AURIC-RAY

Classification: Terrestrial technology

Creator: Diablo (Esteban Diablo)

User/Possessors: Diablo

First Appearance: Avengers I#41 (June, 1967)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Built in the form of a handgun, the Auric-Ray could transform substances into gold for an unknown period of time. It is unknown if it could affect living beings.

History:
(Avengers I#41) - In his attempt to retrieve the android Dragon Man from the custody of Henry Pym, Diablo first employed the Auric-Ray to seemingly transform the Dayton Building across the street from Pym's lab into gold (see comments). This occurrence caused a near-riot among bystanders. Pym (as Goliath) and the Wasp went to investigate, but their appearance only created a bigger disturbance, so the two shrank down to ant-size. Suspicious that it had all been done as a distraction to lure him from his lab, Goliath radioed his fellow Avengers.

  Meanwhile, Diablo made his way into Pym's lab and used his Dyna-Disk to reactivate Dragon Man. Goliath returned and punched Diablo, but the evil alchemist pulled his Auric-Ray and pointed it at Goliath, intending to find out what it would do to a human being. Suddenly, the Wasp flew in and knocked the gun from Diablo's hand. Diablo followed up by stunning the Wasp with his Dyna-Disk, then ordered Dragon Man to attack Goliath.

  Goliath was knocked unconscious by the monstrous android just before his fellow Avengers (Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch) arrived. The trio battled Dragon Man as Diablo retrieved his Auric-Ray; not wanting to take the chance that the ray wouldn't work on living beings, Diablo instead fired it at the rafters of the lab's ceiling, transforming them into gold. Being too soft to support the weight of the roof, the golden rafters broke, causing the roof to collapse on the three heroes.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.

Diablo probably just used the Auric-Ray to transform the air surrounding the Dayton Building into gold, giving it a thin gold plating -- if he'd transformed the entire building into gold, it probably would have collapsed under its own weight (...which is what happened when the Beyonder turned a skyscraper to gold @ Secret Wars II#2/Web of Spider-Man#6/Amazing Spider-Man I#268).

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Auric-Ray has no known connections to

• Auric (Zhao Tang or Kwan), Gamma Flight member @ Alpha Flight I#76
• or anything else with a similar names

images: (without ads)
Avengers I#41 (Diablo holding Auric-Ray)