History
Ghost appeared in special editions and monthly titles. Her first appearance was in Comics Greatest World in week three in 1993. Then in 1994 there was a popular special edition published. There was enough interest in the individual Ghost for Dark Horse Comics to start a monthly publication featuring Ghost in 1995. This storyline ran for 36 issues and was followed by a six month break. Then Ghost was brought back in a series that ran for 22 issues. The second series had many changes from the first series. The second series contained more information about Ghost’s origin. Many characters that were part of Comics Greatest World were fleeting. Ghost, in spite of this continued to exist in her own publications and others lasting on to the 2000s, Also interesting was that Ghost was included in publications not related to Comics’ Greatest World. Most significant among these was her appearance in a two-issue crossover with Dark Horse’s Hellboy (Ghost/Hellboy Special). Also there was a four-issue crossover with DC Comics Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), which was called The Resurrection Machine.
In 2013, Dark Horse Comics had rebooted her story line in a new ongoing series, which is part of the new Project Black Sky Universe.
Origin
The Ghost we know today was born Elisa Deerlane. When she was between four years old her birth father Dan Deerlane was killed by Earl Cameron in an altercation. Earl married Elisa’s mother June Deerlane and adopted her and her sister Margo Deerlane, changing their last names to Cameron. Elisa and Margo repressed their memories of their father’s murder and believed the alcoholic Earl Cameron was their birth father. When Elisa was an adult, an alien named Vortex restored to her the repressed memories of her father.
Eventually, Earl and June would both be killed by a hit-man who was hired by Crux. As a child, Elisa had the power to enter a new dimension and had a friend, Nemo, whom she played with. (See powers section above.) Nemo turned out to be Elisa’s personal demon, but while Elisa was little, Nemo was her “imaginary” friend. Elisa did everything she could to keep her secret from everyone, including her family.
When Elisa went to college, her powers were discovered by an all female task force group known as the Furies. She joined them and they trained her in the way of espionage and armed/unarmed combat. This upset Nemo, and he turned the dimension that was once a place of dreams to a place of nightmares. She became so terrified by the dimension that fellow Furies, Focus and Mindgame used their powers to make her forget she even had the power. After that, the team introduced her to “the Agent” (See powers section above).
While Elisa was a member of the Furies she became captured Archibald Scythe while on assignment. Archibald controlled and manipulated Ghost with his powers and she was used in the Crux organization. It was not until an incident with the shades that she was released from her control and allowed Nemo to escape to this world.
Elisa lost memories and had her brain twisted erased and changed by Focus, Mindgame, Archibald and Nemo. She disappeared for weeks and was only left with the fragmentation of memories and suggestions when she was found again by the Furies, who reformed her mind with more false memories and convinced her she was a real ghost.
Elisa ended up getting her mind restored while she was working with King Tiger to find a way to restore souls to their bodies and help her sister. She meets Vortex, who was indirectly responsible for her and her sister getting their powers. He not only restored all the damaged parts of her mind, he restored her repressed memories as well. He also offered to take heal her nano-virus that infected her body and eliminate her power, but she refused believing she was going to need her powers to save her sister.
Dark Horse / DC
The Ghost has had some interaction in the DC Universe as she worked closely with Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain in the City of Arcadia. They worked together to find out who was resurrecting young woman to serve in a strip club as virtual slaves. What Ghost discovered was it was not only women who were being resurrected but men as well, and they were in all different stages on their own brain rotting. Much of this was due to how long they were dead before they were resurrected. Some people were so bad they were just mindless automatons and others were full-fledged zombies. They were being brought back to life by the General (Malcolm Greymater). He was using the stronger ones as gang members and the weaker ones he sold off as slaves and many as sexual slaves. The more zombie-like ones were kept caged up like dogs; in case he was attacked he would release them on the enemy.
Project Black Sky: Smoke and Din
Ghost was summoned using a mysterious box, which was used by ex reporter Vaughn Barnes and paranormal investigators Tommy. Later she saves both of them from attackers who are after the box that Tommy used to bring her back.
Not remembering anything about who she was or how she died she sets out on a quest to find out the truth with both Vaughn and Tommy’s help, as well as the help of Vaughn’s ex wife Caroline. Meanwhile a woman is using the same kind of box which brought her back on a man named Alex, Ghost feels this and it sends her into a frenzy in a dinner that Vaughn, Tommy and her on in, which make her almost rip out Vaughn’s heart. She asks them for the address of the guy Tommy bought the box from, as a place to start then investigation. Vaughn using his connections from his life as a reporter he finds out that the box came from a man named Alexander Smalls who worked for a company and that he took the box and sold it to them, with out knowing what it really was. This leads them to the office’s of Doctor Linda October (aka Doctor October). At this time Doctor October is getting attacked by a man, who turns out to be Caroline’s new boyfriend, who turns out to be a demon.
The team gets to the building only to find that Alex Smalls is wanted for the assault of Dr. October. Using her ghost powers, Ghost sneaks into the building and sees the blood all over. She then steals some files and leaves. A cop notices her with the file and she runs to the truck and makes Tommy drive off, leaving Vaughn behind. After a chase with the cops Tommy and Ghost get away, while Vaughn gets arrested. Caroline helps Vaughn get out and under ,her boyfriend, the mayor’s request invites Vaughn to his black and white ball.
Meanwhile the Mayor is at the hospital where Dr. October is at, he finds out that she has got out and has ran away from him, before he could kill her. At a hotel Tommy and Ghost are investigating the file that she took. They discover that she use to be a reporter herself named Elisa Cameron. On his way home we see that Vaughn is then picked up by a limo driver and taken to Dr. October.
Dr. October then tells Vaughn the truth about who the mayor is, a demon who takes over bodies. She also tells him what the box is for, which is to bring demon’s into this world and put them into other peoples bodies, she then places a demon inside Vaughn’s body.
Elisa is reading more about herself, she learns that she was born and raised in Chicago, has a sister named Margo and was raised by a single father who was a cop. She learned that she was working on a piece about missing Chicagoans and then Elisa went missing. She wakes up from a nightmare and then remembers who did this to her. Elisa has a flash back to a time where Margo came to see her at her job at the Chicago Sun-times. Together they go shopping for a dress because she plans to sneak into the Mayor’s yearly black and white ball.
Ghost heads over to the Mayor’s ball, now knowing that, that is where she last was before she went missing. She then has another flash back when Dr. October walks into the party. She has a flash back to Linda helping Elisa sneak into the party in the first time, saying that the mayor wants to meet her.
Back in the current time, Tommy sees Vaughn at the party talking to Caroline and the Mayor. The Mayor tells Caroline to dance with Vaughn while he and Dr. October talk.
In another flashback Elisa gets lead to a long stair way, Dr. October tells her the mayor is down stairs. As they get closer to the stair way Dr. October kicks her down them.
In real time, the mayor as well as Dr. October take Caroline down the sames stairs Elisa got pushed down. The Mayor then starts to hurt Caroline. They both discover that the box which brings demons back is now gone and Caroline gets away. Caroline then grabs a near by torch and threatens the Mayor, who in response tosses a table cloth at her, which sets on fire.
It turns out that Ghost has the box and tells the mayor that she is sending him back where he came from. This leads into another flash back in which we see the mayor using the box on Elisa which sends her into another world. Elisa explains this world by saying its was like the normal world, but a shade off, an alternate plane. There instead of dying like the mayor wanted, she learned how to survive.
Out of the flash back the mayor points a gun to Caroline’s head and tells Elisa to give him back the box. Caroline then uses a near by mask to stab Dr. October in the leg. Tommy then pushes the mayor and makes in drop his gun. Then Ghost gives Tommy the box while see pulls the demon out of Vaughn who attacks Ghost, Ghost then tosses the demon into a fire. The mayor attacks Tommy, but he gives the box back to Ghost before he can take it.
A now normal Vaughn breaks up the fight between Dr. October and Caroline by punching October out. He then asks Tommy to take Caroline outside while he helps Ghost, who is currently fighting the Mayor. Ghost tosses the box, which had been heated in a fire, at the mayor which burns his hands. Vaughn then tosses a gun to Ghost, who then shoots the box, as the bullets go though straight to the mayor. The demon that was inside him, now leaves him and goes into Dr. October who then runs away, then Vaughn and Ghost get out of the burning house.
A little while later at a cafe Elisa, Tommy, Vaughn and Caroline are all talking about want to do next. Caroline takes out 32 crystals from her bag. Elisa explains that each crystal came from the box and that each one corresponds to an exchange, a person who was replaced by a demon. They then make up there minds and say that they are going to have to go after each of these 32 demons.
Project Black Sky: The White City Butcher
Three weeks after “Smoke and Din” Elisa is still on the hunt for the 32 demons. We find Ghost on the chase of one who is currently in a human body. During the chase they both crash into a train and start to fight, the demon then is pushed out by Ghost going though the human’s body. She kills the demon, but before the human host dies he says Elisa’s name. She then goes to meet up with Tommy and Vaughn who are in a car below her, they drive back to Tommy’s place. We then see reporters talking about a killer known as the White City Butcher, who has killed again.
Though this we also learn that they know of the Ghost and that she has been killing people, which we know are demons. It cuts back to the house and we learn that Ghost has been staying with Tommy and his friends, including Tommy’s girlfriend Sloane, for a few months now and that they have taken care of 7 of the 32 demons so far. We also learn that he media knows of Ghost and that some think she is a urban legend.
Vaughn then tells Ghost about the man that the demon took over, his name is James Barrow, who is mysterious himself and has no family, no close friends and no life outside of his job. Ghost and Vaughn start fighting about what to do next. Ghost wants to learn more about Barrow, but Vaughn wants her hunting demons, while Tommy and Sloane want her to track down and stop the White City Butcher. In the end Ghost leaves to do what she wanted and to learn more about her.
She heads to Barrow’s place of work, and we learn that Ghost does not know much about herself. She knows that she has a sister who left town after she went missing and that is all really. After looking into his work email and computer, Ghost still learns nothing new and leaves. Vaughn is waiting for her outside and together they go to Barrow’s apartment. While there they find cravings on the walls that say “James…Jim…Help…Me…Jakk…Jimmy…Save…Me”. As the two of them are leaving Ghost runs into another demon and runs after it.Ghost catches up to the demon and the two start to fight. The Demon then offers info one James Barrow, The Mayor and Doctor October. The two make a deal that he will tell her everything if she can find him a new and alive body, the two of the shake hands on it.
Elisa and The Demon head back to Tommy’s place where the Demon looks over who they think are demons and picking out which ones are wrong. Vaughn is shocked to hear that Ghost has made a deal with the Demon. The Demon then tells the team that the Mayor had installed them in positions of power, political, financial and cultural power, but he does not know why because only the higher ups know that. They also learn that the Mayor’s demon is back in a new body, and the new body is Doctor October, and that she is bleeding the city dry though the demon’s she has placed. Ghost threatens the Demon to tell her more about Barrow, but he says first she has to deal with October and tell her to dress in something fancy for where he is taking her.
Sloane gives Ghost a dress and the Demon and her head out. After driving for a bit the Demon walks her up to a wall that becomes a long stairway, that leads to a bar called The Epilogue. We learn that the Demons name is Beleth and the two of the walk in. The Bar is full of people, and every person in there is a Demon on her list in human skin. Meanwhile Tommy and Sloane work on a lead that could lead them to the White City Butcher, they find his house and they break in. While they are looking around we see someone is watching them.
Back at the bar Ghost has been walking around learning stuff, but nothing really important, but she does pickpocket them for their wallets and IDs. Then Doctor October shows up and points out Ghost in the crowed and tells the demon to attack. Both Ghost and Beleth start to fight the demons and are killing them one by one. Then Doctor October brings out a robe like demon to attacks Ghost and we learn that October knows a weakness Ghost has, which is to confuse her special ghosting ability with multiple points of contact.
Ghost and this new demon start to fight. We then see Vaughn and Caroline, his ex, start to research Beleth and they learn that he loves money and hates competition, and that most of the people on the demon list he gave the team are his competition. We cut back to the fight being over and Beleth takes Ghost back to the car and Ghost asks him for information on Barrow. Beleth then starts to drive Ghost to the suburbs. In the car Beleth starts to go over what kinda body he would want and Ghost tells him that all she said she would do is give him a body, not that he can pick one.
It then cuts back to Tommy and Sloane they end up finding writing of some kind under the wallpaper of the Butcher’s house. It has some odd lines and what Sloane thinks could be a name it reads “L E f F”. Sloane and Tommy then hear and sound and run out of the house. Sloane comes up with an idea of how the Butcher gets in and out of the houses without a trace. Her idea is that he use to live at all the houses and that he knows the layouts. Back to Vaughn and Caroline we now she them rushing out to find Ghost to tell her what they found and Vaughn starts to call her.
We then see that someone is following them. Ghost in the meantime is with Beleth in the suburbs, he ends up taking Ghost to the house where James Barrow grew up and we learn that Elisa grew up in the house right next to his and that Barrow was chosen because of her. Ghost gets mad and starts to attack Beleth while asking why, to which Beleth says its because she pissed off the Mayor and that killing her was not good enough, he had to destroy what she cared about. Then a car pulls up and out of it comes the dead, beat up, body of James Barrow with a new demon inside of it. It then cuts back to Tommy and Sloane back home and we see that the Butcher followed them home.
Powers
Ghost Jump
Ghost got her powers unknowingly as the result of a genetic nano-virus that was released in the 1940 when the God Machine exploded in the Vortex. Her younger sister Margo also received powers from this nano-virus. Margo has the power to manifest wraith-like servants.
Ghost has the power to transport from one place to another instantaneously called a ghost jump. There are limits to this ability. First when she jumps she has to have an intimate knowledge of where she is jumping to. She cannot jump to a place she doesn’t know well or has never been. The second limit to this ability is based on who she jumps. When Ghost jumps, she is entering another dimension and then leaving that dimension to the place where she wants to go. The dimension is a dangerous place as her personal daemon Cameron Nemo dwells there. Also, no matter how long she stays in the dimension, time does not move for her on the regular plane. So even if she spends months in the dimension she will still appear instantaneously after she left when she reenters the regular dimension.
The dimension is very dangerous for Ghost and has a history. When she was a small child Nero was Elisa’s playmate and the dimension was filled with things she loved as a child. As Elisa grew older and spent less time in the dimension the dimension became filled with horrors that would horrify Elisa/Ghost. As the Ghost, when she enters the dimension, she faces her deepest fears in monsters, daemons, and phantoms of her past.
The Agent
The Agent is the name of a substance that was given to Ghost to allow her to transport through solid objects phasing like a ghost. She got this power as an agent of the Furies task Force. The Agent, however, merged with the nano-virus and became permanent.
Popular Recognition
Ghost was ranked 15th in Comic Buyer’s Guide’s 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list.