Cypress Pool Jokers

The Cypress Pool Jokers were a gang of juvenile delinquents that operated in and around the area of Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. They maintained a lair at Salem Fields - a sub-section of the cemetery that contained a large crypt. On Halloween-eve 1990, the Jokers were partying in the cemetery wearing Halloween masks when they came upon Danny and Barbara Ketch. They antagonized the two siblings and nearly got into a fight with them, but their antics were interrupted when they bore witness to a shootout between two rival criminal gangs; the Ninja assassins of Deathwatch and the armed cronies of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. The Jokers got caught up in the action and one of them, Pauline Stratton, came into possession of a silver briefcase that the two cartels had been warring over. Pauline stole the case, believing it to be of great value and retreated to the Jokers' lair at Salem Fields. When they opened it however, they found that it contained three metal canisters. None of them had any idea what the contents of the canisters were, but they knew it must have been of significant value for two gangs to go to war over it. They decided to hide the canisters in different sections of the cemetery. One was given to a different gang member who kept it's location a secret from the others.

The following evening, the Kingpin's goons tracked the Jokers down and cornered them on a street in Queens. Deathwatch's ninjas arrived as well and another firefight erupted between the two factions with the Jokers, once again, caught in the middle. The demonic Spirit of Vengeance known as the Ghost Rider appeared on the scene and attacked both groups. One of Deathwatch's goons killed Joker member Johnny and another, Ralphie D'Amato, was gravely injured. Ghost Rider overwhelmed the armed assailants, defeating several of them and forcing the remainder to flee the scene. He then took Ralphie to the hospital. Neither of the groups managed to get their hands on the stolen canisters.