Cain and Abel (comics)

Cain and Abel
Cain, Gregory, and Abel approach the House of Mystery in Berni Wrightson's cover artwork to Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
Vertigo Comics
First appearance
Created by

(Based upon Cain and Abel of Christian theology)

In-story information
Team affiliations
Notable aliases
  • Cain:
  • Marcus Pierce
  • The Sinnerman
Abilities
  • Cain:
  • Apparently indestructible and possibly immortal; diabolical cunning; bears the "Mark of Cain" which protects him from all harm
  • Abel:
  • Possibly immortal and apparently indestructible; Resurrects from any fatal wound inflicted by Cain

Cain and Abel are a pair of characters from DC Comics based on the biblical Cain and Abel.[1] They are key figures in DC's "Mystery" line of the late 1960s and 1970s, which became the mature-readers imprint Vertigo in 1993.

Cain and Abel are based on the biblical Cain and Abel, but are altogether different characters from their Biblical counterparts.[2] Cain and Abel are one of many key figures in DC's "Mystery" line-up referred to as horror hosts of the late 1960s and 1970s, which later became a part of the mature-readers imprint Vertigo. They were depicted as brothers and they are also sons of DC Comics' Eve (another DC horror host based on the Biblical figure Eve).[3] In 1993, host characters like Cain, Abel, Eve and Lucien were retconned as a part of the Dreaming in the critically acclaimed Sandman comic books.[4][5] The character Cain is also commonly associated with his pet gargoyle Gregory.

  1. ^ Wallace, Dan (2008). "Bushmaster". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  2. ^ Wallace, Dan (2008). "Bushmaster". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  3. ^ Lealos, Shawn S. (15 July 2019). "10 Characters We Hope To See In Netflix's Sandman". CBR. Retrieved 25 November 2020. In The Sandman comics, Cain is invulnerable, and he and his brother were sent to live in The Dreaming thanks to Morpheus' invitation. They also might not be the literal Cain and Abel from the Bible but abstract archetypes of the first murderer and first victim. The characters' appearances almost always end with Cain killing Abel once again.
  4. ^ Polo, Susana (2020-10-22). "Yes, Sandman is a horror comic – and it'll terrify you". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  5. ^ Clough, Rob (2020-08-06). "DC's Sandman explained". Looper. Retrieved 2020-11-18. Cain and Abel are not how you remember them from the Bible, but that's because they're not Biblical references, they're comic book revivals. The two were the Cryptkeeper-style hosts of DC Comics' EC-imitating horror anthology series, House of Mystery and House of Secrets.