Marley Davidson

Marley Davidson
Cover of Marley Davidson Issue Number 1 (1995). Art by Sandy Jimenez.
Publication information
Publisher	Vampyrotechnic
First appearance	Marley Davidson #1 (June 1995; Vampyrotechnic)
Created by	Sandy Jimenez
In-story information
Team affiliations	Vatican
Notable aliases	The Mad Priest, the Bronx Exorcist
Abilities	Expert knowledge of the occult, master of various forms of weaponry both arcane and modern.

Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.

Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.

Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series “reboot” was announced/advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.

According to end notes by the author that appear on the inside back cover of the first issue, “In truth, it was not created as a stand alone idea. Marley Davidson is a spin off of…Vladek, Vampire Detective.…Marley Davidson was to be the last side-kick for the planned conclusion of the Vladek series,” and that “Marley Davidson was intended as something of a joke, like the detective ‘Ford Fairlane’ which was named after a car.” While Vladek, Vampire Detective was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2, illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.

(In order of appearance in the series) Don Escaglia, The Warlocke Amsterdamn, Arthur “Red Boy” Sullivan, Sir William Mayhem.

Circa 1975: Imam Ali, Anna Von Bayer, Isaac Davidson (younger brother), Sameer Hudson, Franklin "King" Kong, Rabbi Michael Golberg.

Circa 1977: Jose Daniel Diaz.

Circa 1979: Kenneth Murphy.