| Peter the Rooster | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Peter |
|
First Appearance |
City of the Living Dead (1952) |
|
Original Publisher |
Avon Periodicals |
|
Created by |
Norman Nodel and Vince Alascia |
Origin[]
When Ezra Rainey's farm is haunted by a black void filled with the hosts of hell, Joel Rainey and Peter, his pet rooster, must face down Satan himself to cleanse the area of the trespassing representatives of evil.
Joel Rainey has been training his pet rooster, Peter, to crow on cue. When Joel says the magic word, "Gazam!", Peter will start crowing loudly. One night at midnight, Joel is awakened to the sound of a banging shutter, beginning the hell-born invasions. He looks out, and sees a strange looking bird, similar to a crow. An unholy crew of witches, demons, and other diabolical beasts present themselves to Joel's view of the barnyard. When he awakens his mother and father, they can't see anything. They dismiss it as a dream he had.
The next night, Joel hears a ruckus in the barn. He wakes up his father Ezra to help him investigate. Ezra can hear the disturbance, thinking it is a marauder in the barn. Rifle in hand, Ezra sees the strange, crow-like beast fly out of the barn as he enters with his son Joel. Joel points out that their horse Smokey Grey has deep scratches along its nose. The weird flying creature had attacked the old grey mare. Ezra is unsure if it was a buzzard or not, though admitting he'd never seen one like it before.
Despite seeing the strange bird, Ezra still doesn't think it's anything out of the ordinary. When Joel feeds Peter the next day after the attack in the barn, Joel tells his pet rooster that "something awful queer is goin' on around here, Peter!" That evening, Joel and a father hear a cry from Mrs. Rainey when she had gone outside into the barnyard. Joel and Ezra rush out to assist, to find Mrs. Ezra assaulted by a flock of the weird birds. The Rainey's run into the house and the flock from hell eventually leaves. Mrs. Rainey insists the farm is cursed and wants to sell the farm. Ezra thinks Joel and his wife are both being silly, and thinks there must a way to fight the predatory birds, which he thinks must be entirely natural.
Peter defeats Satan
Joel goes to bed holding his slingshot, wishing he could get a shot at one of the strange avian beasts. Unable to sleep, he sees one at midnight from his window and fires a shot at it. The weird bird falls to the ground, and Joel rushes outside, seeing that he wounded it. Peter follows Joel, though Joel tries to dissuade the rooster. Joel forgets Peter when he sees some other devilish fiends flying to assist the injured "gargoyle thing". Distracted by the scene, two more show up behind him, one proclaiming, "Heh heh! We have him now!" The other exclaiming, "The Master will be pleased!" Many others appear in "A meeting of Minions of Satan!" Joel didn't realize what it was at first, though the scene fascinated him. In a moment, Satan himself shows up. His minions present Joel to him. Satan is pleased, telling Joel, "You come of a good family, they say! I hate good people! I am their enemy, sworn to destroy them and their righteousness! Slaves, prepare him for doom!" The demonic cronies begin piling brushwood about Joel as the young boy tries to think his way out of his impending demise. Satan calls for a torch to set the blaze alight.
At the final moments, Joel looks at Peter, calling out, "Gazam!" At the sound of the magic word, Peter starts to crow. Satan and his hideous horde are terrified at the sound. Satan says, "Chanticleer! I must go!" as all his minions flee. Joel tells Peter, the rooster to keep it up, clearing the area of all the evil brood. When Joel relays the events, his parents still don't believe him. Joel tells them nothing evil would happen, as they devil and his minions are too frightened of Peter's crowing. Nothing further happened after that, and though his parent's don't believe him, Joel tells Peter, his pet rooster, "But we know, don't we, Peter?"
Powers and Abilities[]
Peter, the rooster can deliver the "crowing of the cock", which drives away creatures of supernatural evil.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- City of the Living Dead