Diabolik

Diabolik (Italian: [djaˈbɔːlik]) is the title and main character—an anti-hero—of an Italian comics series. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black-and-white, digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from Italian and French pulp fiction.

Creation and development

Diabolik was born from seeing commuters every day. Creator Angela Giussani, who lived near Milano Cadorna Railway Station, thought of making comics in a format designed for travelling and carrying in one's pocket. To better understand the tastes of her potential readers, Angela made a survey of the market, from which she concluded that many commuters read mystery novels; another version of the story claims that the very idea came from her finding a Fantomas novel abandoned in a train. Thus was born the "Diabolik format" (a small 12 x 17 cm (7 in) book),^[1][2] which proved popular with other publications in the same genre. The pocketbook format contributed, in fact, to the success of the character.

Plot

Diabolik and Eva Kant portrayed by Sergio Zaniboni.

Diabolik is a ruthless master thief. He typically steals from criminals (and has no issue with killing them if need be, but rarely, if ever, kills the innocent or the police), and has a set of lifelike masks which he uses to fool his opponents, assuming every identity at his will. He seems to have a deep knowledge in many scientific fields, including chemistry, mechanics and computers. In his first appearances, Diabolik was a more straightforward villain who did not hesitate to murder anyone in order to accomplish his deeds. He was later given a more "Robin Hood"-like persona and was shown stealing essentially from criminals, in order to soften the series’ violence and amorality.

He was raised as an orphan on a secret island hideout of a criminal combiné, where he learned all his criminal skills, including developing his special masks, before killing the head of the combine. Diabolik’s true name had never been revealed in the series, and he doesn’t know it himself. Diabolik took his name from a dangerous black panther that the head of the combine killed on the secret island. From issue #3 of the series, Diabolik is aided by his "moll", Eva Kant, who has gained an increasing role as his partner and lover.

Diabolik always drives a black 1961 Jaguar E-type. Graphically inspired by the actor Robert Taylor, he usually wears a skintight black body suit that leaves only his eyes and eyebrows (very distinctive ones) exposed when going "into action". Diabolik does not use firearms: his main weapons are the daggers he throws with uncanny ability, as well as a small dart gun with knockout darts. Eva drives a white Jaguar, and unusually goes into action wearing a heavy sweater and pants, no mask and no revealing clothing. The stories are set in a fictional town, Clerville, loosely inspired by Geneva, Switzerland.

Diabolik’s main opponent is Inspector Ginko, known only by his surname, a fierce and incorruptible police officer who is almost always thwarted by astute tricks devised by Diabolik. The only other recurring character is the noblewoman Altea, Ginko’s fiancee.

Principal characters

• Diabolik
• Eva Kant - Diabolik's lover and accomplice
• Inspector Ginko - A notorious cop of Clerville.

Secondary characters

• Altea - Ginko's lover and noble heiress.
• King - Leader of a powerful criminal organization that brought up Diabolik as a father, and then exploited him, and finally was killed by Diabolik.
• Elisabeth Gay - Former lover of Diabolik, who prosecuted psychologically bringing it to madness.
• Dr. Alberto Floriani - Famous neuropsychiatrist, successor to Diabolik first as lover and then as husband of Elizabeth Gay, who in his madness he kills Diabolik believed him to be.
• Bettina - A girl who should become familiar with Diabolik and Eva, until it becomes like a daughter.
• Gustavo Garian - Scion of a wealthy family, which will be decimated by Diabolik, which will seek revenge on several occasions.

Clerville

Many of the Diabolik stories are set in the fictional city of Clerville, which is located in a state also named Clerville. However, in the first issues of the series, Diabolik carried out his heists in Marseilles, but the authors decided to invent a new city, so as to avoid having to do continual documentation on the city.

It is clear that Clerville is in Europe, since in 2002, it adopted the Euro as its currency; the city's previous currency had never been named, but had the same value as the Italian lira.

The state of Clerville also includes other cities, such as Ghenf (styled after the German name for Geneva: Genf), the second most important city in the state which is situated on the sea (Clerville, the city, is located in the interior and is crossed by a river).

Equipment

Diabolik uses a variety of gadgets and equipment which he uses as an aid in his robberies, to wiretap conversations and variety of weaponry.

Suit

The trademark of Diabolik is his black suit, which is completely covering his body except his eyes and eyebrows and black running shoes. He uses it as an aid in his burglaries or robberies and to protect his identity. He has variety of gadgets and weapons stashed under it. It can also be used as a diving suit since it can keep him warm while underwater, and it is also fireproof. However, it cannot protect him from lethal harm (bullets, knives), but he relies on his fighting skills to cover that up.

Drugs

Diabolik and Eva Kant use variety of drugs to stun, kill or force their enemies to obey. They mostly use Pentothal as a truth serum to force the victims into obeying and aiding them in their burglaries or robberies. They also use scopolamine to cause amnesia and variety of sedatives to stun their enemies. They also use cyanide to kill their enemies during a quick getaway, but mostly for their targets.

Weapons and gadgets

Diabolik uses a variety of weaponry and gadgets to stun or kill his enemies or victims. He never uses firearms or owns one, and prefers stealth. He mostly uses stun gas if necessary, but avoids it when he can. He also uses daggers to kill his enemies in a quick second. He has a variety of gadgets for quick usage, some of them momentarily as an aid in his robbery, and he has variety of radio-controlled gadgets that trigger specific objects to help him placed over Clerville (traffic lights to create green waves, sprinkles that spray black paint on incoming police cars, train ramps, etc.). He even once placed a device in Ginko's car to activate his airbag during a police pursuit. He also has a variety of gadgets in his Jaguar that aid him, such as remote control or self-destruct device. He uses wiretap bugs and mini cameras to aid him, and he communicates with Eva via a walkie-talkie hidden in his watch.

Masks

One of another Diabolik's trademarks is that he almost always uses special designed plastic and photorealistic masks that he uses to impersonate his victims or enemies, and used multitude of them to help him. Diabolik uses this in almost every burglary he attempts, and Eva sometimes uses it while directly acting with him. He used the masks to impersonate people that are of great use to him, and sometimes only to hide his looks. Diabolik and Eva use it while going somewhere out in public to avoid to be recognized (they used false looks once while going on a dinner).

Publication

Diabolik was published as a succession of series, most of them one year long. The Giussani sisters wrote many of the stories until the 1980s, passing them gradually to Patricia Martinelli’s - and others' - hands. The main bulk of the artwork is executed by Sergio Zaniboni, who has been drawing Diabolik since 1969 (currently sharing the role with Giorgio Montorio). Other artists working on the series include Brenno Fiumali, Franco Paludetti, Enzo Facciolo and Lino Jeva.

Comic series

Prima Serie, 1962-1964. Issues #1-24.

The first issue, Il Re del Terrore (in English: "The King of Terror"), appeared in print on 1 November 1962. This was issue #1 of the first series. The next issue appeared on 1 February 1963, followed by monthly issues up to issue #24 in December 1964.^[3]

Seconda Serie, 1965. Issues #25-50.

Publication switched to one issue every two weeks, with each series being one year and 26 issues long.

Anno V, 1966. Issues #51-76.

The series began to be named for the year of publication since the first issue.

Anno XII-XVI, 1973-1977. Issues #233-351

The first 12 issues of Prima Serie started to be re-released, 2-4 a year, in place of regular issues. "Il Re del Terrore" was rereleased as Anno XII, No. 6

Anno XVII-XIX, 1978-1980.

24 issues a year, published twice a month.

Anno XX-XXV, 1981-1986.

14 issues a year: published monthly, plus an extra issue in July and August.

Anno XXVI-XXVII , 1987-1988.

12 issues a year, published monthly.

Anno XXVIII-XXXII, 1989-1993.

7 issues a year

Anno XXXIII, 1994. Issues #566-574

9 issues were published this year. Starting in July 1994, publication returned to once a month.

Anno XXXIV-XLII, 1995-2013

12 issues a year, published monthly. In October 2013, the 800th issue was published.^[4]

Reprints and digests

In 1986, Pacific Comics Club published 2 digest-size issues. Since 1997 a series of annual books with more complex stories has been released. In 2000, Scorpion started to publish digests, reaching 6 issues before stopping.

Some American reprints have appeared.

Diabolik in India

Diabolik was translated in Tamil Language & introduced to India in Dec 1987 By Prakash Publishers under their imprint Lion Comics & His very first adventure was aptly titled as Danger Diabolik. Though the story and the character got tremendous response, for various reasons, this was the only story that got published till 2013.

In June 2013, Diabolik made his comeback via the Same Publisher. But this time his entry was Grand. Yes, he was launched in the Comic Con 2013 in Bengaluru with the storyline titled Kutra Thiru Vizha (A Carnival of Crime). Based on the positive response for the story arc and the style, in Dec 2013, Diabolik made his 3rd appearance in Operation Tornado.

Lion Comics publishes these books in High standard digest format & they are priced at INR 40.^[5]

Film

Italian filmmaker Mario Bava adapted the story for a 1968 feature film, Danger: Diabolik, produced by Dino De Laurentiis and starring John Phillip Law.

The film was used in the final episode of the long-running television series, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Live Action TV series

In 2012, Sky TV, in conjunction with Sky France and Sky Italy, started work on a TV version of Diabolik. A teaser trailer was made for the production, but by 2016 the production had not been released and there was no further information released by the studio.^[6]

Animated series

On 1 January 2000 an animated series, produced by Saban International, premiered in Europe on Fox Kids, and lasted for 36 episodes, before ending on 1 January 2001. The series featured Diabolik and his companion Eva, as they fought and gradually exposed the Brotherhood and Dane, while evading detective Ginko. It was directed by Jean Luc Ayach with Paul Diamond and Larry Brody as head writers.^[7][8]

Video game

Diabolik: The Original Sin is a 2009 video game developed by Artematica and published by Black Bean Games for Wii, PlayStation Portable, PC, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 systems.

Influence

The popularity of Diabolik spurred a long series of characters directly or indirectly inspired to him, generally noticeable by the "criminalizing K" in their name. Some of them are a kind of satire.

• Max Bunker (writer) and Magnus created in the 1960s two of these "K" characters, Kriminal and Satanik, the second being a feminine and horror version. Both are distinguished for their greater realism and for a more substantial sexy style.
• Killing, an Italian comic book.
• Paperinik (Duck Avenger) is the volatile superheroic alter-ego of Donald Duck created by Elisa Penna, Guido Martina and Giovan Battista Carpi in 1969.
• Cattivik is a humorous version of Diabolik created by Franco Bonvicini in 1967: cattivo means bad, evil in Italian.
• Dorellik is the name of a film starring singer and actor Johnny Dorelli.
• Fantomex is a character created by Grant Morrison during his run writing X-Men. He is a master thief using technological gadgets and his uniform is similar to Diabolik’s, but coloured white. He is assisted by an artificial intelligence called E.V.A.
• Mike Patton had decided on either Fantômas or Diabolik for his avant-garde metal band, ultimately called Fantômas.
• The Beastie Boys music video for the song "Body Movin’ " is a direct parody of Danger: Diabolik and features many clips from the movie itself.
• Millar & McNiven's Nemesis
• A racing driver named Diabolik who races in the Superstars Series, who never takes off his balaclava.

In real life, Matteo Messina Denaro, a prominent figure in the Sicilian Mafia considered to be a candidate to become the next capo di tutti capi, is nicknamed "Diabolik", after the comic book character.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diabolik.

• Diabolik at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website (Italian)
• Diabolik’s entry at International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Beastie Boys Body Movin' video featuring excerpts from Danger: Diabolik!
• Screenshots of the Diabolik: Original Sin video game
• Diabolik in India