As of today, we’ve reached 28 days (AKA four full weeks) worth of drawings for this year’s Jack Kirby Tribute Month. The theme has been the Fantastic Four and related characters, and today’s prompt is Diablo.
Diablo, the evil alchemist, first shows up in FF #30. While the FF are taking a vacation in Transylvania(!), they go exploring and find an old castle buried in a forest. One night, the Thing hears a voice in his mind, calling out to him from a crypt within the castle. The Thing frees Diablo from his imprisonment, and in return, Diablo gives Ben a more human appearance. But then we eventually find out…
Oops! Nope! Not going to spoil the story for those who haven’t read it. Let’s just say that with Diablo, not everything is as it seems, and the Transylvanians had reason to fear him and his abilities.
Strangely, Stan Lee apparently would often say that Diablo was “the worst character we ever did.” Some have wondered if maybe he was thinking of an earlier monster character they did that used the same name. But when John Byrne later got his shot to write and draw FF (second best run only to Jack and Stan’s, in my opinion), with a “back to basics” approach, he chose to kick everything off with Diablo as their opponent in his first issue. Apparently he saw potential in the character that Stan didn’t.
This is off the topic of Diablo, but I would be remiss if I did not point out that today is also Jack Kirby’s birthday! Born August 28, 1917, if my math is correct, that would make this his 108th. So with much love and respect, long live the King through the great body of work he gifted us!
We’re moving into the last few days of the Tribute! Feel free to come back again tomorrow to see who comes next.