el TORO

Real Name: Antonio Rojo

Identity/Class: Human; pointy-hat wearer

Occupation: Mercenary; former dictator

Group Membership: People's Defense Force (Beasts of Berlin, Madame X, Scarlet Beetles, Voice, unidentified communist agents)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Avengers West Coast, Giant-Man (Henry Pym), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Bull (English translation of el Toro); the Deadly Tyrant of Santo Rico

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;    formerly Hungary;
   formerly the nation of Santo Rico

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#54 (April, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: None. He's pretty chubby and wears a skullcap with tiny little horns. He likes to butt people with his head.

Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 297 lbs.
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Black

History: El Toro's past history is unknown. He put on his fancy hat and got himself set up as leader of the Communist Party in Santo Rico. The Communists rigged an election in the otherwise Democratic Santo Rico, allowing him to become Dictator.

(Tales to Astonish I#54) - Giant-Man and the Wasp went to Santo Rico to investigate the suspicious Communist victory. El Toro rammed Giant-Man in the back, stunning him while they captured the Wasp. Giant-Man finally caught up with el Toro, in his office, and el Toro charged him again. Giant-Man sidestepped him, and el Toro ran right out the window, and ended up hanging from a flagpole. All of his conveniently located signed documents proving the fixing of the election fell to the ground, and the people deposed him as ruler.

 

(West Coast Avengers II#33-34, 36) - El Toro was part of a group of communist foes of Henry Pym organized as part of a plot to capture Pym. They encountered the West Coast Avengers, and el Toro did a few more rammings--Tigra got a nice kidney shot. Eventually, he was defeated along with the rest of his allies.

Comments: Daringly Written by Stan Lee; Dramatically Drawn by Don Heck; Deftly Lettered by Artie Simek

A statue of el Toro battling Giant-Man is seen in Santo Rico in Night Thrasher II#17, and again (with el Toro's head smashed off) in Thunderbolts#11 (thanks Prime Eternal!). - Madison Carter adds: The statue (with missing head) was seen again in JLA/Avengers #1, when members of the Justice League spotted it.

I always write "Hungaria"--then I come to my senses (about the same time I spellcheck it).

The UOHotMU refers to the group of Tales to Astonish foes as the People's Defense Force, but I'm not sure that they were ever named.

If I remember correctly, the WCA issues ended with Pym finding his long lost wife, Maria Trovaya, who had been mutated by the commies into having a giant brain. "Maria" became SODAM (Specialized Organism Designed for Aggresive Maneuvers), which wisely and quickly was changed to MODAM (Mental Organism Designed for Aggresive Maneuvers), which was later revealed to have never been Maria at all. Is that right?

You can't get any more dangerous than a fat guy in a pointy hat! In fact, you can't beat the Ant-Man/Giant-Man series in Tales to Astonish. Classic Comics. You can read all of them in black and white for $15.00 in Essential Ant-Man.

The group of old Tales to Astonish foes in West Coast Avengers was named the People's Defense Force in Hungary's entry in the Marvel Atlas.

El Toro has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook. His real name was revealed in his profile in OHOTMU A-Z HC#12.

CLARIFICATIONS: No known connection to:

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#54, p7, pan3 (main image)
Tales to Astonish I#54, p6, pan1 (head shot)
Tales to Astonish I#54, cover (running)

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#54 (April, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Don Heck (artist)
West Coast Avengers II#33-34 (June-July, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Mike Machlan (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
West Coast Avengers II#36 (September, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Mike Machlan (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)

First Posted: 03/24/2002
Last updated: 02/05/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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