Scarab

(Vertigo, 1993-1994)
™ and ©1993 John Smith and Scot Eaton

Louis Sendak is an old man who was once a super-hero. Fifty years ago, he was the Scarab, using the powers given him by an otherworldly mask to fight evil. All that is gone now, along with the love of his life, Eleanor.

When Sendak was a boy, his father brought home The Door: an ordinary looking portal which his father commanded him never to open. His father would occasionally step inside what lay behind it, and reappear months later with alien gifts and the smell of faraway lands. One day, Sendak’s love, Eleanor made the mistake of going through the door, and became lost in an endless labyrinth of doors, each stranger than the next. She was powerless to escape, and even as Scarab, Sendak was unable to open the door and follow after her. All that changed when an otherworldly assassin known as the Sicari paid Sendak a visit, opening the door, and setting out to murder both Sendak and Eleanor.

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