The Dreaded Diablo!

While on vacation in Transylvania, the Fantastic Four get lost exploring the forests and come across an ancient castle, and they are told to stay away from it by Baron Hugo. However, that night the Thing answers a call to the castle and unwittingly frees the master alchemist Diablo.

When the Fantastic Four arrive to see what happened to the Thing, they find that Diablo has almost succeeded in restoring Ben to his human form. When Reed tries to attack Ben for betraying them to Diablo, Ben defends the Alchemist, hoping that he can succeed where Reed had failed.

Diablo then begins selling his Alchemy potions the world over, and takes Transylvania under his control. Meanwhile, he tricks Ben into taking a potion that turns him into the Thing once more. The Thing then returns to the Fantastic Four and leads them in trying to stop Diablo. When Diablo manages to capture his friends, the Thing smashes through the castle and frees his friends and traps Diablo back in the holding cell he was originally trapped in, before bringing the castle down with one powerful punch.

The Torch melts the castle down to slag, and the Fantastic Four take their leave, lost once again in the forest.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Diablo

Continuity Notes

• When the Thing makes a reference to Dracula in this story, he is likely referring to the works of fiction about Dracula. At this point in time, he likely is unaware that Dracula is actually a real being in his universe. Dracula was long considered a work of fiction in the modern age, until he resurfaced in Tomb of Dracula #1. Incidentally, as of October 2021 Fantastic Four have actually encountered Dracula in their adventures, except Sue and Johnny who thwarted one of his plots in Before the Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms #1-3.

• Baron Hugo states that Diablo had been trapped for 100 years. Alpha Flight #21 actually states that the year Diablo was imprisoned was 1875. By the nature of the Sliding Timescale, the amount of years Diablo has been imprisoned will always be changed and thus should be considered topical.

• It's generally accepted that Diablo had been trapped in his cell the entire time, however Amazing Spider-Man #607 states that he was somehow active 20 years before the modern age, involving himself in a shady business deal with Dexter Bennett. There is no explanation for how this happened.

• Although trapped in his castle at the end of this story, Diablo manages to somehow free himself in Fantastic Four #35.