UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #6 (1982): Rachel Van Helsing dies

Bill Sienkiewicz drew issue #159, where Dracula first got an (ahem) taste for Storm, and he returns for the rematch. The issue starts with Kitty’s parents getting a divorce.

Then, Dracula turns long-time Tomb of Dracula character Rachel Van Helsing into a vampire, and then comes after Storm. Apparently, his efforts to control her last time have not fully worn off…

So she is still in his thrall, and bites her buddies.

She turns several X-Men.

And since she was such a pain in Drac’s butt last time, he sics his daughter, Lilith, on Kitty Pryde, and takes her prisoner.

With several team members turned, there’s hero vs hero fights.

After those big fights, Rachel Van Helsing shakes off his influence long enough to stake him. But he still needs his skull severed from his spine.

Unfortunately for the X-Men, they’re unable to complete the job because the castle they’re all in collapses, and Dracula’s skeleton is left intact–enabling him to return.

Rachel Van Helsing does not want to live as a vampire so she has Wolverine stake her, too–intimately.

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