Released July 1994

Showcase '94 #8

Synopsis

THE SECRET ORIGIN OF SCARFACE PART 1 - THE GALLOW DOLL Blackgate Penitentiary was one of the few remaining prisons that still used hanging as a means of execution. 313 convicts were sentenced to the gallows, their writhing bodies often described as "puppets dancing on a string". Three days before the repeal, lightning struck the gallows pole, sending it crashing down to the ground. One of Blackgate's later inmates was a convict named Donnegan. Donnegan was serving a life sentence for murder. One day, he borrowed a book about ventriloquism from the prison library. With nothing better to do with his time, he practiced the craft using his right hand (which he appropriately named Handy) as a surrogate puppet. Donnegan found a piece of blood-encrusted warped wood from the old gallows pole in the prison workshop, and fashioned it into a hand-held puppet. Naming the puppet Woody, Donnegan continued practicing his ventriloquism, and soon became skilled enough to perform at the Annual prison show. Donnegan became obsessed with Woody, and even held conversations with it in his cell. The prison guards thought that he had finally started to go crazy, as he was seen arguing with the puppet on a number of occasions. Years passed, until finally Donnegan received a new cellmate – Arnold Wesker. Arnold was a quiet and passive man, who had apparently been sent to prison for "accidentally" stabbing a man to death in a bar fight. Wesker was impressed with Woody and wanted to try him out, but Donnegan was very protective of his puppet and warned Wesker to stay away. One day, Arnold found himself alone with Woody. When Donnegan discovered them, he punched Wesker in the face, shouting that nobody lays their hands on his puppet. BRUJAS Y GATOS SUM: ZERO