The Newcastle Crew
Britain, 1978, a strange group of would be occultists converge on Newcastle after hearing tell of weird disturbances
and strange phenomena afoot at the infamous Casanova Club. Led by the always cocky John Constantine, few
would escape the events of that day unscathed and none would go on to outlive the English magus.
Seven years after the failed exorcism in the Casanova Club, several members of that unusual group got back
together to battle the Brujeria. This secret society of male witches tried to exploit the spiritual upheavals being
caused by the "Crisis On Infinite Earths" to bring back a mystical force that could destroy Heaven. The biggest
challenge the crew faced came in the shape of the Invunche, a creature created by the Brujeria to protect them from
those who would do them harm. I'll leave it to Constantine (as written by Alan Moore) to describe that creature - "They take a
baby about six months old, and...and then they disjoint the arms, a-and the legs, and the hands, and, and then
they...they..."
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Name : Frank North
Plucked from the ranks of some unknown biker gang, Frank North provided some much-needed physical strength to
the ranks of the Newcastle crew. History has been unkind to his taste in fashion as he now looks more akin to a
rogue member of the Village People than a hard skinned bruiser but few would argue with him when faced by his
daunting physique and, perhaps more importantly, ever present sawn off shotgun.
Frank came to a gruesome end when he was beheaded by a traitor whilst on his way to aid in the final battle with
the Brujeria during the classic Swamp Thing story arc "American Gothic".
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Frank North battles a Fear Elemental.
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Name : Sister Anne-Marie
The oldest member of the group, this psychic was plain old "Anne-Marie" when she first met and fell in love with
the charismatic John Constantine. Anne was horribly scared by Nergal after Constantine accidentally summoned the
demon to confront the fear elemental in Newcastle. She later went on to become a nun in Washington (possibly under
Nergal's compulsion as his last words to her were taken straight from Hamlet - "Get thee to a nunnery").
The Brujeria's Invunche killed Sister Anne-Marie deep in the depth's of the London underground.
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Anne-Marie at the mercy of the Invunche.
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Name : Benjamin Cox
Benjamin Cox, the young arcane genius and walking magical dictionary, developed a near crippling stutter after
letting his curiosity get the better of him in the basement of the Casanova Club. After sneaking away from the rest
of the crew to snap a picture of the fear elemental that haunted the club, Benjamin was attacked and raped by the
creature. Only the timely arrival of Frank Cox saved the youngster from a premature death at the hands of the
elemental.
A traitor killed Benjamin and his mother before the boy could join the rest of the Newcastle crew and confront the Brujeria.
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Benjamin in a very bad place indeed.
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Name : Judith
An attractive woman in her youth, Judith first crossed paths with John Constantine at the North Beach Ashram
where she was studying Tantric Yoga. Prior to the botched exorcism at Newcastle she was as addicted to the thrill
of magic as Constantine himself was but the consequences of John's failure on that fateful day saw her become a
disenfranchised member of London's punk community.
When cornered by the Invunche, Judith chose to join forces with the Brujeria rather than meet her end at
the hands of the demon. Having turned her back on her friends, she murdered both Frank North and Jeremy Cox.
Believing that she would become a Voladoras - a special messenger for the cult that would
posses the ability to turn into a bird - Judith allowed herself to be transformed into a crow. She burned to death in this
perverted form after successful completing her mission for the Brujeria and awakening the presence that, but for the
timely intervention of the Swamp Thing, would have destroyed Heaven.
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Traitor.
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Name : Richie Simpson
The pioneering practitioner of Quantum Magic, Richie Simpson seemed to serve as nothing more than the crew's
hook up for the odd hit of weed. Simpson did come into his own however when John found himself confronting
Nergal nearly ten years after their first meeting in Newcastle.
Using his knowledge of Quantum Magic, Richie helped John to lure Nergal to the edge of Heaven where he was
destroyed by the heavenly hosts. Simpson found himself transformed into a new form of technological devil but
before he could venture off into the world, he was dragged into the depths of hell by the Slave-Twins Of The
Inquisition to earn his "Devil Spurs", so to speak.
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Richie Simpson, Electrical Elemental
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Name : Gary Lester
Co-founder of Mucous Membrane, Gary Lester was once John Constantine's best friend. His role at Newcastle was
limited to fetching the body of a cat for the attempted summoning of a demon to combat the fear elemental that
inhabited the Casanova Club. Seven years later, following the climatic confrontation with the Brujeria, Constantine
returned to his London bed-sit to find a very high and bug covered Gary Lester sitting in his bathtub.
After learning that his friend was responsible for the release of the hunger demon Mnemoth, John enlisted the aid of
Papa Midnite to bind the creature in the hapless Gary Lester's body. Gary was bricked up in a cell beneath
Midnite's club and left to be consumed from the inside by the demon.
Some twenty odd years after his demise, a spirit claiming to be that of Gary Lester possessed the remains of a badly burnt
corpse in order to warn John Constantine that he was in great danger.
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Gary Lester, possessed by Mnemoth.
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