Curse of the Spawn 12

"Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let me roast marshy mallows. So I did it anyway. Hee hee. Right on their bed with lighter fluid. They were asleep, but not for long! Boy, oh boy, were they surprised!"

- Jessie Priest

"Codename: Priest" is the title to the twelfth issue of the Curse of the Spawn comic book series by Image Comics. The story was written by Alan McElroy with artwork by Dwayne Turner and inks by Danny K. Miki and Chance Wolf. It was colored by Todd Broeker and Mark Nicholas and lettered and edited by Tom Orzechowski. The cover art is a multimedia composition by Brent Ashe. This issue shipped with a September, 1997 cover date and carries a cover price of $1.95 per copy (US).

Synopsis
Jessica Priest was born nasty. As a child she murdered her parents by setting their Maryland home on fire, then toasted marshmallows on the fire. She was shipped off to a mental health facility, and bounced around from asylum to asylum over the course of years. As an adult, she was released from psychotherapy, and that's when she became truly dangerous. Recruited by U.S. black ops administrator, Jason Wynn, Jessica Priest became a top-notch assassin, while still maintaining an idyllic life as a suburban housewife and mother to two stepchildren.

Jason Wynn assigns his top assassin, Jessica Priest, to go to Brazil in South America to steal a highly coveted bio-weapon called Heat-16 with instructions to destroy the laboratory once the mission is completed. Priest goes to the facility, and kills her way through the instillation's security staff, but she is shot and captured by the scientists, Kevin Bergregor, and Liz Arno.

Appearances

 * Jessica Priest


 * Jason Wynn
 * Obersmith
 * Zacks


 * Kevin Bergregor
 * Liz Arno


 * Daniel Chin
 * Brandon Chin
 * Juuko
 * Susan Chin
 * Valentino


 * Central Intelligence Agency


 * Humans
 * Monkeys


 * South America
 * Brazil


 * New York
 * New York City
 * Queens


 * Maryland
 * Iraq
 * Washington, D.C.


 * Heat-16


 * Firearms
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Notes & Trivia

 * This issue is reprinted in The Best of the Curse of the Spawn trade paperback collection, published by Image Comics in June, 2006. It is the ninth story in the volume.


 * This is the first chapter of a three-part Jessica Priest spotlight story. This is the third comic book appearance of the character. She appeared last in Spawn #65, which was published in the same month as this issue.


 * Jessica Priest also operates under the alias of Jessica Anderson-Chin in this issue.


 * This is the first and only appearance of Obersmith, who is a government agent. Dies in this issue.


 * This is the first and only appearance of Zacks, who is a government agent. Dies in this issue.


 * This is the first appearance of Kevin Bergregor.


 * This is the first appearance of Liz Arno.


 * This is the first appearance of Juuko.