BERNARDO LATTA
Real Name: Bernardo Latta
Identity/Class: Human vampire;
early 20th century at least (see comments);
Italian citizen
Occupation: Predator;
any previous occupation is unrevealed
Group Membership: Vampires of Earth
Affiliations: None known
Enemies: The Cormone brothers and their friends, Salino;
at least briefly Sophia Latta
Known Relatives: Sophia Latta (sister), unidentified mother and father (deceased)
Aliases: "The harlot's brother" "Young Latta"
Base of Operations: At least formerly Tamora, Sicily;
formerly an unidentified prison outside of Tamora
First Appearance: Vampire Tales#8 (December, 1974)
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He had strong family loyalty and would kill anyone who disrespected his family in word or deed. Bernardo was presumably vampirized: As a vampire, Bernardo had superhuman strength and required regular blood meals to survive. Further,
feeding on a human victim would turn that victim into a
vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other
circumstances. Those he vampirized may or may not have been subservient to her. When fully fed, he could likely heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds. He presumably had the standard
vampire vulnerabilities, including vulnerability to sunlight, religious icons, garlic, a wooden stake through the heart, and silver. He may or may not have been able to transform into a bat, a wolf and/or mist.
He may or may not have been able to
mesmerize others with a gaze.
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Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6')
History:
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb) - BTS) - The parents of Sophia and Bernardo Latta perished under unrevealed circumstances.
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb) - BTS / Unabridged Vampire Appendix (see comments)) - Sophia was raped by Salino.
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb)) - Believing honor could only be served by death, Bernardo slew the man.
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb) / Unabridged Vampire Appendix ) <10 years before the main story, in the early 20th century (see comments)>
- Bernardo was tried for murder.
Asked to provide speak in his own
defense, Bernardo explained that certain family matters could only be
resolved in blood, continuing that he had not killed a man but rather executed a dog.
The judge countered that in this day and age,
they had laws to deal with such men and that personal vengeance would
not be tolerated. Bernardo was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sophia cried out for her brother,
insisting that they could not do this to him, but he told her not to
cry but rather to be brave and that he would be home again in 10 years.
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb) - BTS) -
At some point while Bernardo was in prison, Sophia had an accident and
became sick (presumably she was bitten by a vampire, but that is
unconfirmed), and she became a vampire.
Dwelling in a set of old Roman
ruins, Sophia somehow led the Cormone brothers and their friends to
visit her there. She presumably would feed on their blood, but she was
careful to not drink so much that they would die from her feedings.
Likely using some degree of mesmerism, Sophia caused the men to love her and feel that she loved them in return, and so they visited her every night, staying until morning when she presumably retreated to avoid sunlight.
The Cormone brothers and their
friends spoke publicly over their love for and from Sophia, causing
rumors to spread that she was having sexual relationships with them all
(and perhaps she was). Sophia was considered a harlot and a slut by many of the locals.
(Vampire Tales#8 (fb) - BTS) - During his imprisonment, Bernardo's hair turned white.
(Vampire
Tales#8) -
Released from prison after the completion of his sentence, Bernardo
returned to Tamora and sought out Sophia. A local woman recognized him
despite his having aged, noting him to be the harlot's brother, but her
husband hushed her, reminding her of the young Latta's temper.
The elderly Signora Cella, who apparently lived near the home in which he had grown up, revealed Sophia to be having multiple lovers, noting that she was only repeating what was common knowledge. At Bernardo's request, Signora Cella told him that the Cormone brothers were always at the tavern (to which she pointed), when they were not making love to his sister).
Following the direction of Cella's finger, Bernardo traveled to the tavern -- recalling the events leading up to his imprisonment en route -- and entered the ristorante. Rico and another man (apparently friends of his father's) welcomed him home and asked him for money but he ordered the "swine" out of the way.
Within the tavern, the scent of
sour wine and wormy meat in the air added discomfort to disgrace,
enhancing Bernardo's rage. The waitress offered him food, wine or
(presumably) herself, and he told the "sow" to give him a bottle of
wine and some privacy. As the locals drank heavily, the Cormone
brothers and their friends toasted Sophia as the woman they all loved,
at which point Bernardo toasted the brothers Cormone and their friends,
adding, "May their souls rot in Hell!"
The drunken men were no match for
Bernard, who fatally slashed them with his knife. He then confronted
his waitress, instructing her -- on pain of death -- to tell him
Sophia's location. The woman told him that his sister was waiting up by
the old Roman ruins, where she waited for them every night. When he
accused her of lying, she swore that his sister's sins were a thousand
fold worse than her own and that only the devil himself had sinner
more, leading Bernardo to slay her as well.
(Vampire Tales#8 - BTS) - Traveling to the old Roman ruins and finding them vacant, Bernardo bathed in the nearby river to cleanse himself from the gore from his murders.
(Vampire Tales#8) - Standing on
the river bank, Sophia greeted Bernardo, telling him that she had heard
him but had been looking for her friends.
She continued that she was distressed to learn that he had killed her friends. Bernardo told her that he had not had a choice as they had defiled her and dishonored her name.
Sophia explained to Bernardo that he
had it all turned around, and that she had changed since he had gone to
prison. She continued that there had been an accident and a sickness,
and that no one could defile her now that she was a vampire.
As he screamed (see comments), she bit down on his neck and drained his life.
Before he died, he realized that he was not the only Latta who understood the joy of vengeance.
(Unabridged Vampire Appendix - BTS) - Bernardo presumably subsequently arose as a vampire.
Comments: Created by Carla & Gerry Conway and Joe Staton.
The cover
(see below and to the right) showed her with giant bat-like wings extending from her back while in
otherwise human form. She did not have wings in the story, but it may
be that she could extend or retract the wings at will; alternatively,
it may just be artistic license.
Similarly, the cover showed Bernardo with blond
hair. In his youth, he had dark hair, and in the main story (which was
black and white), he was specifically noted to have white hair. We'll
call that artistic license.
Additionally,
the final encounter with Sophia noted "Bernardo Latta opens his mouth
to scream -- but it's already too late for things such as that --" and
yet the panel showing Sophia biting him shows a scream. Although it was
too late for his scream to do any good, presumably he screamed
anyway...who's not going to cry out if vampire is biting you?
Stories that occur without any
direct ties to the modern Marvel Universe are typically considered to
have occurred at the time of publication and outside of the sliding
timescale. However, the story references men living only to the age of 50 and the judge makes a point of noting it to be the 20th century during the trial).
Based on this the Vampire Appendix (unabridged version) noted the time of Bernardo's murdering of the rapist to be in the early 20th century.
Additionally,
while the original story only said that Salino had "attacked my sister
and brought disgrace to her and her family," the unabridged version
confirmed that Salino had raped Sophia.
The unabridged version further noted that Bernardo
presumably was vampirized. That's generally the standard...a vampire
fatally consumes your blood, you generally revive as a vampire. This
has traditionally taken three days, but many stories show someone
awakening as a vampire within minutes or hours.
The abridged Vampire Appendix was printed in Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1, and a link was provided for the unabridged version.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Bernardo Latta should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)First posted: 10/27/2024
Last updated: 12/06/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
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like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Powers/Abilities: Bernardo was experienced with a knife and willing to kill others.