Story: "Grand Guignol, Septieme Partie: A Villain's Tale II" (14 Pages)

Credits:

James Robinson (plot, script)
Peter Snejbjerg (pencils, inks)
Bill Oakley (letters)
Jason Wright (colors)
Jamison (color seperations)
Peter Tomasi (edits)

Supporting Characters:

Black Pirate
Ted Knight
Shade (all in flashback)
Kyle Theo (last in Starman: The Mist #1; in flashback; next in issue #71)

Villains:

Culp
Etrigan
Ragdoll
Doctor Phosphorus
Aaron Bodine
Lupe Bodine
Crusher (in flashback in between flashback in issue #8 and issue #64)
Solomon Grundy
Spider II Mist II
Mist I (in flashback in between issue #24 and #71)
Dr Pip (all in flashback)

Guest Appearance:

Dr Fate I (in flashback)

Other Characters:

Palomar St. John
Abigail Moorland (both in flashback)

Synopsis:

Culp reveals the steps that led to his current master-plan. The first discovery was the history of Jon Valor, a wrongly hanged pirate who swore no soul in Opal would rest until his name was cleared. His oath came true. Culp also discovered that Opal had been christened with the blood of innocents, and that ever since a confrontation between Ted Knight, Etrigan and some nazis, that Opal hosts a doorway to an empty dimension. He tricked Dr Fate and the Shade into opening this dimension up, and the Shade into sending some of his shadow-stuff into it, where it bred and grew.

Culp then set about recruiting his aides, including Ragdoll, whose youth had been restored through a bargain with Neron, and the Spider, a descendant of the Ludlow clan who have been at war with the Shade for many years.

Now, he has committed murders at the sights of ancient crimes and has set into motion the dark events that have befallen Opal City.