EARTH-WOLVERINE: LORD of the VAMPIRES
(Punisher Triumphant)


 Type: Alternate Earth
Core Continuum Designation: Earth-9140

Environment: Essentially Earth-like

Usual means of access: Vibrational attunement

Dominant Life Form: Same as Earth-616

Prominent Residents:

Vampires: Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Dagger, Doc Samson, Doctor Octopus, Dracula, Freedom Force (Mystique, Destiny), Nick Fury, Hellfire Club (White Queen, Black King, Black Rook), Hobgoblin, Hulk,  Juggernaut, Ka-Zar, Kingpin, Kraven, Magneto, Mastermind, Mesmero, Mole Man, Moon Knight, Morlocks, Mysterio, New Mutants (specifically Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Karma), Nightcrawler, Power Man (Cage), Kitty Pryde, Rhino, She-Hulk, Shocker, Speed Demon, Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine

Died the Final Death: Black Knight, Black Panther, Captain Marvel (Photon), Daredevil, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, Falcon, Frog Man, Hawkeye, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, Mockingbird, Paladin, Quasar, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Sub-Mariner, Thing, Vision

Managed to escape: Punisher, Captain America and Iron Man (both out of the country when the vampire plague hit)

Cameos: Ancient One (spirit form), Jacob Connover, Joe Robertson, J. Jonah Jameson (at the Daily Bugle)

First Appearance: What If? II#24 (April, 1991)

History:
(What If? II#24 (fb)) - Dracula defeated Varnae (per the Watcher - something not seen on Earth-616).

(Uncanny X-Men#159 (fb)) - Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde fought Count Dracula for the life and soul of Storm.

(What If? II#24) - Instead of Storm turning on Dracula (as happened on Earth-616), she remained true vampire and helped him defeat the X-Men. Dracula then turned Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler into vampires.

Three nights later, Wolverine challenged Dracula for the title of Lord of the Vampires and won.

The vampire hordes then led an organized assault upon Manhattan while Wolverine, guided by Destiny, took steps to eliminate Doctor Strange, the only man able to destroy vampires with the Darkhold. A vampirized Juggernaut was dispatched to kill Strange, whose body was consumed by alligators.

Then, the vampires attacked en masse, vampirizing certain heroes and villains, making other super-powered denizens or visitors of Manhattan die the final death (see list above). Manhattan was quarantined but the governments of the world were powerless to take action.

Meanwhile, on the Astral Plane, the Ancient One advised the spirit of Doctor Strange, who returned to Earth and inhabited the body of Frank Castle, the Punisher, who was leading a rear-guard battle against the vampires' Dark Order in Manhattan. Helped and guided by Strange, the Punisher gained access to the magician's sanctum, and used garlic grenades, silver bullets, silver-lined gloves, holy water pistols and the Amulet of Agamotto to dispatch the vampirized Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus and Juggernaut.

However, before he could use the Darkhold to eradicate vampires, the Punisher had to fight Wolverine. During the course of the battle, Castle accidentally slew the vampirized Kitty Pryde. Momentarily crippled by remorse, the Punisher was then killed by Wolverine.

The spirit of Doctor Strange then arose and used Logan's genuine grief over Kitty's death to rekindle the spark of humanity within, reminding him of his past mentors Xavier and James Hudson. Doctor Strange then helped Logan use the Darkhold and read the Montesi Formula, which killed all the vampires. Afterwards, Strange goes on to rejoin his mentor and be one with the universe.

(Quasar#30) - Earth-Wolverine: Lord of the Vampires was one of the alternate realities glimpsed via Uatu's extradimensional portal. I'm not certain which one, though they were common up to the battle with the Punisher, so it could have been a point before the divergence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by J.-M. Lofficier & Roy Thomas and Tom Morgan.

This issue diverged from Uncanny X-Men#159.

I know that the Punisher didn't actually triumph over Wolverine, but his actions had the desired effect, so I'm sticking with it (until I can officially numerically designate it).

Bonus info from Jean-Marc Lofficier who wrote the two WHAT IF?s featuring the X-Vampires:

The Earth of the X-Vampire was almost seen again in yet another WHAT IF? commissioned and paid for by Marvel but never drawn. Here is a brief summary of the story:

In WHAT IF... THE FANTASTIC FOUR HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY THE DARK RAIDER? the FF are temporarily stranded by the Dark Raider in the worlds of What If?

They first rematerialize on a future Alternate Earth ruled by the Knights of Wundagore, where they meet Professor Gamble who is looking for the LOST FINGER OF NOLISSAR -- the T.V.A.'s ill-conceived attempt at duplicating GALACTUS' ULTIMATE NULLIFIER.
    --Rassilon spelled backwards...I get it!!! (He's a Doctor (Who) character)--Snood.

    Then, they arrive on another Alternate Earth, a hundred years in the future, now ruled by Wolverine, Lord of the Vampires. Other vampires that appear by his side are: Cyclops, Storm Colossus and Nightcrawler. That Earth is under assault from the CABLE HOOKUPS, described in the script as "huge metallic cables, each terminating with the equivalent of a human-like face equipped with pointy teeth and wormlike, metal hair. They are led by a creature whose face is that of CABLE. Others bear the likeness of BISHOP and members of the EXTERNALS, while still other faces are merely blank templates." The Cable Hookups seek to absorb humanity whose sole defense has become the vampires. Or, as Ben Grimm puts it: "You mean, we have a choice between DRACULA and AT&T?" Eventually Prof. Gamble's wave-scrambler thwarts the Cable Hookups' latest assault and give the X-Vampires time to regroup. More than that, we shall not learn.

Prof. Gamble and the FF then leave for their third and final stop -- the Duckworld version of Mars, where they help JOHN CANARD, MALLARD OF MARS defeat Batrakas, the Phrog Emperor of Mars, before outsmarting the Dark Raider and returning to Earth-616.

For the full script, look here: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/whatifdarkraider.htm

Profile by J.-M. Lofficier (yes, the same) with assistance from DocSavage80.

Clarifications:

images:
What if? II#24 page 8, panel 1 and page 17, panel 2

Other appearances:
Quasar#30 (January, 1992)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Last Updated: 10/11/05

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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