Sweeney Conway (vampire; Vampire Tales story; vampirized by Sweeney Conway)

Affiliations: Dutch;
under some circumstances, vampires are under the influence of the being who vampirized him or him...if so, he would have been under the influence of Al Virgil

Aliases: "Buster" (from the policeman), "creep" (from a civilian), "filthy scum" (from a civilian), "Young man" (from Al Virgil)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly a hotel on 43rd street in an unidentified city (presumably Manhattan, New York);
    formerly Buffalo, New York;
    formerly the US East Coast;
    formerly an unspecified prison

Powers/Abilities:
As a vampire, Sweeney had superhuman strength and required regular blood meals to survive. conway-sweeney-vampire-bat

Further, feeding on a human victim would turned that victim into a vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other circumstances.

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

He could transform into a normal-sized bat; it is unrevealed whether he could transform into a wolf or into mist.

    He may or may not have been able to mesmerize others with a gaze.

    Unlike most vampires, Sweeney could sleep during day or night.

    Sweeney accepted and even reveled in his monstrous nature.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white story; possibly red after becoming a vampire; original eye color unrevealed)
Hair: Unrevealed (black and white story; dark, perhaps black or dark brown; receding hairline) conway-sweeney-vampire-human

History:
(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - After getting out of of most recent stint in prison, small-time criminal Sweeney Conway spent months drifting up and down the coast (presumably the USA's east coast).

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) <Sometime before October, 1974> - In Buffalo, New York, Sweeney met the elderly Al Virgil who convinced Sweeney to purchase him drinks in exchange for some vague offer of power.

(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 it was more of a release, from an agony Sweeney could not understand. 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. donder_jerry-blind-vamped-vamped

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.

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

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

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - Thereafter, it was "easy pickings" for Sweeney.

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - Sweeney spent six months in another city (perhaps Manhattan, New York) keeping a low profile.

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - Sweeney spent the last few weeks in a "grubby" hotel on 43^rd street.

(Vampire Tales#10/4) <April, 1975> - Waiting in an alley in New York, Sweeney ambushed the blind panhandler Jerry Donder. Donder noted he had only a little change, but Sweeney noted that he had no use for money since becoming a vampire. Donder's dog, Dutch, leapt to the attack, but Sweeney swatted him back, apparently killing him, and then fed on Donder, apparently fatally draining him. conway-sweeney-vampire-asblindman

Witnessing Sweeney's assault on Donder (or at least Sweeney standing over the fallen Jerry), an unidentified woman screamed, leading a policeman to confront him. Refusing to take any heat for dropping a "crummy beggar," Sweeney advanced as the officer fired on him in vain, eventually knocking the officer to the ground. Sweeney prepared to feed on him, too, but then someone punched Sweeney from behind.

A whole group of people gathered and battered Sweeney for having assaulted the blind man, and Sweeney realized he was in trouble. Grabbing Donder's cane (and taking his glasses with it), Sweeney fought back his attackers, kicking down the police officer and mocking the others before turning into a bat and flying away (somehow taking the cane and glasses with him).

As he flew into the open window of his 43^rd street hotel (unwittingly observed by one of the homeless men in the alley below), Sweeney recalled the encounter with Al Virgil that transformed him. Considering the evening's events, Sweeney concluded that such conflicts could be expected once in a while as everything had its darker moments. Sweeney then fell asleep.

(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - Accompanied by the people who had assaulted Sweeney, the police officer Sweeney had kicked down tracked him to the hotel, where the homeless man identified the window into which the bat had flown.

The police officer then contacted the hotel manager/owner, confirming the appearance of the man in the room in question.

(Vampire Tales#10/4) - Sweeney was awakened as the police officer and others approached his door, threatening to break it down. Realizing the group he faced, Sweeney decided it was time to move on, and he grabbed Donder's glasses and cane to use as a disguise. conway_sweeney-vampire-aflame

Subsequently walking the streets while posing as a blind man, Sweeney was pleased to have escaped his pursuers. He soon noted how hot it was getting, and he realized, too late, that the dark glasses had made him fail to appreciate that it was now dawn: He subsequently burst into flames and presumably disintegrated.

The names of Jerry Donder and Al Virgil, as well as 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, Sweeney's information came in after all of the space for headshots was filled): http://www.marvunapp.com/ohotmu/appendixes/vaapp.htm

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.

This profile was completed 9/02/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Vampire Tales#10/4, pg. 1, panel 6 (mostly full, shadowed);
       pg 2, panel 1 (face);
        panel 3 (Dutch swatted);
       pg. 3, panel 5 (shot with impunity);
       pg. 6, panel 1 (bat);
           panel 5 (with Virgil);
       pg. 9, panel 1 (as blindman);
          panel 4 (burning in sunlight)

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)

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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