chastity was now a vampire, but with a twist. To the rest of the vampire world, she was completely undetectable. Today, Chastity works freelance for the Cabal, a secret society of vampires, werewolves, and witches who rule over the monster underworld. As strong as ten men and a master martial artist, Chastity serves (on her terms) as the Cabal's most efficient and merciless assassin, all the while trying to live a normal life.

Chastity comic series

Chaos! Comics

* ''

: Straight to Hell'' (1995) * ''Chastity: Theatre of Pain'' (1997) * ''Chastity: Rocked'' (1998–1999) * ''Chastity: Lust for Life'' (1999) * ''

Purgatori Purgatori is a fictional comic book character, created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes. A crimson-skinned, winged vampire goddess, she first appeared in ''Evil Ernie: Revenge'' #1 (October 1994), published by Chaos! Comics. She ...

vs. Chastity'' (2000) * ''Chastity: Reign of Terror'' (2000) * ''Untold Tales Of Chastity'' (2000) * ''Chastity'' 1/2 (2001) * ''Chastity Love Bites'' (2001) * ''Chastity: Shattered'' (2001) * '' Bad Kitty: Reloaded'' (2001) * ''

Lady Death Lady Death is a fictional goddess appearing in American comic books published by Coffin Comics. Created by Brian Pulido, Lady Death first appeared in Eternity Comics' '' Evil Ernie'' #1 in December 1991. Lady Death then reappeared in the '' ...

& Chastity'' (2002) * ''Chastity: Heartbreaker'' (2002) * ''Chastity: Crazy Town'' (2002) * ''United: Lady Death & Chastity & Bad Kitty'' (2002) * ''Chastity: Re-Imagined'' (2002)

Dynamite Entertainment

* ''Chaos'' (2014) * ''Chastity'' (2014) * ''Swords of Sorrow'' (2015) * ''

vs. Chaos!'' (2015) * '' Hack/Slash vs. Chaos!'' (2018) * ''Chastity'' (2019) * ''Red Sonja: Age of Chaos'' * ''Sacred Six''

References

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