COUNT KRONIN
Real Name: Stelian Kronin
Identity/Class: Human vampire magic user (1920s, 1930-1945s, 1945-1953);
Czechoslovakian citizen
Occupation: Night predator
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Gorkin, Professor Malleck
Known Relatives: Mara Vintila (wife)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed village probably not far from Prague, Czechoslovakia (see comments)
First Appearance: Uncanny Tales I#6/3 (March, 1953)
Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Kronin possessed several supernatural powers. He could live longer than normal human beings, and he was probably far stronger than an average man. His awful appearance marked him as a different being, for he had a pair of little bat-wings sprouting from his back, long canine teeth, large pointed ears, snake-like pupils and sharp talons. However, he was able to change his form and look like a normal man, more than this he was also able to transform into some animals, like a cat, in a mere instant, using black magic.
He was forced to rest in a coffin and his active life was confined to the night. His only sustenance was human blood and a side effect of being a nampire was that his image was not reflected by mirrors.
History: (Uncanny Tales I#6/3) - Count Kronin had been a vampire for 30 years and lived in his residence on the hills.
In a night like thousands others in his
undead existence, he shook his bones from the coffin and went to the
nearest village. Hiding in an alley, he spied upon Officer
Gorkin while he was speaking to a young woman. Hidden in the
shadows, Kronin waited and hoped for the girl to leave the officer and
walk by his side of the street. What a fine prey would she be! But his
impatience made him betray his presence causing noise and the two were attracted to the
alley and saw...a black cat.
Kronin had transformed into the feline, and for some long moments he was
able to set his gaze upon the girl. When the two left, he had already
been stricken by the beauty of the blonde woman and had fallen in love.
His desperation almost overwhelmed him, because he knew that a vampire like himself could not love her as a man could do, but he remembered something very important. In the past, he had read about a scientist, a doctor who was searching for a cure for vampirism. Kronin made up his mind, ran back to his hideout and found the address of Professor Malleck.
The next evening Kronin went in human
appearance to Malleck,
presenting himself as a colleague from Prague, interested in his cure for vampirism.
Malleck confirmed that he had found a cure, in the form of a serum.
Malleck however denied Kronin the single sample he had made and asked Kronin to
wait because 6 months were needed in order to create another batch. The
Count's desire was too strong, he revealed his real self and killed the
Professor outright. He found the serum and drank it.
Back at the hideout Kronin watched himself reflected
in the mirror: the cure worked.
Days went by, during which the Count became sure that the monster inside him was gone.
Then he took up residence in the village and managed to get presented to the young lady he loved. Her name was Mara, and she asked him if they had previously met. Kronin's "no" was almost the truth, because he strongly believed to be a different being from the cat that the woman had noticed days ago.
Three nights passed, during which the
Count courted the lady and during which the lady joyously accepted his
company. The third night Kronin took her to the Town Hall of the nearby
village, where they married.
Shortly after, he was driving his car through the
hills, taking his wife to his mansion.
Once there, he found it suitable to propose a toast to
her beauty. He offered her to drink first and she eagerly accepted.
But when she turned around Kronin saw a monster. Mara was a horrible,
hideous vampire! She drank first, but what she drank was Kronin's blood.
Comments: Created by unidentified writer and Matt Fox (artist).
Somewhere I read that a vampire's image was not reflected by mirrors because, in the past, the plate behind the glass had a silvery component. Becuase silver as a noble metal allegedly repels "the unholy", the image could not be reflected. Nowadays, the industrial process used to build mirrors is totally different and silver is not included anymore in it.
All the houses and the buildings that the Count visited
were lit by candles, despite the fact that he drove a car. In the
village the streets were lit by gas or electricity. These elements could
place the story around the second quarter of the twentieth century.
Malleck's research could be of paramount importance for the Earth-616
timeline, he found a not-deadly scientific version of the Montesi
Formula.
In the US this story was reprinted in Giant-Size Dracula#3 (December, 1974) and Spider-Man vs. Dracula#1 (January, 1994).
Count Kronin and his wife received full names in the Vampire Appendix in Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1 (2011).
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Count Kronin has no known connections to:
Mara Vintila has no known connections to:
Professor Malleck has no known connections to
Gorkin has no known connections to:
Mara was a vampire and probably had the same abilities as Kronin, but she only showed shapeshifting abilities and the need not to be under the sun.
Mara was new to the village where
Kronin lived nearby.
One night, while the fall wind sprawled dead leaves
through the streets, she was walking alone in the village. She was
stopped by Officer Gokin, who warned
her, because in that region there were vampires. She was forced to
follow him, but a noise coming from a dark alley attracted their
attention. There, perched on a litter can was a black cat peering
at her. She was strangely attracted by those glistening eyes until the
guardsman, frightened by that strange glance, took her away.
Days later, she was introduced to Count
Kronin, who immediately made clear that he liked her. She asked whether
they had met before, in fact Kronin was the same cat that looked at her
in that alley.
She accepted his courting, and allowed him to spend the
following three evenings together, talking, dancing and dining. The Count
had fallen in love with her and when he asked for her hand, she
accepted.
They married in the Town Hall of a near village, and
the Count immediately took her to his mansion on the hills.
They were alone and she could finally be herself. When
Kronin asked her to drink she happily accepted and drank his blood.
--Uncanny Tales I#6/3
Professor Malleck was a normal human, but had an exceptional intelligence. As a matter of fact he had invented a serum that could transform a vampire into a normal human.
In many years of study, Malleck had synthesized a sample of serum to cure vampirism. It took six months to produce on batch of the serum.
When Kronin visited him, Malleck refused to give him the serum he had, probably because he needed it for other experiments, however he did not refuse to help his "colleague". Kronin had only to wait for six months for the next batch. The refusal signed his death warrant because the vampire killed him with no remorse at all and took the serum.
The serum actually worked, but Malleck was not around anymore to see it.
--Uncanny Tales I#6/3
Gorkin was a normal human, a police officer in the village where Kronin "hunted".
Kronin knew that that region was
inhabited by vampires and that the night was really dangerous.
When he saw the foreign young
lady Mara one night he stopped her to warn her. They were distracted by a rattle
in an alley and spotted a black cat. However, the eyes of the cat gave
an odd, disquieting glance, which made Gorkin feel uneasy and he decided to to leave, taking
the woman with him.
This action upset Kronin, who had waited for the woman to
be alone.
--Uncanny Tales I#6/3
images: (without ads)
Uncanny Tales I#6/3, p1, pan1 (Kronin rising from the coffin)
Uncanny Tales I#6/3, p2, pan7 (Kronin in love for Mara, head shot)
Uncanny Tales I#6/3, p5, pan6 (Mara in her vampiric
form)
Uncanny Tales I#6/3, p3, pan5 (Malleck, before dying)
Uncanny Tales I#6/3, p1, pan3 (Mara and Gorkin)
Appearances:
Uncanny Tales I#6/3 (March, 1953) - Matt Fox (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Last updated: 10/15/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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