JERRY DONDER
JERRY DONDER
Real Name: Jerry Donder
Identity/Class: Human vampire;
pre-modern era (active, at least, around 1975 AD)
Occupation: Former panhandler (beggar)
Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;
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 Sweeney Conway
Enemies: Sweeney Conway
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Blind man"
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly an unidentified city (presumably Manhattan, New York)
First Appearance: Vampire Tales#10/4: "BLINDSPOT!" (April, 1975)
Powers/Abilities: Blind, Jerry was a panhandler, asking for people he encountered to give him money to support him.
Jerry was friendly and appreciative.
He used
his dog, Dutch, both as a guide and as defense. Jerry spoke to Dutch as
if he could understand his words.
He carried a cane to help him perceive his surroundings.
As a human, Jerry did not demonstrate any skills beyond those noted above.
As a vampire, Jerry presumably would have had superhuman strength and required regular blood meals to survive.
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.
He presumably had the standard
vampire vulnerabilities, including religious icons, sunlight, garlic, a wooden stake through the heart, and
silver.
He may or may not have been able to transform into a normal-sized bat, or into a wolf, or into mist.
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, although his eyes may have appeared gray-white from glaucoma, uveitis, corneal scarring, or whatever blinded him)
Hair: Unrevealed (black and white story; perhaps blond, red, or brown)
History:
(Vampire
Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) - Jerry Donder was apparently blinded under unrevealed circumstances.
(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) <Four years before the main story> - Jerry obtained his pet dog, Dutch.
(Vampire Tales#10/4) - Begging for money, Jerry gratefully received change and dollar bills from passerbys.
As he walked the street with Dutch, Jerry commented to Dutch about how kind people could be some nights, and he noted how it truly warmed his heart.
As they passed an alley, Dutch began growling at the shadowed figure of Sweeney Conway.
Jerry asked who was there, noting that
he was only a blind man with just a few pennies, but Sweeney noted that
he had not had use for money since he had become a vampire.
Jerry either let go of Dutch's leash or Dutch pulled free, but as the dog dove at Sweeney, the vampire swatted Dutch away, with a loud "krak," and Dutch lied still on the ground thereafter.
Jerry called to Dutch and vainly warned that he might do something if Dutch had been hurt, but Sweeney mockingly asked what he would do, call for the police.
As Sweeney leapt forward and bit
into Jerry's neck, Jerry flailed his arms, struggled to retain his
balance, and briefly screamed before falling silent as Sweeney
apparently fatally drained him.
Witnessing Sweeney's assault on Jerry (or at least Sweeney standing over the fallen Jerry), an unidentified woman screamed, leading a policeman to confront him.
(Vampire
Tales#10/4 - BTS) - As Sweeney overpowered the police officer,
bystanders intervened, assaulting Sweeney, who ultimately grabbed
Jerry's cane (taking the glasses with it) to help ward off his
attackers.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Virgilio Redondo, and Alfredo Alcala.
The name of Jerry Donder 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, Jerry's information
came in after all of the space for headshots was filled): http://www.marvunapp.com/ohotmu/appendixes/vaapp.htm
Jerry Donder's name was an homage to writer Gerry Conway and penciler Virgilio Redondo.
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:
Jerry Donder should be distinguished from:
|
(Vampire Tales#10/4 (fb) - BTS) <Four years before the main story> - Jerry obtained his pet dog, Dutch. (Vampire Tales#10/4) - As Jerry begged for money, Dutch stood patiently by his side. A woman giving Jerry a coin
noted that Dutch was a lovely dog, and Jerry told her how long they had
been together. As he walked the street with Dutch, Jerry commented to Dutch about how kind people could be some nights, and he noted how it truly warmed his heart. As they passed an alley, Dutch began growling at the shadowed figure of Sweeney Conway. Jerry asked who was there, noting that he was only a blind man with just a few pennies, but Sweeney noted that he had not had use for money since he had become a vampire. Jerry either let go of Dutch's leash or Dutch pulled free, but as Dutch dove at Sweeney, the vampire swatted Dutch away, with a loud "krak," and Dutch lied still on the ground thereafter. --Vampire Tales#10/4: "BLINDSPOT!"Note: See the main profile for additional images of Dutch. The "krak" sound certainly implies to me that Sweeney broke Dutch's neck, but that's obviously not confirmed. Even if Dutch survived this assault, he would have long since perished of other causes...he would have been at least 15 years old in 1986... |
images: (without ads)
Vampire Tales#10/4, pg. 1, panel 1 (mostly full);
panel 2 (sign);
panel 3 (face);
panel 4 (profile, with Dutch);
panel 5 (Dutch);
pg 2, panel 2-3 (Dutch attacking and swatted);
panel 5 (bitten)
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: 09/20/2020
Last updated: 09/20/2020
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.!
Dutch