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 Evil Ernie #1 in December 1991. Lady Death then reappeared in the Evil Ernie: The Resurrection limited series published by Pulido under his now defunct company Chaos! Comics in 1994. The character has since gone on to spotlight numerous comic book miniseries projects as well as one-shot specials and a full-length animated feature film released in July 2004 by ADV Films.

Incarnations of the character have been illustrated by such comic book artists as Steven Hughes, Mike Deodato, Jr., Romano Molenaar and Ivan Reis. Brian Pulido has optioned publishing licenses through various independent companies such as Avatar Press. As of 2016, Lady Death was published by Pulido's Coffin Comics, LLC.

Lady Death originated as a sexy and violent villain perceived as a hallucination by a boy named Ernest Fairchild. She promised to "love Ernie forever" in exchange for his loyalty and a vow to kill everyone on Earth. In the beginning, she had no purpose or personal story except to be the eye-candy for Evil Ernie's comic book, drawn by Craig Caimi in 1998, and she was simply the evil, sadistic woman who would give Ernie the incentive to kill. As the story progressed, Lady Death detached herself from him, and began her own story. Her personality changed from villainous to heroic.

Biography
The woman who would become Lady Death was born a mortal named Hope. Her father was a local nobleman named Matthias who was forcibly conscripting peasants into military service as feudal levies. The exact nature of the war that Matthias was prosecuting is not specified, although evidence from the recent revision of the character by Avatar Press suggests that it may have been one of the Northern Crusades (also known as the Baltic Crusades).

Unknown to his innocent daughter, Matthias had a dark secret. Although congratulated by the Church for his work against the pagans, he was despised by the common folk as a cruel tyrant. Matthias was outwardly pious, but secretly dabbled in black magic and demonology. He was actually a descendant of the fallen angels who had led the rebellion against God. By contrast, Hope's mother was a woman so pure and innocent that her bloodline reached Heaven. Hope's mother died when Hope was still in her late teens, and she was left to live with her father.

Eventually, Matthias' cruelty triggered a peasant uprising. Matthias narrowly escaped death at the hands of the rebels by summoning a demon, but Hope was captured by the rebels and accused of witchcraft. Faced with the prospect of execution by burning at the stake, Hope uttered an incantation that she had overheard her father use. This incantation summoned a demon who offered her a bargain – he would rescue her from death if she would renounce her humanity and serve the powers of Hell. Hope accepted the bargain and was transported into the infernal realms.

Once in Hell, Hope became entangled in a civil war that was raging between Lucifer and an army of renegade devils led by a powerful sorcerer. Hope was devastated when she learned that the ambitious sorcerer challenging Lucifer for the control of Hell was her own father.

Gradually corrupted by the nature of her surrounding, Hope was tainted with evil. She allied herself with an exiled craftsman who forged weapons for the infernal armies. While speaking to him, she declared that the innocent woman she had once been was dead and that she would henceforth only be known as Lady Death.

In her new persona, Lady Death led an uprising against the Lords of Hell. During the final battle, Lucifer cursed her never to return to Earth while the living walked. Lady Death swore an oath that she would circumvent Lucifer's curse by exterminating all life on Earth.

Lady Death finally ended Lucifer's control over her by casting him through Heaven's Gate (a place where evil cannot go), and in doing so became the new ruler of Hell. Many of the beings living in hell believe that the ascension of Lady Death signaled the beginning of the age of judgment – the final battle between good and evil for the fate of the Earth.

Chaos! Comics
Series published by Chaos! Comics include:


 * The Reckoning 1994
 * Lady Death Swimsuit Special 1994 (pin-up edition)
 * Lady Death in Lingerie (1995 pin-up edition with various artists)
 * Between Heaven & Hell 1995
 * Chaos Quarterly 1 1995
 * Chaos Quarterly 2 1996
 * Chaos Quarterly 3 1996
 * The Odyssey 1996
 * The Crucible 1996
 * Death Becomes Her 1997
 * Wicked Ways 1998
 * The Harrowing 1998
 * The Covenant 1998
 * Dragon Wars 1998
 * Retribution 1998
 * Inferno 1999
 * The Rapture 1999


 * Judgement War 1999
 * Armageddon 1999
 * Dark Millennium 2000
 * Tribulation 2000
 * Love Bites 2001
 * Mischief Night 2001
 * River Of Fear 2001
 * Alive 2001
 * Last Rites 2001
 * Lady Death/Chastity 2002
 * Heartbreaker 2002
 * Lady Death & Jade 2002
 * The Gauntlet 2002
 * Goddess Returns 2002
 * Dark Alliance 2002 (final series from Chaos – incomplete)

CrossGen Comics
Series published at CrossGen:
 * A Medieval Tale (2003)
 * The Wild Hunt  (2004; incomplete)

Avatar Press
Note: Avatar Press publishes two versions of Lady Death: the Classic version (revamped slightly due to her separation from the Chaos! Comics universe), and Medieval Lady Death (the all-ages version from "A Medieval Tale" published at CrossGen)


 * Classic Lady Death:
 * Abandon All Hope 2005
 * Death Goddess 2005
 * The Wicked 2005
 * Dead Rising (*) 2004
 * Infernal Sins (*) 2006 (special art & previews of future issues)
 * Lost Souls (crossover between Lady Death, War Angel, Pandora, and Unholy) 2005–2006
 * Lady Death vs War Angel (sequel to Lost Souls)
 * Lady Death vs Pandora (conclusion to Lost Souls trilogy)
 * Lady Death / Shi
 * Sacrilege
 * Annual 2006
 * Blacklands 2006–2007
 * Origins Cursed 2012
 * Lady Death (Boundless) 2010–2012
 * Lady Death Apocalypse 2015
 * 2005 Bikini Special (*) 2005
 * Leather & Lace (*) 2005
 * Swimsuit 2005 (*) 2005
 * Fetishes (*) 2006
 * 2007 Swimsuit Special (*) 2007
 * The Art of Juan Jose Ryp (*) 2007
 * Warrior Temptress (*) 2007
 * Pirate Queen (*)
 * (*)=To be read in no particular order.


 * Medieval Lady Death:
 * Medieval Lady Death 2005
 * Medieval Lady Death/Belladonna 2005
 * Medieval Lady Death: War of the Winds 2006–2007

Coffin Comics

 * Lady Death Chaos Rules 2015