Before Midnight: A History of X-Men and Vampires
With Marvel’s Midnight on the horizon, let’s take a look back at the many past encounters between Vampires and Mutants, stretching back over 40 years in our world and centuries in the 616, and perhaps discover some clues to Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte’s Midnight X-Men. From the X-Men’s very first encounters with Dracula himself that threatened to turn one of their very own, to ancient rivalries between Apocalypse and the Lord of Vampires, and the years that Jubilee spent as a bloodsucker herself, we explore it all.
Ahead of Krakoa’s architect returning to the X-Men to explore a twisted New York City full of “Empyres” (Mutant/Vampires), and a scattered few heroic X-Men remaining to protect a world that has bigger things to hate and fear than regular old mutants. Join us for a History of X-Men and Vampires.
The History
Uncanny X-Men #159
Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz’s “Night Screams!” showcases the very first encounter between X-Man and Vampire, in a story I would be confident to say will prove key to Midnight X-Men. Dracula comes to claim Storm as his bride after ambushing her in the streets one night to drain her blood. His plan to seduce Storm almost succeeded if it wasn’t for Storm’s strong will power, and of course Kitty Pryde’s encyclopaedic knowledge of Vampires; how to stop them, how to kill them, and of course her delightful Van Helsing gear didn’t hurt either!
X-Men Annual #6
Claremont and Sienkiewicz reunite in this follow-up to “Night Scream!” as Dracula comes back for Storm, this time joined by Rachel Van Helsing, the last descendant of the Van Helsing family, recently brought under Dracula’s thrall. Once again, Dracula tries to turn Storm to his side, but his ultimate goal is to use her skills as a thief to steal the Montesi formula, a spell capable of killing all Vampires, from a castle no Vampire can enter. Meanwhile, Kitty seems a little too knowledgeable on Vampires all of a sudden, almost as if something, or someone, is possessing her to kill Dracula.
X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula
This four issue miniseries by Frank Tieri and Clayton Henry shows the battles between two of Man and Mutant kinds greatest threats, Dracula and Apocalypse, from their first encounter decades ago, as Apocalypse’s Dark Riders tore apart the armies of Vlad the Impaler, to Victorian London, as Apocalypse’s descendants, Clan Akkaba, find themself hunted by Dracula’s legions. As power corrupts the cult of Apocalypse, frankly an inevitably for a group raised on “survival of the fittest”, only a team-up of ancestors Chamber and Blink, alongside Abraham Van Helsing and Apocalypse himself, can stop an army of Mutant Vampires from helping Dracula take his revenge.
X-Men: Curse of the Mutants
Victor Gischler and Paco Medina lead this big X-Men vs. Vampires event that changed Jubilee forever, as Xarus, son of Dracula, turns her into a vampire in the first strike in a war to turn all of Mutantkind on the island of Utopia into Vampires. Xarus has united all the Vampire clans after killing his father, leaving even the X-Men outnumbered as their armies gather around San Francisco. With Blade on their side, a holy water-blessed Iceman, and a Vampiric Wolverine, it’s a lot of fun. Cyclops also teaches Dracula an important lesson; sometimes you have to follow your heart, especially if it’s telling you to get revenge on your own son for killing you.
Wolverine and Jubilee
Kathryn Immonen and Phil Noto follow up Curse of the Mutants with a delightful miniseries following Jubilee adjusting to her new Vampire abilities and desires, with the help of Wolverine, Pixie and Rockslide. Her Vampirism lasted all the way to Generation X (2017), where Quentin Quire uses the power of the Phoenix to save Jubilee from the sun, and remove her Vampirism once and for all.
Wolverine
In Benjamin Percy’s Wolverine run, Logan is hunted by Dracula and the Vampire Nation when they blackmail Omega Red to infiltrate the island nation of Krakoa in a desperate scheme to acquire Logan’s blood for its strange properties.
X-Terminators
Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez lead Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Jubilee, Dazzler, and Boom-Boom to take on Vampires in this chaotic girls night out gone wrong that starts with a simple breakup and takes the girls through gladiatorial arenas and some odd costume changes.
Blood Hunt Tie-Ins
As a possessed Blade leads a Vampire army to conquer the world, literally blotting out the sun worldwide, the X-Men get their chance to strike back in a series of one-shots focusing on characters like Jubilee, Laura Kinney, Logan, and Psylocke.
Vampire Adjacent X-Men Villains
While the X-Men have fought actual Vampires quite a lot, there are several prominent X-Men villains who have taken some clear inspiration from them too!
Sauron
Created in 1969 by Neal Adams and Roy Thomas, Dr Karl Lykos isn’t a literal Vampire, but he is an “Energy Vampire”, draining Mutant energy to feed. Originally with a bat-like body, he was deemed too close to a classic Vampire, at that time banned by the Comics Code Authority. Instead Thomas and Adams picked the closest creature they could think of to the leathery wings of a bat – a Pterodactyl. While I don’t quite understand the connection, it made for an iconic X-Men villain that persists to this day.
Selene
A classic Chris Claremont villain first appearing in New Mutants #9, Selene is another Energy Vampire. It’s hard not to take a look at the immortal ruler of the lost Roman colony, Nova Roma, and see similarities with the classic Vampires. She even led an army of the undead at one point and has a history of werewolf servants!
Emplate
Brother of Monet St. Croix (M), and one of the key villains to Generation X, Marius St. Croix was created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. Feeding on Mutant energy through the weird mouths in his hand, Emplate has the ability to enslave those he feeds on and leave them under his thrall. Seems a little familiar! He also lives in a strange castle within another dimension.
