Born and raised in Haiti, Jericho Drumm rejects his family’s voodoo tradition and has a prosperous career as a psychologist in America. When his dying brother asks him to stop running, he learns his people’s ancient ways. He becomes known as Doctor Voodoo and eventually Sorcerer Supreme.
Yon tanbou diferan (A Different Drum)
The legacy of Brother Voodoo begins in the 17th century when a former slave named Laurent gains the power of the Loa. Empowered by the Voodoo god Legba with assistance from the earth goddess Gaea, Laurent uses a spell to bind the spirit of his dead brother Alexandre to his own soul, transforming him into the Lord of the Loa to oppose zombies. Laurent allies with French freebooter Captain Tyger, and his legend grows over the centuries, inspiring later successors, many of whom who are also known as Brother Voodoo. An early 18th century Brother Voodoo has an encounter with the immortal sorcerer Cagliostro.
In the modern era, Jericho Drumm grows up in an environment immersed in the occult, though he leaves his native Haiti to study psychology in the United States while his brother Daniel stays behind to follow the path of voodoo. Drumm earns a Ph.D. in Psychology and twelve years pass, then suddenly Dr. Drumm is summoned home. He returns to find Daniel at death’s door, the victim of a demon-possessed man known as a Zobop, but rejects his brother’s request to take up voodoo as is the family tradition. Instead, Drumm attempts to face the Zobop directly and nearly loses his own life in the confrontation.
Finally deciding to avenge his fallen brother through mystical means, Drumm learns voodoo under the aged Papa Jambo and accepts Daniel’s spirit to be bound to him as a helper. Together, the two defeats their enemy and Drumm becomes Brother Voodoo, the Lord of the Loa, and a champion for the downtrodden.
Pouvwa Vodou (Power of Voodoo)
Jericho Drumm stands as a powerful houngan, a practitioner of white magic in the form of voodoo. With mastery over the power of the Loa, he has attained a level of mystical ability that rivals that of other of Earth’s magic-users, and perhaps in some cases even surpasses them.
As Brother Voodoo he may command many types of animals to do his bidding, as well as summon spirits and other magical creatures from beyond for specific reasons. He has also wielded artifacts such as the Eye of Agamotto, medallions, staffs, and cloaks to lend him the powers of teleportation, flight, and insight.
Drumm’s immunity to magical attacks remains high, though extremely powerful entities have gotten past his defenses at times. In general, his knowledge of voodoo spells allows him many avenues of offense and defense.
Lènmi (Enemies)
More so than friends, Drumm earns more than his share of enemies while he travels the world fighting evil. Their ranks boast of such significant villains as Vlad Dracula, AKA Dracula, Josué Pétion, AKA Doctor Friday, Marie Laveau, Baron Samedi, Desmond Drew, AKA Black Talon, Moondog, and the powerful entity Agamotto.
In all, Drumm claims no regular or recurring opponents such as other costumed champions.
Zanmi ak Alye Yo (Friends and Allies)
Though Drumm’s path has always been primarily a lonely one of solitude, some few friends and allies have appeared on it over the years.
Foremost, his brother Daniel looms large not only as his closest family member, but also as his soul’s kindred spirit, a mystical helper past death. Sadly, a division arises between the two despite many years of joint cooperation on adventures.
During his many missions against darkness, Drumm garners allies throughout the community of heroes and champions. These include Marc Spector, AKA Moon Knight, Dr. Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, vampire hunter Eric Brooks, AKA Blade, T’Challa, AKA Black Panther, and Lilith, the daughter of Dracula. In addition, Drumm’s relationship with the Avengers remains a strong one.
Lasting romance seems to elude Doctor Voodoo, most likely due to the nature of his profession.
When magic is destroyed and subsequently restored, a new school for young mystics opens to train the next generation of sorcerers known as the Strange Academy, named after Doctor Strange. Drumm helps open it and shares leadership duties with Strange. He heads the Academy’s staff comprised of the most exceptional magic users and occult experts such as, Zelma Stanton, Yao, AKA Ancient One, Mindful One, Son of Satan, Daimon Hellstorm, AKA Hellstrom, Nico Minoru, AKA Sister Grimm, Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, Illyana Rasputin, AKA Magik, Michael Twoyoungmen, AKA Shaman, and Agatha Harkness.
Avantur Yo (The Adventures)
After settling in New Orleans to begin his practice as Brother Voodoo, Jericho Drumm traveled back to Haiti to clash with Baron Samedi and his technological zuvembies, then back to Louisiana to save Loralee Tate from the combined menace of the Black Talon and Mama Limbo. Following that, the late Papa Jambo was resurrected as a zombie, and the villainous Moondog stirred up trouble in New York City.
Drumm flew off to Brazil to aid vampire hunter Frank Drake against Dracula’s machinations, and then Jack Russell, AKA Werewolf by Night, in a clash with Dr. Glitternight. In the aftermath, Brother Voodoo directed the spirit of Daniel Drumm to help Russell’s to control his lycanthropy. Later, he fought alongside Benjamin Grimm, AKA the Thing, to put down the threat of a voodoo priest in Africa.
More challenges for Brother Voodoo followed, including possession by the Vodu god Dam-Ayido-Hwedo, AKA Damballah, a team-up with Moon Knight to battle Doctor Friday and his zombies, and aiding Doctor Strange versus the mystical Voudou Priestess Marie Laveau. Sadly, the first crack in Drumm’s relationship with his brother came about when he attempted to make Loralee Tate love him by directing Daniel to possess her, an unfortunate event that drove Drumm to remove Daniel’s spirit from his own soul.
Taking a break from active crusading, Drumm wrote a book on voodoo for which he conducted a tour of appearances and temporarily suspended his role as Brother Voodoo. The life called him back, though, when Lilith, Dracula’s daughter, required his assistance to quell her bloodlust while hunting the undead, and Blade the vampire hunter brought him in for a new fight with Laveau.
When Black Panther’s foe Erik Killmonger, AKA Killmonger, came back to life to end the Panther’s own, Drumm sent Moon Knight into the Realm of the Dead to retrieve the Wakandan monarch’s soul, and later helped the mutant Reme LeBeau, AKA Gambit, lay zombies to rest. Back in New Orleans, Drumm and the Black Panther fought more vampires and for a short time he joined S.H.I.E.L.D.’s strike force, the Howling Commandos. When the Superhuman Registration Act was made law, Brother Voodoo signed up despite his misgivings over it and briefly helped Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, hunt down those heroes who refused to register. Not long after, Drumm found himself kidnapped and put in stasis by the alien shapeshifting Skrulls and replaced by a duplicate for their so-called “secret invasion.”
Back in the saddle, Drumm acquired the Eye of Agamotto and took up Doctor Strange’s former position as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. Now known as Doctor Voodoo, he fought alongside the Avengers versus Agamotto himself and appeared to sacrifice his own life to insure Agamotto’s defeat. Victor von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom, later resurrected Drumm to stop an “inverted” Scarlet Witch and her drive to destroy Doom’s country of Latveria. Daniel Drumm’s spirit managed to possess the heroine and undo the spell of inversion that wreaked havoc across the heroic community.
Doctor Voodoo joined the Avengers Unity Squad at Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America’s invitation, and together they clashed with the criminal Hand organization. During this event, Drumm discovered his brother Daniel’s betrayal of their bond when Daniel sided with the Hand in their resurrection of the late Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk. Once the Hulk’s rampage was ended, Drumm declined an opportunity to resurrect his brother, realizing Daniel had made his choice freely.
As Doctor Voodoo, Jericho Drumm continues to assist the Avengers, Doctor Strange, and anyone who requires his specific knowledge of the occult and his masterful ability to wield it. Following the destruction and restoration of magic, he has since taken up teaching the sorcerers of tomorrow at the newly minted Strange Academy in New Orleans, where he shares leadership duties with Doctor Strange.
