DIMENSIONAL MAN

Real Name: Joshua Farkas

Identity/Class: Human mutate/magic user

Occupation: Predator

Group membership: None;
    formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit (Abominable Snowman, Bradley Beemer, Brother Voodoo, Clone of Frankenstein, Glob (Timms), Gorilla Man, Groot, Hellstorm, It the Living Colossus, Lilith, Living Mummy, Clay Quartermain, Sasquatch, Vampire by Night; Warwolf, Zombie (John Doe), many others)

Affiliations: Former pawn of the Enclave

Enemies: Asmodeus, Elsa Bloodstone, Damien Burnemissza, Dracula, the Enclave, Living Mummy, Manphibian, Merlin, Dr. Michael Morbius, Jack Russell (Jack Werewolf)

Known Relatives: Eniko Farkas (mother, deceased), Miklos Farkas (father, deceased), Angela Farkas (twin sister)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Monster Metropolis, New York, USA;
    formerly Area 13, Pine Barrens, New Jersey;
    formerly Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula II#2 (December, 1979)

Powers/Abilities: Joshua's power was magical in nature--derived from the demon Asmodeus. He was an incubus--he drained the life force of others to survive. He absorbed their energies completely, so that there was nothing left of their physical forms, except their clothing. He could even drain the life force form supernatural beings, such as Dracula. His body was no longer of human composition, and so he was immune to most forms of physical harm. He could feel a bullet pass through what was once his abdomen, but suffered nothing further from it. He was vulnerable to magical energies, as well as mental control--at least from one using mystic means. He did not appear to have any dimension traveling abilities. Perhaps the life forces he consumed were filtered partially through him and sent to the dimension of Asmodeus? or not.

History:

(Tomb of Dracula II#2 (fb)) - Joshua is the twin brother of Angela, and their parents were demon-worshippers in the Cult of the Enclave. Both he and his sister were born with the mark of their demon, Asmodeus, upon their breasts. Joshua was to have been the vanguard, or herald, of Asmodeus.

(Tomb of Dracula II#2 (fb)) - As he grew older, Joshua joined the Enclave, but was unable to convince Angela to do the same. He participated in a ritual (including both animal and human sacrifice) offering to Asmodeus. Following Damien's instructions, Joshua plunged his hand into the blood sacrifice, and was transformed into some sort of incubus, his appearance changing so that his features and normal skin took on the appearance of some abstract, other-dimensional realm. Joshua first realized his new state when he reached out to his fellow cultist, Kurt Druker, and drained his life.

BTS - Joshua, disgusted by his new existence, turned against the Enclave. In the space of two nights, he killed five members of the cult.

 

(Tomb of Dracula II#2) - Now twenty years old, Joshua preyed upon a homeless man, after which his parents, sent by Damien, tried to kill him. His father shot him through the gut, but Joshua drained both of their lives. From his dying father, Joshua learned that the Enclave had sought out Angela to use her to summon Asmodeus. Joshua went to rescue her, but instead fell under the spell of Damien. Angela called out to another ally of hers, Dracula, who arrived to save her. However, while Dracula easily overpowered the Cultists, her found himself unable to overcome the Dimensional Man. Joshua shrugged off a series of lightning bolts, and managed to grasp Dracula in his mist form and force him back into his solid form. Joshua began to drain the life force from Dracula, but the cries from Angela briefly cleared his mind. Joshua turned on Asmodeus, freeing Angela, and forcing the demon back into the hellpit from which it had emerged. Joshua sacrificed his own existence, joining Asmodeus through the portal to ensure it was completely banished.

(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6) - At some point, Joshua was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit of supernatural agents. He was among the Commandos who launched an assault on the forces of Merlin.

(Legion of Monsters II#4 (fb) ) - It took six weeks to bring Dimensional Man to Monster Metropolis from the outside world.

(Legion of Monsters II#1) - Because he had consumed the life force of sleeping monsters in the underground Monster Metropolis, the Living Mummy and Jack Russell (in his werewolf form) attempted to arrest the Dimensional Man, but he easily sneaked around them. However, Manphibian and Morbius were ready and used weapons to suck him into a containment box. Morbius was about to release the Dimensional Man into a larger containment cell when the general power went out and he was instead caught in the network of pipes in the underground city.

(Legion of Monsters II#2) - Dimensional Man pleaded with Morbius to release him, but Morbius was more concerned with the sentient virus eating other monsters' brains than Farkas' situation. Dimensional Man moved on through the pipes to get a look at Elsa Bloodstone from above, which she answered by shooting at the pipes.

(Legion of Monsters II#3) - From the pipes Dimensional Man overheard Elsa Bloodstone angrily leaving after blaming Morbius for everything because he had known about the virus since the Angel Grove massacre as one of two survivors, the other being Dracula. Dimensional Man told Morbius and Manphibian that Elsa had left Monster Metropolis through the portal to Transylvania and Morbius went quickly after her.

(Legion of Monsters II#4) - Morbius lost all hope to stop the virus he had accidentally spread in Monster Metropolis and decided to blow up the whole city. Dimensional Man was afraid to die with the city, but Elsa realized they could use him to their advantage because Dimensional Man was a supernatural leech. Pluggin in an energy weapon to the power grid and released him into Monster Metropolis. Dimensional Man leeched the sentient virus from Monster Metropolis' residents and grew to gigantic porportions. He kept growing until he broke through the city's security field. While Elsa, Werewolf and Manphibian tried to blow bits off of Dimensional Man to decrease his size Morbius decided to finish the detonator and destroy the city. Morbius ultimately realized he could control the sentient virus-possessed Dimensional Man because Morbius was the original carrier of the virus. Morbius calmed the gigantic monster down.

   Three weeks later Dimensional Man's virus-filled, amorphous form was safely contained in a large cylindric containment unit in Monster Metropolis.

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko (as if it could be anyone else!).

A lot of the magazine stories have very little to tie them in to the modern era. While this story was published after the conclusion of the first Tomb of Dracula series, the fact that the Dimensional Man and his sister's parents were around during the final days of World War II seems to more likely tie them directly into the time of publication of the issue, rather than within the modern era. So, I would lock this story into the year 1979, personally. Again, this is just an opinion. If this is all true, then the birth of Joshua would have taken place @ 1959, the same time as the first attempt to summon Asmodeus. This would also mean, that somewhere around 18 years would have passed b/t their first meeting with Damien and the first summoning attempt. Alternatively, the main story may have actually taken place at a point earlier than 1979.

As appreciated by Kyle, Joshua is referred to as the Dimensional Man only in the title of the story. Neither the narration nor any of the characters ever called him that until the 2011 Legion of Monsters miniseries.

Also, the narration made it fairly clear that Asmodeus...did his business with Angela. Meaning there is a potential follow up on this story. However, since I may be the only person who read/remembers it, it doesn't seem so likely.

Ten points to Giffen and Norton for remembering this character!

His last name was revealed in the Demon's entry in OHOTMU A-Z Hardcover#3. Real names for his parents, Damien's last name and Druker's first name were revealed in Dimensional Man's profile in OHotMU A-Z Update 2010#2.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

Eniko & Miklos Farkas

<Jews in Hungary, fleeing the Nazi tyranny. As the Gestapo marched through the streets of Szeged, they sought a hiding place, but knew it was impossible. However, they desperately heeded the summons of Damien, who painted a magical marking (an inverted cross from his own blood) on their foreheads, which made them invisible to the Gestapo. After this, they became a member of Damien's satanic cult, the Enclave, and eventually came to relish its orgiastic rituals. Joshua's mother was seven months pregnant when the Enclave first attempted to summon the demon Asmodeus, and she collapsed during the ritual, interrupting it. Both of her twin children were born with the mark of Asmodeus on their breasts.

Years later, after their son, Joshua, had become the Dimensional Man and had turned against the Enclave, Damien sent them to kill him. Damien, instead, consumed them both.

--Tomb of Dracula II#2 (2(fb), 2(fb) 2



Angela Farkas

Angela was the twin sister of Joshua, and while she had a much more normal existence than he did, she did possess some degree of extra sensory perception. She, too, possessed the brand of Damien, but, unlike her parents, she refused to join the Enclave or follow Damien. At the same time, Joshua saw her as the one pure, uncorruptible part of his life. She worked as a psychic medium, allowing her customers to commune with the spirits of dead loved ones. She was sought out by Dracula, who wished her aid in finding "something he had misplaced." For her aid, he vowed to keep her under his protection.
    However, after Joshua slew their parents (after they had tried to kill him), Damien decided to use Angela as the bait to summon Asmodeus, to defeat Joshua once and for all. She was hung from an inverted cross and the ritual initiated. Joshua was unable to halt the ceremony, and Asmodeus was summoned to make Angela his mate. As...things happened...Angela called out to Dracula for help. Dracula indeed came to her aid, but was fought off by Joshua, who was under Damien's control. Finally, Joshua threw off Damien's will and attacked and drove off Asmodeus, at the cost of his own existence. Dracula took Angela to safety

--Tomb of Dracula II#2 (2(fb), 2

Appearances:
Tomb of Dracula II#2 (December, 1979) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist), Lynn Graeme (editor)
Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6 (May, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Mike Norton (penciler), Derec Aucoin & Norman Lee (inkers), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Legion of Monsters II#1-4 (December, 2011 - March, 2012) - Dennis Hopeless (writer), Juan Doe (art), Alejandro Arbona (editor)

Last updated: 12/18/16

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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