History
Ted Sallis and Ellen Brandt visited Madam Swabada's tent at the Citrusville Fairgrounds. Through libomancy (reading the smoke from burning objects), she predicted that a large change would soon occur in Sallis' life. Sure enough, it was soon after this encounter that Sallis was transformed into the Man-Thing.[1]
Later, The National Eye, a trashy tabloid, ran a story on the occult which proclaimed Swabada a fake while simultaneously praising Daimon Hellstrom as being an authentic exorcist. Swabada felt that the reputation she had spent her entire career building was instantly destroyed by the nationally published article. This infuriated Swabada to such a degree that she had a heart attack and supposedly died. Wanting revenge, Swabada decided to target Christine Sandt, the daughter of the publisher of The National Eye. Swabada sent Christine the Tarot Card of Death, with an invitation for a free tarot reading on the back. As it seems Swabada had planned, Christine brought her professor, Dr. Katherine Reynolds and Mr. Hellstrom along with her. Swabada recognized Hellstrom for what he really was and did his tarot reading instead of Christine's. His reading predicted a number of events which were to culminate in Hellstrom's realization that his personal mission (to defeat his father), was beyond his power and would eventually come to not. This made Hellstrom furious and he transformed into his Son of Satan identity and vaporized the table and cards with his soulfire. Inexplicably Hellstrom then felt faint and collapsed, and Reynolds and Sandt quickly helped him out of the old woman's shop. As they left, Swabada cursed Hellstrom and soon after he was attacked by a wolf in a manner almost identical to that depicted on one of the cards used in his reading. Suspecting Swabada to be behind it, they returned to her shop and were astonished to find all traces of Swabada's business to have disappeared. Over the course of the night, Hellstrom was attacked by various foes, all of which resembled in some fashion the cards from his reading.
Swabada appeared time and again, both to Hellstrom and to his colleagues until at last she revealed her motives to Hellstrom, telling him that she was actually deceased and her spirit sought vengeance against Sandt and himself. Eventually she caused Hellstrom to retreat into a coma and assaulted him within his own mind, using illusions of figures and loved ones from his past against him including Ikthalon, the Ghost Rider, even his own sister Satana. It was his sister, the succubus, who caused Daimon's demonsoul to exit his form and the two sides of Hellstrom fought. Swabada hoped that the two sides would destroy one another but Hellstrom eventually learned to reconcile the two conflicting aspects of his personality and the crisis was averted. He then blasted Swabada with his soulfire, apparently exorcising her from his mind, as even local police saw what appeared to them as a ghost screaming as it exited Hellstrom's corporeal form.[2]Attributes
Powers
- Madame Swabada appears to possess the powers of clairvoyance and precognition. She seems to best demonstrate these feats through the use of a medium such as a crystal balls, deck of tarot cards and reading the smoke from burning objects.[citation needed]
- She also seems able to alter perceptions, create powerful illusions which can be physically touched by those they are used against.[citation needed]
- Swabada may be able to access the astral plane, seems to be able to control others and may even be able to use her spirit to possess another person.[citation needed]