virgil-al-vampire-faceAL VIRGIL

Real Name: Al Virgil

Identity/Class: Human vampire;
    pre-modern era (active, at least, around 1975 AD)

Occupation: Predator

Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;

Affiliations: None known;
    unrevealed connection to whoever/whatever vampirized him

Enemies: Sweeney Conway

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Bub," "Buddy," old man" (all used by Sweeney Conway)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Buffalo, New York

First Appearance: Vampire Tales#10/4: "BLINDSPOT!" (April, 1975)

virgil-al-vampire-fangsPowers/Abilities:
    As a vampire, Al presumably would have hadsuperhuman strength (typically "enhanced human"; he certainly surprised the younger Sweeney Conway with his speed and strength) and required regular blood meals to survive.

    Al apparently maintained a taste/desire for alcohol as a vampire.

    Further, feeding on a human victim would turned 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. virgil-al-vampire-drinks

    He was certainly vulnerable to a wooden stake through the heart. He presumably had the standard vampire vulnerabilities, including religious icons, sunlight, garlic,and  silver.

    He may or may not have been able to transform into a normal-sized bat, or into a wolf, or into mist.

    He may or may not have been able to mesmerize others with a gaze; since he didn't do that against Sweeney Conway, he may not have been able to, but it is also possible he was either overconfident, intoxicated by alcohol, or just seeking his own end, at least on some level

    It is unrevealed whether he could transform into a wolf or into mist.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 150 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white story; possibly red; original eye color unrevealed)
Hair: Apparently white (or light gray), male pattern baldness, with a similarly colored beard (black and white story; hair color in youth unrevealed)

History:
(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - At some point and under unrevealed circumstances, the middle-aged to senior Al Virgil became a vampire.

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) <Sometime before October, 1974> - Al Virgil met small-time criminal and drifter Sweeney Conway in Buffalo, New York, convincing Sweeney to purchase him drinks in exchange for some vague offer of power.virgil-al-vampire-bite-stab

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb)) - After an hour of buying drinks and hearing nothing of Al's scheme, Sweeney began to get frustrated, and he prodded Virgil about his offer of giving him power.

    Al clarified that in a way, it was more of a release, his own release, from an agony Sweeney could not understand.

    When Sweeney argued that Al was making no sense and warned him if this was some sort of gag to get free drinks, but Al assured Sweeney that it was no gag and asked him to come out to the back alley with him, as he had something to show him.

    After Al turned his back, Sweeney started to reach a breaking point in his patience, but then Al swiftly turned around, savagely baring his fangs and rushing forward, knocking Sweeney to the ground.

    As Al bit Sweeney and began draining his blood, Sweeney used a jagged piece of packing crate he had grabbed as he fell backward, stabbing Al in the heart with it. virgil-al-vampire-staked

    Al perished from being effectively staked throught the heart, while Sweeney lost enough blood to die.

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - The next night, Sweeney awakened as a vampire and found Al "a pile of bones."

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Virgilio Redondo, and Alfredo Alcala.

    The name of Al Virgil and the surname of Sweeney Conway were revealed in Vampires: The Marvel Undead. More detail was provided here, as there wasn't room for all of the information in the printed book (additionally, Al's information came in after all of the space for headshots was filled): http://www.marvunapp.com/ohotmu/appendixes/vaapp.htm

       Al Virgil's name was an homage to penciler Virgilio Redondo and inker Alfredo Alcala.

    He was likely revived by the prophecy fulfilled in Blade III#12 that brought back every vampire that had ever perished.

    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

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Al Virgil should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Vampire Tales#10/4, pg. 6, panel 5 (drinking alcohol with Sweeney);
            panel 6 (standing, best normal face);
        pg. 7, panel 2 (fangs);
            panel 4 (biting and stabbed);
            panel 5 (staked; destroyed)

Appearances:
Vampire Tales#10/4: "BLINDSPOT!" (April, 1975) - Gerry Conway (writer), Virgilio Redondo (penciler), Alfredo Alcala (inker), David Kraft (assistant editor), Don McGregor (associate editor), Len Wein (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: 09/13/2020
Last updated: 09/21/2020

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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