Real Name: Angelica NealANGELICA NEAL
Real Name: Angelica Neal
Identity/Class: Human (19th Century)
Occupation: currently unknown; formerly an unemployed minor
Affiliations: Dr. Chowder, Bishop MacFarland
Enemies: Ryan Birks, Dracula
Known Relatives: Frank (father), Laurie (mother, deceased)
Aliases: none
Base of Operations: formerly a lighthouse on the coast of Maine, formerly Boston, Massachusetts, 1920s?
First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula II#4 (April, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: None
History:
(Tomb of Dracula II#4 (fb)) - When Angelica was a young girl, less than ten
years old, her parents moved to a lighthouse in the coast of Maine. Soon
afterwards, she began to hear calls in the night. One night, she followed the
voices out to a ship which had crashed on the shore sometime before she got
there. On board, she was assaulted by the former captain Ryan Birks, who had been turned
into a vampire by Dracula. The Lord of the Vampires himself showed up to defend
her, and decapitated the former captain. He then seduced the young girl, drank
of her blood, and left her naked on the beach, where her parents found her the
next day.
Doctor Chowder recognized the signs of a vampire attack, and showed Frank Neal how to take precautions to prevent further attacks. After a transfusion, Angelica was feeling much better, and the garlic wards and religious icons kept her safe from the vampire. However, Dracula then switched his attentions to Angelica's mother, whom he drained to death. Bishop MacFarland laid Laurie Neal to rest, but upon examining both her and Angelica, he, too, recognized that there was a vampire present. He led Frank and few other out to Laurie's tomb, and they put a stake through her heart just as she had begun to revive.
At that exact moment, Dracula chose to go after Angelica again, and he slew her nurse, and then hypnotized young Angelica, causing her to throw off her protective crucifix. Before he could put the bite on her again, Frank Neal, Bishop MacFarland, and the other burst in. Dracula grabbed Angelica and fled into the lighthouse, with the other close behind. The priest who reached the top of the lighthouse first was greeted by a powerful wind, summoned by Dracula, which shattered a window, pierced his body with broken glass, and then smashed him against the giant light's glass cover. His bloody body left a large cross-shaped print on the light, so that Frank Neal turned the light on, the cross shone on Dracula, setting him aflame and forcing him to flee.
Within a week, Frank and Angelica were on their way back to Boston.
Comments: Created by Roger McKenzie and Gene Colan.
The entire story was told as a flashback, as seen through the mind of another, unnamed girl, who was also being visited by Dracula.
I'd like to see Angelica show up as an elderly woman, and perhaps work with the Legion of the Night. Otherwise, I would guess that Dracula subsequently hunted down and slew and/or vamped everyone who escaped him the first time.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Frank and Laurie Neal
They were having marital difficulties before the move, which did not improve things. They often slept separately, and Laurie was alone when Dracula came to her and killed her. Frank was present when they staked her screaming corpse, and he accompanied the priests back to the house to save Angelica from Dracula.
He then returned to Boston with her.
--Tomb of Dracula II#4 (4(fb)
Doctor Chowder
He was the first to recognize that there was a vampire in the area, and he treated Angelica after her bite, and taught Frank Neal how to prevent a second attack.
--Tomb of Dracula II#4 (4(fb)
Bishop MacFarland
He, too, recognized the sign of the vampire, and led the mission to stake Laurie Neal. He also led Frank Neal and the others back to the house to save Angelica, and instructed Frank to turn on the light in the lighthouse so that the cross-mark smeared on it would drive off Dracula.
--Tomb of Dracula II#4 (4(fb)
Last updated: 03/30/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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