Origins 4

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Title	SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS #4
Edition #	4
Published	August 1, 2007
Writer	Peter Johnson
Artists	Matthew Dow Smith Dustin Nguyen (cover)
Editor	Ben Abernathy
Outline	The next step in finding his wife’s killer sees John Winchester and the Hunter making a journey to visit a priest in South Dakota. But is John ready for what the priest has to show him? Could he at last be reunited with Mary?
Location(s)	Wichita Blue Earth, Minnesota Denver, Colorado
Timeline	1977 (back story) 1983
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The next step in finding his wife’s killer sees John Winchester and the Hunter making a journey to visit a priest in South Dakota. But is John ready for what the priest has to show him? Could he at last be reunited with Mary?

• An interesting insight in the work of Dustin Nguyen (who created the cover for Origins 4) can be found here at his blog.

• Origins #4 is incorrect about the year Mary died. According to the 1.01 Pilot Mary's death takes place 22 years prior to when we meet Sam & Dean as adults in October 2005. That would place her death in November 1983 not 1982. Dean was four years old when Mary died in November 1983, and this is in sync with the birth date of January 24, 1979 given both in 1.06 Skin and 2.07 The Usual Suspects. Therefore the trip John talks about in Origins #4 would have taken place the week of April 24, 1978 not February, 1979, nine months prior to the date of Dean's birth.

Summary - Main Story

• Date: 1982 (see notes below)
• Places: Wichita - Blue Earth, Minnesota

John is chasing a creature known as "Doc Benton" through the woods. The creature was once a doctor, but at the moment of his death he ingested the still-throbbing heart of another person, staving off death. While Hunter tried torching the remains of the last known victim in order to weaken it, John grabs a chainsaw and hacks it apart, finally killing it for good. Hunter accuses him of having a death wish, but John denies this - all he wants to do is see Mary and he'll kill anything that gets in his way.

They arrive in Minnesota and meet another hunter, Pastor Jim Murphy. Jim reveals that when he was 9 years old, his mother, insane, decided to try and protect him and his brother from the evils of the world by drowning them. His brother died, but he survived, although only just. Since that day, he has had the ability to make the dead come to him. To begin the ritual, Jim must sacrifice some of his own blood and tells John to keep his eyes on the figure of Jesus upon the cross. As he continues, John sees her - Mary, floating ethereally above him. They kiss, both of them unwilling to let go, until the form of Mary distorts into the same Hellhound they saw before. The connection is broken - Jim suggests that somehow, the Hellhound must have invaded the spirit plane and locked on to Mary in order to get to John.

John says that Mary tried to give him a message - telling him to Look Once More. He studies the Hellhounds tooth and notices four numbers on it - 1 1 2 7. John mentions that 11:27 was the exact time that Mary died, but they wonder about the placement of the numbers. The way they are written looks more like co-ordinates. John wonders where the lead to, and whether the numbers are a coincidence.

Summary - Back Story

• Date: 1977
• Place: Unknown

Mary is being chased through the woods by John. Suddenly, she stops and says "It's time". She strips off her bra, flings it at John and suggests he goes over to her to get the rest. They make love in the woods, unaware that a Hellhound is watching.

Notes

• Like the previous issue, the date cannot possibly be correct as Sam was only born in 1983.
• John states that five years earlier, he and Mary were on their honeymoon. They went white-water rafting at the base of the Grand Canyon.
• The night of the fire, Mary died, according to the Police reports, at 11:27pm. John had fallen asleep during the 11 o'clock movie.

Characters

• John Winchester
• Mary Winchester
• Jim Murphy

Definitions

• Doc Benton
• Hellhound
• Vengeful Spirit