Real Name: Diablo

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Fifth Dimension) (pre-modern era)

Occupation: Would-be conqueror of Earth

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Other members of his race

Enemies: Ulysses Bloodstone (see comments)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Demon from the Fifth Dimension" (in story title); "master of time and space", "master of all dimensions" (as referred to by himself)

Base of Operations: The Fifth Dimension;
   formerly the mountains outside of Veracruz, Mexico

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#9/1 (May, 1960)

Powers/Abilities: Diablo's vaguely humanoid body was composed of a swirling black smoke-like substance which rendered him immune to conventional forms of harm.

He could use his body to suffocate opponents by enveloping them with his substance. Apparently, Diablo could also disperse his being and become large enough to cover an entire city.

Extremely long-lived (if not immortal), he could also travel through space, harness "the energy of the elements," and communicate using telepathy.

Height: 50' (by approximation)/variable
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Inapplicable

History:
(Tales of Suspense I#9/1 (fb)) - Centuries ago, Diablo left his overcrowded world in the Fifth Dimension, seeking to conquer a new home for his people; he promised his "brothers" that when he contacted them, it would be time to invade.

   Diablo journeyed through space for centuries, until he eventually came to Earth and landed in the mountains of Veracruz, Mexico. He spent "ages" gathering his strength from the elements and monitoring humanity. When local Aztecs became aware of Diablo, they believed him to be a demon.

(Tales of Suspense I#9/1 (fb) - BTS) - In the pre-modern era, Diablo came down from the mountains and made his presence known to the inhabitants of a small village; the panicking villagers fled in fear of the billowing behemoth.

(Tales of Suspense I#9/1) - Shortly afterward, Diablo was sought out by the immortal adventurer Ulysses Bloodstone (see comments), who had heard rumors of the creature's existence -- the rumors began to be confirmed to Bloodstone when he saw the villagers running from their home.

   When Bloodstone entered the abandoned village, Diablo approached and began communicating with him telepathically. Diablo told Bloodstone of his past and his mission, then demonstrated his power by engulfing the adventurer in the thick, shadowy mass that was his hand, nearly choking Bloodstone in the process.

   Diablo began projecting mental-images into Bloodstone's mind, showing him that the puny guns and artillery of Earth's soldiers would be ineffective against his insubstantial smoky body; he boasted that even atomic weapons would be useless, because he could simply drift from city to city, and humans couldn't harm him without destroying millions of their own kind. Diablo continued that once he had conquered the planet, he would contact his "brothers" in the Fifth Dimension, and they would travel through time and space to join him on their new home.

   However, Bloodstone thought quickly and claimed that he and all Earthmen had a power that could destroy Diablo. He demonstrated this "power" by using his cigarette lighter to create a flame, thus generating smoke; then Bloodstone blew out the flame. Diablo saw the smoke from the flame, and he thought it was another creature like himself, only smaller; when he saw the smoke vanish when the flame was extinguished, he figured Bloodstone could do the same to him as well.

   And so Diablo was tricked and fled back to the Fifth Dimension, to warn his fellow beings that Earth must never be attacked, and his invasion plans went up in smoke.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Considering Diablo was telepathic, he made a poor showing for himself. Why didn't he think to scan Bloodstone's mind to see if it was a hoax or not?
Bloodstone is known to have possessed various psychic abilities, so he was probably using his mental disciplines to block Diablo from learning the truth. --Ron Fredricks

It's strange that a creature from an alien dimension would call himself "Diablo," the Spanish word for "devil" (or demon). Stranger still that he should arrive on Earth in a part of the globe where Spanish is spoken.
I wonder if Diablo's Fifth Dimension has any relationship with the extradimensional Vision (Aarkus), who came from "Smoke World." --Ron Fredricks

A duplicate of Diablo was used by Xemnu against the Hulk in Incredible Hulk Annual I#5.

This story was reprinted in Strange Tales Annual I#1, and again in Monsters on the Prowl#30.

As with many 1950s and 1960s Marvel monster stories, this story is not confirmed as part of Earth-616 continuity, but there's nothing to exclude it either. --Leave it in unless something rules it out!--Snood.
    Actually, with Diablo being referenced in the Incredible Hulk Annual I#5, I think this story definitely IS continuity until proven otherwise.

Originally in the story, the adventurer was unidentified, but in Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters, the entry on Diablo confirmed that he was actually Ulysses Bloodstone.
--John Kaminski

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Diablo has no known connections to:

Diablo's Fifth Dimension has no known connection to:

Diablo's fellow beings

Smoke-like inhabitants of the Fifth Dimension (none identified), they were creatures like Diablo, and shared his physical characteristics.

When their world became overcrowded, they sent Diablo on a voyage through the dimensions, so he could find and conquer another world to make their home.

They monitored a communications device, waiting for a signal from Diablo after he succeeded with his mission.

But when Diablo came to Earth, he was tricked by Ulysses Bloodstone and fled -- it is unrevealed if these beings ever tried to conquer any other planet afterwards.
 
 
(Comment: Diablo's fellow beings never actually appeared in the story, and were only seen in the mental-images that Diablo projected into Bloodstone's mind. Although Diablo referred to them as his "brothers" (see caption in third image), there was no evidence that they actually shared a familial relationship, so Diablo may have just been speaking figuratively.)

--Tales of Suspense I#9/1

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Diablo; villagers, Ulysses Bloodstone (foreground))
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p4, pan1 (Headshot - Diablo, speaking telepathically to Ulysses Bloodstone)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p6, pan2 (in his projected mental-images, Diablo covers a city)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p7, pan1 (Diablo, challenged by Ulysses Bloodstone)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p4, pan2 (in his projected mental-images, Diablo leaves Fifth Dimension; two other members of his race)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p6, pan3 (in his projected mental-images,  two members of Diablo's race are contacted by Diablo)
Tales of Suspense I#9/1, p6, pan4 (in his projected mental-images, other members of Diablo's race join him on Earth)

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#9/1 (May, 1960) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)

First Posted: 04/10/2005
Last updated: 11/06/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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