CARLA SPELVIN
Real Name: Carla Spelvin
Identity/Class: Human vampire; magically-empowered
Occupation: Predator, agent of Belasco and the N'Garai;
former model
Group Membership: Unidentified (and possibly unnamed) vampire coven (including Helen Purvis and Gordon)
Affiliations: Belasco, N'Garai, Helen Purvis;
formerly Dracula;
Enemies: Dracula, X-Men (Cyclops/Scott Summers, Phoenix/Jean
Grey, Rogue/Anna Marie, Storm/Ororo Munroe (specifically), Wolverine/James
Howlett/Logan);
Known Relatives: Unidentified younger brother
Aliases: Impersonated Rogue (see comments)
Base of Operations: An unidentified deconsecrated and abandoned church in Natchez, Mississippi;
she grew up in Duluth (presumably in Georgia; see comments)
First Appearance: X-Men: Soul Killer (1999)
Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Carla presumably had superhuman strength (typically enhanced human) and required regular blood meals to survive; when fully fed, she could presumably heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds. Further, feeding on a human victim would turn that victim into a vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other circumstances.
She may have been able to transform into either a bat, a bat-human hybrid, or possibly both.
Prior to her transformation by Belasco, she would almost certainly have been vulnerable to religious icons, sunlight, and a wooden stake through the heart. She presumably had the standard vampire vulnerabilties, including garlic.
Belasco's magic granted her the appearance and physical prowess of
Rogue (Anna Marie), specifically including her strength (Class 50), durability (virtually invulnerable),
and flight (reaching supersonic speeds) abilities, but lacking her power/memory/identity absorption
abilities.
In
Rogue's form, she was somewhat resistant to sunlight, at least;
further, Belasco maintained an overcast cloud cover that allowed "Rogue
Carla" to survive daytime existence.
Additionally, she no longer needed blood to survive, although her
previous vampiric existence made her attracted to it nonetheless.
Height: Approximately 5'8" (we don't know for certain that her height matched Rogue's exactly, but they were of nearly identical height)
Weight: Approximately 120 lbs. (we don't
know for certain that her weight matched Rogue's exactly, but they were
of nearly identical height and build)
Eyes: Presumably red as a vampire; originally green; as a Rogue duplicate, she would have had green eyes
Hair: Brown (similar to Rogue's main hair color); as a Rogue duplicate, she would have had brown hair with white streaks;
Note:
Never pictured, she was described as lithe and lovely with big green
eyes; further, she was described as having been of nearly identical
height, build, and hair color, as well as general features of Rogue.
History:
(X-Men:
Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - As a child, Carla's younger brother's favorite toy was a red hook-and-ladder firetruck.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - As a teenager, Carla was passenger in a car while the driver, her date, played chicken with another car; she was very frightened.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 1 (fb) - BTS) - As an adult, Carla Spelvin worked as a model.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 1 (fb) - BTS) - Helen Purvis suspected that Carla had been irresistable to men even before her transformation added to her allure.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - Dracula jumped Carla outside a nightclub and drained her life's blood all at once.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Carla became a vampire, and she felt like a being of cold stone and iron, indestructible and eternal.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - Carla became part of a coven in Natchez, Mississippi.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - Only after Carla's transformation did Dracula speak to her.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - Despite no longer casting a reflection, Carla could not bring herself to throw away her little gold compact.
(X-Men:
Soul Killer (fb) - BTS) - Appreciating that the Agamotto-placed wards
imprisoning his masters in their realm were weaker from the Earth's
dimension, Belasco determined that if he could someone get some of his
masters into Earth's dimension, he and they could break the barrier and
allow his masters to return to Earth. He determined he could do
this by bringing the X-Man Rogue to his masters' realm and having her
touch his masters, via which they could possess her form and exit their
realm in that fashion.
He determined that he
could manipulate Rogue into entering his masters' realm by mystically
bonding her to a vampire.
(X-Men:
Soul Killer, Chapter 5 (fb) - BTS) - Presumably due to Carla having
such a similar appearance as Rogue, Belasco chose Carla to
impersonate Rogue to to hinder interference from Rogue's X-Men
teammates and the authorities.
(X-Men:
Soul Killer, Chapter 1
(fb) - BTS) - Belasco enslaved the vampire coven of which Carla was a
member; Belasco to be of human origin, the coven initially resisted,
but he
broke them to his will, after which they came to adore him for his
power and cruelties, though it was a tainted worship laced with envy
and resentment.
They made a base in an old, abandoned church, and he
made them share his goal of releasing his dark gods from their
extradimensional prison so that they might rule Earth as they had in
the past.
Belasco had the coven replace the church's imagery, including a reeking, maggot-infested corpse drooped from the big oak cross, which they hung upside down; and monstrous marble statues -- scaly, tentacular figures so convoluted and alien that it hurt the eye simply to look at them -- flanked the altar, a massive basalt block carved with hieroglyphs and encrusted with the dried blood of human sacrifices.
(X-Men: Soul Killer (fb) - BTS) - Dracula sensed Belasco's usurping one of his covens, but other matters distracted him from following up on this.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 1 (fb) - BTS) - Belasco summoned the coven.
Like the rest of her vampire coven, Carla was surprised by a psychic summons to their church from their new master, but they all stopped what they were doing and attended nonetheless.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter 1) - Possibly reading the thoughts of fellow vampire Helen Purvis, Carla voiced how it was typical that after rushing there they were left cooling their heels for hours, Helen agreed, noting that this was another way of reminding them who was in charge. Helen suggested that if they wanted to show their master he couldn't treat them so cavalierly, they could leave and go hunting, and Carla noted that while this idea was worthwhile, she liked her skeleton where it was.
Carla began to note how their former coven member Gordon had not seemed happy after Belasco had removed his skeleton, but she stopped and noted Belasco's presence.
Carla joined the others in speaking their litany to Belasco, noting that the world was broken because the gods were in prison, but that they would free the gods. After Belasco elaborated how the gods would scour the Earth and make them as demigods, the coven was shocked to hear him announced that they would begin tonight and release the dark ones within days. Carla and the others reaffirmed that they believed in him, after which he summoned Helen and Carla to the altar.
As they reached the altar, Belasco motioned for them to ascend the steps to the dais and stand beside him; he named them as the anointed ones, the chosen instruments of the gods. He asked if they were afraid. Carla said she was not, but Helen was certain she was lying.
Belasco noted his pleasure with their strong resolves, and he told them their paths would not be easy, as they would suffer and see their very natures altered (and likely perish); as they had experienced this sort of change before and risen anew, they would be resurrected by the gods in the world to come.
Both women obeyed his order to kneel, and they then kissed his sword upon being instructed to worship it, though they masked the nausea and revulsion they felt upon touching it. Belasco skewered Helen with the sword, pinning her to the stone altar as he mystically transformed her.
(X-Men:
Soul Killer (fb) - BTS) - Carla presumably suffered a similar fate as
she was transformed into a duplicate of Rogue so she could impersonate
Rogue to hinder interference from Rogue's X-Men teammates. Transfixed
by Belasco's sword, Carla screamed and screamed as his power hammered
and twisted her into a different sort of creature.
Though
Carla was able to fly and superhumanly strong and durable, Belasco
could not duplicate Rogue's essence/mind/power absorption ability.
(X-Men: Soul Killer (fb) - BTS) - Belasco generated the a powerful storm in Natchez, knowing that Storm and Rogue would arrive to try to stop it.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter Five: (fb) - BTS) - Testing her new abilities, Carla flew and lifted various objects; she was both intoxicated and frightened of her new power, and she also considered that her form was too fragile to long contain the energies burning inside her.
(X-Men: Soul Killer, Chapter Five: pg. 52-58) - Again casting a reflection, Carla admired her new appearance. Surprised by Belasco, she admitted she was pleased with her new appearance; sensing this was such an occasion that she could speak lightly to her lord, she added that Rogue was "almost as beautiful as me."
When Belasco compared Dracula's treatment of her to his, Carla considered that it might be nice not to be anyone's slave, but she knew better than to not reply in the affirmative.
With Helen having already been absorbed into and starting to take control of Rogue (and then incapacitating and seemingly killing Storm), Belasco instructed Carla to create turmoil and confusion to prevent anyone from interfering. She promised Belasco she would not let him down. Before she departed, he gave her his blessing, pressing his hand to her forehead, and a sharp sting, like the shock of static electricity.
Donning a brown leather jacket to match what Rogue wore at the time, "Rogue Carla" took to the air, ultimately gaining the courage to leap into the powerful wind to escape her master's scrutiny. She headed for the part of the city to which Belasco had directed her, and -- figuring she could rouse maximum panic and outrage by attacking the emergency workers rescuing flood victims -- she slammed into an ambulance, killing the driver instantly and then crushed the cab to kill the EMT in the passenger seat. As the firefighters and EMTS present fled under her approach, she introduced herself as Rogue of the X-Men, telling the people the X-Men had grown tired of being persecuted despite having tried to protect humanity; now they were going to pursue a policy of retribution. She announced that the people of this town would serve as an example. After confirming a man had called the police, she killed him; she was then caught by surprise by an axe-blow to the head delivered by a beefy firefighter. Unharmed, she slew him with a backhand blow, then leveled the firehouse by using an ambulance as a battering ram to smash its walls. She was briefly stunned when the firehouse abruptly collapsed on her, but she broke free from the rubble, and flew off, smiling as she considered the mission a success, and looked for somewhere to go to ground until it was time to strike again.
(X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 6 (fb) - BTS / X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 12 (fb)) - "Rogue Carla" attacked a supermarket full of shoppers buying supplies to help them ride out the storm. After killing a police officer who fired on her, she briefly paused to rant about retaliation for mutant persecution.
X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 6) - SAFE (Strategic Action For Emergencies) was sent to Natchez to aid the local authorities against this superhuman threat.
(X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 6 - BTS) - Unaware of the actions of "Rogue Carla,"X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine) investigating Rogue and Storm's disappearance approached the Natchez police, who assumed them to be in league with "Rogue Carla," and turned their weapon on them (as did a local citizen). The X-Men had to subdue their attackers, after which one of the policemen told them of the recent attack and threat by "Rogue." Having seen Rogue lose control when previously having absorbed a strong personality such as Juggernaut or Spiral, the X-Men were uncertain whether this attacker was truly their Rogue or not.
(X-Men:
Soul Killer: Chapter 12 - BTS) - The X-Men observed SAFE footage
of Rogue (actually Carla) slaughtering innocent people in the
supermarket.
Wolverine observed that this Rogue was wearing gloves, while Rogue's
gloves had been destroyed before she attacked Storm. Forensic reports
revealed that all those injured and killed had been victims of brute
force, and there was no evidence of anyone having their life energy
drained. They further appreciated that she had neither fangs nor red
eyes. This information convinced them that the Rogue commiting the
assaults was an imposter.
Wolverine also
identified a map with a number of Rogue sitings, with all of the ones
where "Rogue (Carla)" had slaughtered people and espoused mutant retaliation
against humanity as having taken place in southeast quadrant, as
opposed to the one instance where Rogue/Helen had left before actually
hurting anyone. He deduced a pattern to the location of the attacks,
and the X-Men resolved to capture the imposter to possibly read her
mind to locate Belasco.
(X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 13 (fb) - BTS) - A news report showed Rogue Carla slaughtering more innocents, and a reporter announced that 72 people had died at her hands.
(X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 13 - BTS) - Duping Rogue/Helen into believing she had been slaughtering innocents via showing her footage of "Rogue Carla" doing so, Belasco convinced Rogue to come to him for help.
(X-Men: Soul Killer: Chapter 13) - Wolverine correctly prediced that Rogue Carla might next attack a hospital, and he spotted her and shared the location with the others; however, just then SAFE agents located the various X-Men groups and Dracula, who had allied with the X-Men to thwart Belasco.
As Wolverine and the others fought SAFE, Storm located Rogue Carla who was fleeing the area due to the massive SAFE presence. Storm struck her with a powerful lightning bolt, which only stunned her until she recovered and flew at Storm. Storm dodged Carla's strikes and buffeted her back with wind gusts until she regained sufficient power for another powerful lighting strike, this time into Carla's head, knocking Carla out as she charged again, although her momentum still carried her forward to slam into Storm.
Storm then brought Rogue Carla with her and arranged a temporary ceasefire between SAFE and the X-Men, after which Dracula arranged a truce if he could prove "Rogue" was an imposter. He then grasped and awakened Carla, who futilely struggled against him and then forced her, despite Belasco's enchantments, to painfully transform back into Carla's form.
Dracula then insisted Carla reveal her master's location, but Carla -- having recovered from her surprise and weakness -- defiantly refused, and Belasco's enchantments resisted Dracula's efforts to mentally force her. With Dracula continuing to use his powers of coercion, Jean Grey then attempted to read Carla's mind. When Jean's first effort bounced painfully off Belasco's shields, Carla laughed and spat in Jean's face, but Jean immediately refocused her efforts, probing the shield for weakness which, with Dracula's aid, she located. When even these spots proved impossible to gain a grip on, Carla taunted her that her master was too strong. Jean's third effort, striking at the weak spots like lightning repeatedly, generating a resonance in the field, proved successful, and the shield shattered. Carla screamed in pain and rage, but before Jean could probe her mind, Belasco projected his mind into Carla. Telling Carla her undead form had held more power than it was ever meant to, he asked if it had been a heavy burden. After she said, "Yes, master," he told her she could now lay down her burden.
Just as Jean located Carla's psyche, she sensed Carla's terror, and she retreated back to her own body and told the others to push Carla away. Dracula shoved Carla away, and Jean encased her in a telekinetic bubble, after which Carla exploded as Belasco released all of the magic she had housed. Jean contained the explosion, but there was no trace of Carla remaining.
(X-Men: Soul Killer - BTS) - Rogue fell under Belasco's sway and nearly brought Belasco's masters, the NGarari to Earth, but Phoenix entered Rogue's mind and helped her drive out the presence/influence of Helen and the "elder gods," and Nightcrawler managed to disarm Belasco. Colossus then impaled Belasco with his own sword, seemingly destroying Belasco and closing the portal to his masters.
Comments: Created by Richard Lee Byers and Leonard Manco.
Carla could easily fake Rogue's southern drawl as she'd grown up in Duluth...I'd take that to mean Duluth, Goergia, rather than Duluth, Minnesota (ah geez, Margie), although perhaps it was another southern Duluth altogether.
I refer to Carla's Rogue form multiple times as Rogue Carla for brevity's sake, but such a term wasn't used in the book
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Carla Spelvin should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
There aren't any
Appearances:
X-Men: Soul Killer (1999) - Richard Lee Byers (writer), Leonard Manco (art), Keith R.A. Candido (editor)
Last updated: 02/26/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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