COUNT VICARO

Real Name: Vicaro (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human vampire (1600s to World War II era), presumably citizen of unidentified European nation (see comments)

Occupation: Vampiric predator;
   possibly sorcerer (see comments);
   former tyrant

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Angel (Tom Halloway), Joe, Joe's unidentified friend, unidentified female victim, unidentified elderly male victim, four unidentified prisoners

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Mad Tyrant

Base of Operations: Tower of the Vampire, somewhere coastal presumably near NYC, USA;
   formerly somewhere in Europe (see comments)

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8 (September 1942)

Powers/Abilities: Count Vicaro was a vampire with many of the powers and weaknesses that normally accompany that condition. He could transform into a human-bat hybrid form with sharp fangs and claws, pointed ears, brown fur covering his body, and large bat-like wings which permitted him to fly. He was immortal but needed to drink blood to sustain himself, and was weakened and then slain where exposed to sunlight. He was presumably stronger than normal humans, though perhaps not so much as vampires normally are, given that he struggled to fight against and then fled two normal men armed with makeshift clubs, and was clearly outmatched by the Angel, a normal human albeit an extremely fit and skilled one.

Height: 6'5" (by estimation)
Weight: 160 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: (both forms) blue
Hair: (human form) white; (vampire form) brown

History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8 (fb) - BTS) - Count Vicaro was a well known mad tyrant from the 1600s, reputed to be familiar with black magic. He was publicly believed to have died circa the 1640s, but instead became a vampire. At some point, whether before or after this transformation, he relocated to North America, taking residence in a tall tower built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. He hunted the vicinity at night in man-bat form, taking some victims back to imprison in his tower so he could feed on them at his leisure. 

(Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8) - One foggy night circa 1942 Vicaro attacked a young girl walking late at night through streets shrouded in ocean fog. However her screams were heard by some men nearby, who armed themselves with makeshift clubs and came to her aid. The vampire took to the air to flee, vowing that he would kill them all soon, but while the two men saw to the girl, another foe arrived to pursue Vicaro, the vigilante known as the Angel. Witnessing the vampire descend on a fresh victim, an elderly man, the Angel intervened, but a kick from Vicaro smashed the Angel back headfirst against a lamppost, and the impact stunned the crimefighter. Vicaro carried his unconscious foe back to his tower to add to his captives, and strapped Angel down to a table in preparation for feeding, but the vigilante regained consciousness before Vicaro had finished and snagged a length of chain with a free foot, using it to smash an oil lamp. Vicaro hastily moved to extinguish the flames before it could start a fire and burn his home down, giving Angel a chance to snap the ropes binding him, then raced to resume his fight with Vicaro. Unwilling to face the crimefighter directly, the vampire leapt out a window, boasting that the hero would never catch him while the sun was down. The vampire then flew off, returning only when dawn was about to break. However his foolish boast had alerted Angel, who had freed the prisoners and then with them hunted through the tower for Vicaro's coffin. As Vicaro entered the window of the chamber holding his casket, Angel simultaneously broke down the door. Vicaro and the Angel sparred, with the hero's superior skill clearly giving him the upper hand, until finally the sun began to beam in through the window. Struck by the light, Vicaro immediately collapsed and reverted to his human visage, which Angel instantly recognized. As soon as Vicaro expired the Angel made sure he would stay dead by throwing the corpse into the coffin, pouring lamp-oil over it, and setting it alight.

Comments: Possibly created by Alex Blum; the story carries no credits, but comics.org think he was the artist.

   We get virtually no backstory for Vicaro beyond that he was a sufficiently famous tyrant that even 300 years later the Angel recognized him immediately. However, we can extrapolate some guesses from what we do know. First, he also certainly came to the Americas from Europe; he's a white man with the noble title of Count, and Vicaro is normally either an Italian or Spanish name. It's possible that he was American-born, descended from a prior settler from one of those nations, but since he apparently still used a title that would have been meaningless outside of the "old country" I think it more likely he was the immigrant, not one of his ancestors. Did he become a vampire through a bite, or, given the mention that he was versed in black magic, did he transform himself via sorcery, maybe even using the same Darkhold-originated spell that created Varnae and his contemporaries? Did he become a vampire in Europe and then get transported to the Americas more recently, perhaps fleeing the fascist dictatorships that had taken over Spain and Italy in the 1930s or the war in Europe? I suspect he was a relatively recent arrival, because if he'd been preying on the locals for years the men who confronted him would likely have been less shocked to encounter a vampire. That said, in the history I say he relocated to North America rather than the U.S.A. because it's definitely possible he moved there prior to the U.S.A. existing as a nation. We don't get told where his tower is located, nor the specific town or city where he attacked the girl and old man at the start of the story, but it's presumably nearish to New York City, since that was the Angel's normal stomping ground. Why was the Angel in the area if it was outside of NYC? Though nothing is stated, I'd venture to guess he'd heard reports of prior attacks or missing person cases and so was in the region to investigate. If Vicaro was from Europe and only recently relocated he must have been pretty notorious in life for the Angel to recognize him; a local legend like Sleepy Hollow's Headless Horseman might well be known to anyone who grew up in the surrounding State, but a minor European noble, even a despicable and insane one, would not normally be remembered by people on the other side of the ocean. That said, there are exceptions (the Borgias, Count Dracula, etc.) that were so infamous that they remain in the public consciousness, and the Angel was a well-read man. Vicaro may have been a sorcerer in life, and if so presumably also in undeath, but he displayed no spellcasting abilities while fighting Angel, and just because someone was reputed to have researched black magic doesn't mean they were ever skilled enough to use it.

   It's not 100% confirmed, but Vicaro might be the first vampire to appear in a Marvel comic.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Count Vicaro has no known connections to:

• COUNT VICUNA - Hungarian vampire--Mystic#16/2
• RAMON VICARO - the "Avalanche King," foe of the DC's Blackhawks--Blackhawk#109
• MARIA VICARO - Ramon's daughter--Blackhawk#109
  
• or any other "Count" or "Vicaro" characters

images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p1, pan1 (main image)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p2, pan3 (vampire headshot)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p10, pan2 (human headshot)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p4, pan5 (flying, carrying Angel)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p6, pan2 (fullish body image)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p10, pan3-4 (death)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p5, pan1 (Tower of the Vampire)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p2, pan3 (girl)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p3, pan2 (Joe and friend)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p4, pan1 (elderly man)
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8, p7, pan5 (prisoners)

Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics#35/8 (September 1942) - Alex Blum (art), Lloyd Jacquet (editor)

First Posted: 10/31/2026
Last updated: 10/31/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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