El Diablo (comics)

El Diablo
Rafael Sandoval from the cover of El Diablo v.2 #16, art by Mike Parobeck.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	(Lane) All-Star Western #2 (October 1970) (Sandoval) El Diablo vol. 2 #1 (August 1989) (Santana) El Diablo vol. 3 #1 (September 2008)
Created by	(Lane) Robert Kanigher (writer) Gray Morrow (artist) (Sandoval) Gerard Jones (writer) Mike Parobeck (artist) (Santana) Jai Nitz (writer) Phil Hester (artist) Ande Parks (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	- Lazarus Lane - Rafael Sandoval - Chato Santana
Team affiliations	(Sandoval) Justice League
Abilities	(Sandoval) Olympic level boxer and athlete.

El Diablo is a name shared by several fictional characters published by DC Comics. Lazarus Lane the first El Diablo debuted in All-Star Western #2 (October 1970), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Gray Morrow.^[1]

Publication history

Lazarus Lane the first El Diablo debuted in All-Star Western #2 (October 1970), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Gray Morrow. A four issue mini-series series starring Lazarus Lane was published by DC Comics through their Vertigo imprint as a mature readers title. El Diablo vol. 1 #1, (March 2001) was written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Danijel Zezelj. Rafael Sandoval first appeared in El Diablo vol. 2 #1 (August 1989), and was created by Gerard Jones and Mike Parobeck. Chato Santana first appears in El Diablo vol. 3 #1 (September 2008), and was created by Jai Nitz, Phil Hester and Ande Parks.

Lazarus Lane

Lazarus Lane is the original El Diablo, operating in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West. Lane was originally a bank teller who is nearly killed by a gang of thieves and put in a coma after being struck by lightning. After being revived by a Native American shaman named "Wise Owl", Lane becomes a vigilante and called himself El Diablo.^[1] The name El Diablo means "the devil" in Spanish.

According to Jonah Hex vol. 2 #11 (November 2006) and Jonah Hex vol. 2 #24 (December 2007), Lazarus Lane is cursed to be the host of a minor demon which acts as a Spirit of Vengeance. Lane's body slumbers in a coma while "El Diablo" roams the Earth. His fate is similar to that of the current Crimson Avenger. In Swamp Thing vol. 2 #85 (April 1989), Wise Owl is shown in a more villainous light, with Lane/El Diablo his unwilling servant. In that story, set in 1872, a number of DC's western heroes (including the aforementioned Hex, Bat Lash, Johnny Thunder, and Madame .44) were employed by Otto Von Hammer and Jason Blood to defeat Wise Owl and recover from him an object of great power, which turned out to be a crystal containing the spirit of Swamp Thing, who had become lost in time. When the group killed Wise Owl, Lane's comatose body woke up, and El Diablo apparently vanished forever.^[1]

2011 Relaunch

Following the company-wide DC reboot in 2011, Lazarus Lane appeared in a backup feature in All-Star Western. In this iteration, he was once again cursed by Wise Owl to become the host of a demon. Rather than being in a coma, Lazarus remains awake, however El Diablo arises from his body whenever he is unconscious.

Rafael Sandoval

The second iteration was created in 1989 by writer Gerard Jones and artist Mike Parobeck as a title set in the modern DC Universe. This title lasted 16 months. As created by Jones and Parobeck, Rafael Sandoval is a rookie member of the city council of Dos Rios, Texas who creates his version of El Diablo from a festival costume and an old boxing persona and local legends surrounding the Devil when stymied by officials while trying to pursue the case of a serial arsonist.^[1] Subsequent efforts involved battles with illicit drug smugglers using maquiladora covers for their activities, a hunt for a serial killer, conflicts with human-smuggling operations, and with Sandoval's own conscience over how best to serve the people of Dos Rios.

Rafael Sandoval's character has subsequently made guest appearances in one of the Justice League titles, in which he is possessed by the spirit of an Aztec god-emperor, and taking on an appearance reminiscent of the Lazarus Lane Diablo.^[1] He also appears in the Villains United Special when he is pulled out of retirement by Oracle to serve in her de facto Justice League, whereupon he is attacked by a member of the Royal Flush Gang during a battle at the Enclave M prison in the Sonora Valley, Mexico. He is wounded in the battle, but saved from death by the warden of the facility.

Chato Santana

The current El Diablo is Chato Santana, an ex-criminal who after being hospitalized, meets a still living comatose Lazarus Lane.^[2][3] It is written by Jai Nitz, pencilled by Phil Hester, with inks by Ande Parks.^[4]

In other media

In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing," the original version of El Diablo appears. While designed after his comic appearance, elements from Zorro's appearance were added in. He is voiced by Nestor Carbonell.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Greenberger, Robert (2008), "El Diablo I & II", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 113, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
2. ^ "DC Comics' September 2008 Solicitations". Newsarama.com. http://www.newsarama.com//comics/080616-dc-solicits-sept08.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
3. ^ "NEWSARAMA - View Single Post - EL DIABLO RETURNS AT DC IN 2008". Forum.newsarama.com. 2007-11-17. http://forum.newsarama.com/showpost.php?p=4739328&postcount=1. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
4. ^ Jai Nitz & Phil Hester - Introducing El Diablo, Newsarama, August 2, 2008

External links

• Newsarama: El Diablo Returns at DC in 2008 - Interview with Jai Nitz (November 17, 2007)
• DCU Guide: El Diablo 1
• DCU Guide: El Diablo 2
• EL Diablo #1 & #2: review of the Vertigo mini-series