douglas_howard-vampire-profile

HOWARD DOUGLAS

Real Name: Howard Douglas

Identity/Class:Human vampire;
    18th century;
    presumably an English citizen

Occupation: Predator;
    former highwayman

Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;

Affiliations: Jeremy Haynes

Enemies: Kendra Change (at least formerly; he may or may not have been loyal or subservient to her after reviving as a vampire), "Old" Joseph, unidentified carriage driver, unidentified merchant and his companion companion,

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "My dashing young scoundrel," "my impetuous friend," "my quick fellow" (all taunting nicknames from Old Joseph)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    last seen aboard the Henrietta ship, docked in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom;

First Appearance: Vampire Tales#7/6: "Agents of the Night Road" (October, 1974)douglas_howard-vampire-face

Powers/Abilities: As a mortal, Howard had some experience fighting with a rapier and pistol and with equestrianism (horse riding).

    As a vampire, Howard would presumably have had superhuman strength (typically enhanced human) and required regular blood meals to survive.

    Further, feeding on a human victim would typically 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 him.

    When fully fed, he could likely heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds.

    He presumably had the standard vampire vulnerabilities, including religious icons, sunlight, garlic, silver, and wooden stakes through the heart.

    He may have been able to mesmerize others with a gaze and/or transform from human to bat form at will; however, not every vampire possesses such abilities.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'8 - 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white story, but presumably red at least some of the time); original eye color unrevealed
Hair: Dirty blond or light brown

douglas_howard-vampire-gunfightHistory:
(Vampire Tales#7/6 (fb) - BTS) - Howard was a young highway who fancied himself a living version of Robin Hood, stealing from the wealthy; however, he never gave his takings to the poor or to anyone else.


(Vampire Tales#7/6 (fb) - BTS) - Howard Douglas partnered with with Jeremy Haynes, with Howard confronting sufficiently wealthy-looking horse-drawn carriages as they passed by, while Jeremy -- per Howard's plan -- watched unseen from a short distance away, prepared to intervene as necessary.

(Vampire Tales#7/6) - As Howard rushed in to rob a carriage, he found an older highwayman (Old Joseph) had had the same idea, both unaware of the other's presence until they reached the carriage. Howard argued that he had laid designs on it first, but Joseph countered that it was now available on the common market. After Howard told Joseph he would not become its new owner, Jospeph drew his pistol and fired on Howard, who swiftly followed suit, but both men missed the other (Joseph's bullet went through Howard's hat, but missed his head), and their single-shot pistols were now useless.

    As both men drew their rapier-like swords, Howard taunted Joseph, noting they would see how quick he was to fight with the blade. Joseph admitted he wasn't as fast as the younger Howard, but mocked him as reckless and/or confused. After their clash of steel lasted "long moments of interminable deadlock," Joseph grabbed a handful of dirt and cast it into his Howard's eyes. Blinded and staggering back, Howard barely realized as Joseph snatched the sword out of his hands. When Joseph approached and asked if he was afraid to die, Howard admitted he was indeed, but that he was not fated to die this night, "You are!" Just then, Jeremy swung in one a rope, kicked Joseph to the ground, and then picked up a sword and beheaded Joseph.

    As Jeremy complimented Howard on his planning, Howard observed that the carriage driver had taken advantage of the distraction to take off. However, the carriage could not outrun Jeremy's horse, and he forced the driver to stop again at swordpoint.

    While Howard divested the female passenger of her jewel necklace, the male passenger (a merchant) told them he had nothing of value. When Howard told Jeremy to kill the man, the victim volunteered -- in hopes of their sparing his life -- that he had been hired for a thousand quid (slang for pound) to take a wooden chest stowed on the freighter ship Henrietta in Liverpool and transport it to London. After the man explained that he figured the chest must be carrying something very valuable for the woman to have offered that much, Howard hacked him in the neck with his sword, killing the merchant.douglas_howard-vampire-corpse
    Howard and Jeremy then headed to Liverpool on horseback.

    As they tethered their horses at the dock in Liverpool, Jeremy suggested a similar plan as they had used before. Agreeing that it had worked well, Howard boarded the Henrietta.

(Vampire Tales#7/6 (fb) - BTS) - When Howard boarded the Henrietta, the vampire Kendra Change -- the "treasure" held within the wooden chest -- tore out his throat and fatally drained his blood.

(Vampire Tales#7/6 - BTS) - Jeremy, tired of waiting, boarded the Henrietta, and Kendra vampirized him as well.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench and Howard Chaykin.

    Howard's name was revealed in the Vampires appendix in Vampires: The Marvel Undead (December, 2011), which also confirmed the standard circumstances of his becoming a vampire after being fatally drained by Kendra.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Howard Douglas should be distinguished from:

douglas_howard-vampire-joseph-swordsdouglas_howard-vampire-joseph-face-swords"OLD" JOSEPH

    A former butcher, Joseph eventually became a highwayman.

(Vampire Tales#7/6) - As Joseph rushed in to rob a carriage, he found a younger highwayman (Howard Douglas) had had the same idea, both unaware of the other's presence until they reached the carriage.

    Howard argued that he had laid designs on the carriage first, but Joseph countered that it was the driver who had first laid designs -- and good coin -- on the coach before either of them; however, he noted that it was available to the common market.

    After Howard told Joseph he would not become its new owner, Jospeph scowled, drew his pistol, and fired on Howard, who swiftly followed suit, but both men missed the other (Joseph's bullet went through Howard's hat, but missed his head), and their single-shot pistols were now useless.

    As both men drew their rapier-like swords, Howard taunted Joseph, noting they would see how quick he was to fight with the blade. Joseph admitted he might not be as quick as his younger opponent, but mocked him as reckless and/or confused.

    After their clash of steel lasted "long moments of interminable deadlock," Joseph grabbed a handful of dirt and cast it into his Howard's eyes: "Since I've had to look at you for the past five minutes...'tis now time for you to look at dirt!"

     Joseph snatched Howard's sword from his blinded foe as he staggered back; sharpening the two swords against each other, Joseph told Howard he would demonstrate for him the skill which had formerly earned him a position in the butcher's trade.

    Taunting Howard as a quick fellow who would soon be dead, Joseph approached and asked if he was afraid to die. However, Howard informed Joseph that it was instead him that was fated to die, at which point Howard's ally, Jeremy (who had been hiding in the trees) then swung in on a rope, and kicked Joseph to the ground.

    As Joseph lie on the ground, Jeremy picked up a sword and beheaded him.


--Vampire Tales#7/6: "Agents of the Night Road"

Note: Joseph's last name is unrevealed

images: (without ads)
Vampire Tales#7/6, pg. 2, panel 1 (full profile, masked);
          panel 2 (Joseph drawing pistol);
          panel 3 (both men firing; Joseph on left);
       pg. 3, panel 5 (Joseph claiming Howard's sword);
          panel 6 (Joseph sharpening blades, showing mask);
       pg. 7, panel 2 (Howard face);
       pg. 8, panel 1 (Howard's corpse falls)

Appearances:
Vampire Tales#7/6: "Agents of the Night Road" (October, 1974) - Doug Moench (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tony Isabella (consulting editor), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Vampires: The Marvel Undead (December, 2011) - Jeff Christiansen, Mike O'Sullivan, and Stuart Vandal (head writers/coordinators); Markus Raymond & Mike Fichera (assistant coordinators)

First posted: 06/22/2019
Last updated: 06/22/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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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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