CLYDE O'REILLY

Real Name: Clyde O'Reilly

Identity/Class: Human vampire (1950s)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations:

Enemies: Dr. Anton Klaus, Rose

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Astonishing#31 (March, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: Clyde was a vampire, who could partially turn himself into a humanoid bat-like creature with fangs, clawed hands and leathery wings capable of flight. He needed to consume blood to sustain his life, but otherwise was presumably immune to conventional injury, diseases and aging. He presumably possessed the standard weaknesses of a vampire including sunlight, spiritual objects and a stake through the heart.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Brown

History:
(Astonishing#31 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Clyde O'Reilly was somehow infected with vampirism.

(Astonishing#31) - Clyde attended a lecture by Dr. Anton Klaus on the non-existence of vampires. The auditorium was nearly empty. After the lecture Clyde walked through the rainy night and thought about what Klaus had said, but he couldn't shake off the weird feelings that made him afraid. Upon reaching a corner he witnessed a car hitting a pedestrian. A policeman and the friend of the victim took care of the situation while Clyde, upon seeing the blood, only felt hungry and thirsty. He stopped himself from licking his lips and couldn't understand why blood made him feel like this. Clyde moved on, thinking about Klaus' lecture, which he only attended because he was afraid he was turning into a vampire.

   When Clyde saw Klaus entering a hotel he followed him inside and talked to him on the elevator about the lecture that night. Clyde asked Klaus to talk to him for a few minutes. Upon reaching Klaus' room on the third floor Clyde revealed that he thought he was turning into a vampire, which Klaus considered nonsense. He was sure Clyde was only building this up in his mind, but Clyde wasn't so sure because of his constant dreams of flying under the full moon and searching for victims while his arms turned into wings. Klaus assured Clyde that everything would be alright as long as Clyde believed in his normalcy. Klaus offered Clyde to see him in his office later that week and Clyde left after thanking Klaus for his help.

   When Clyde was back on the street it had stopped raining and because it was only ten o'clock he headed over to his girlfriend Rose's house to plan a picnic for the weekend. Clyde thought about marrying Rose on his way over to her home, but when he entered, Rose got startlet and stuck her finger with a needle. She started bleeding and Clyde lost control over himself and instead of kissing her, as he intended, attacked her. Her scream brought Clyde back to his senses and he ran away from Rose to stop himself from hurting her. To avoid other people he could possibly hurt Clyde hid in a cave, but faced with bats he grew hazy, lost control over his thoughts and transformed into his leather-winged vampiric state. Flying through the sky to hunt his prey Clyde found a victim on a lonely road. It was coincidentally Doctor Klaus, whom he recognized as someone he had met before, but that didn't matter to the feral Clyde anymore. Clyde relished in Klaus' screams and drank his blood to satiate his own hunger.

   The next night Clyde awakened in his room. He felt satiated, but blood was on his lips, hands and clothes. He realized that everything that had happened last night was not a dream, but reality. Unable to deal with living as a vampire Clyde decided to commit suicide, hanging himself with a rope from his closet... (see comments)

Comments: Created by unidentified writer & Joe Sinnott (artist).

...and he probably survived the incident because hanging is usually not enough to kill a vampire.

Clyde received his last name in the Vampire Appendix in Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1 (December, 2011). Clyde's short appendix entry erroneously declared Rose's death in the story (which was totally my fault).

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for the images.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Clyde O'Reilly has no known connections to:

Dr. Anton Klaus

Doctor Klaus held a lecture on the non-existence of vampires in front of a nearly empty auditorium. According to him vampires only existed in the minds of some people.

Klaus headed back to his hotel after the lecture and asked the bellboy to bring his car around front in ten minutes. Clyde O'Reilly, who had attended his lecture, approached Klaus in the elevator and asked to speak to him for a few minutes. Though Klaus was driving back to his place in the country that night he granted Clyde a few minutes. When Clyde revealed he feared he was turning into a vampire, Klaus called it nonsense and nothing more than something Clyde was building up in his mind. Klaus urged Clyde to believe in his normalcy to get rid of this mental pressure. He also offered Clyde to see him at his office later this week.

Later that night Klaus was walking on a loneley road when vampire Clyde O'Reilly plunged down from the sky to satiate his hunger on Dr. Anton Klaus' blood.

The next night it was announced by one of Klaus' colleagues that Klaus could not complete his lecture series "Vampires exist only in the mind" because he had an accident. Klaus' colleague would carry on with Klaus' lectures.

--Astonishing#31

Rose

Rose was Clyde O'Reilly's girlfriend. One night she was startled by Clyde entering her house and stuck her finger with a needle. When Clyde moved in for a kiss he lost control over his vampiric urges and attacked her. Rose's scream brought Clyde back to his senses and he fled her home to avoid hurting her.

--Astonishing#31

images (without ads)
Astonishing#31, p1, pan3 (main)
Astonishing#31, p1, pan2 (head shot)
Astonishing#31, p5, pan2 (winged form)
Astonishing#31, p5, pan3 (O'Reilly attacks)
Astonishing#31, p3, pan2 (Dr. Klaus body shot)
Astonishing#31, p3, pan5 (Dr. Klaus head shot)
Astonishing#31, p4, pan2 (Rose)

Appearances:
Astonishing#31 (March, 1954) - Unidentified writer, Joe Sinnott (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 09/10/2018
Last updated: 09/10/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you 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.!

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