Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage #1 (2020)

Watching a bulldozer demolish the gates of the Ravencroft Institute, Misty Knight and John Jameson remark on how morbid it feels, like watching a funeral. John laments having been enslaved by Dark Carnage during his latest rampage, Misty assuring him that he's not to blame for the actions he committed under the control of Dark Carnage's symbiote and that nothing could change the good man he is on the inside. As they talk, a limousine pulls up and Mayor Wilson Fisk steps out, Misty immediately confronting him about what a purportedly former crimelord like himself would want with the ruins of Ravencroft. Fisk smugly retorts that as mayor he can go wherever he wants, and that contrary to popular rumors he intends to have Ravencroft rebuilt - revealing that John now works for him. As Misty incredulously confronts him, John tells her that Fisk pulled some strings to get him his old job back, Misty lamenting his gullibility. Before their argument can continue, a construction worker runs over and tells Fisk that the crew found something. Narrated from the Journal of Jonas Ravencroft, the founder of Ravencroft Institute; the land where Ravencroft Institute was built had been shunned by the local indigenous peoples since at least the 1400s, claimed as the territory of a cannibalistic cult that sacrificed and ate anyone they came across. In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sent a party of soldiers into the forest to gather supplies and later found their half-eaten remains arranged in a spiral, returning to Spain immediately afterwards. As the centuries passed, Dutch and English settlers moved into the area and were warned by the local Wappinger tribes to stay away from the cursed land, those who ignored the warnings paying with their lives. In 1664, Cortland Kasady and his lover, Molly Ravencroft, built a homestead outside of the recently-renamed New York City. While Molly was out picking flowers she ventured too far into the woods and was captured. Desperate to rescue her, Cortland attempted to rally a mob and berated his fellow colonists for their cowardice when no-one volunteered. Venturing into the forest by himself, Cortland found a cave and was ambushed by a Native man with teeth sharpened into points, wearing clothes made of human skin with a red dragon emblazoning his tunic, and a red spiral painted onto his forehead. The cultist overwhelmed Cortland, but was bashed over the head by a rock before he could do more than bite him. Confused, Cortland saw Molly standing over him, and she explained that she had managed to evade capture. Telling her to wait for him, Cortland ventured deeper into the cave and found the remains of countless victims going back centuries. On the wall of the cave, Cortland found tribal wall-art of the cult worshiping strange monsters and a towering humanoid figure with a dragon emblazoning its chest. Suddenly finding himself surrounded by cultists, Cortland prepared to fight to the death. Outside the cave, Molly heard Cortland screaming and was surprised to see him exit the cave covered in blood, his pupils replaced by red spirals. Unnerved by his strange behavior, Molly rode back into town to warn them, but Cortland followed and abruptly began attacking everyone in his path - killing eight people - while chanting "God is coming." Incapacitated, Cortland was locked up in a small shed built on the cursed land - which Jonas' narration notes could be considered the first iteration of Ravencroft Asylum. Unable to forget her love for Cortland, despite his degeneration into a bloodthirsty maniac, Molly frequently visited him. When she did not return from one of her visits, a search party found her murdered in the cell and Cortland escaped - "God is coming" written on the walls in her blood. Jonas' narration notes that he doesn't know what became of Cortland, but that he probably spent the rest of his days living among the Others waiting for his dark god to be unleashed. In the present day, Misty Knight, John Jameson, and Wilson Fisk stand over the Journal of Jonas Ravencroft. As the construction worker marvels at how it could be miraculously intact after untold years, Fisk picks it up; Misty declaring that she isn't just going to let him take it. As John tries to talk her down, the journal is suddenly snatched away by Mister Fantastic, who sides with Misty in being suspicious of Fisk's motives. As Reed declares he intends to ensure that the new Ravencroft is a proper psychiatric facility instead of another bedlam house, Fisk takes the journal back and sneers at him for getting involved in matters that don't concern him. Their argument is interrupted by another construction worker running over and informing the group that they've made yet another discovery below the rubble of the south wing: a spiral staircase. As the group sets off to investigate, Misty snatches the journal back from Fisk, Jameson lamenting that she's going to get him fired before his new job even begins. Descending the staircase, they find a large room with multiple floors of cells; Misty commenting that she can tell just by looking that horrific things were carried out there.