Diabolik

The idea for the character of Diabolik was born from seeing commuters every day. Co-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),[4][5] which proved popular with other publications in the same genre. The pocketbook format contributed, in fact, to the success of the character.

Diabolik and Eva Kant, drawn 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 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 does not 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 fiancée.

Principal characters

• Diabolik - A legendary thief who follows an ancient code of conduct.
• Eva Kant - Diabolik's lover and accomplice, she is a skilled and ruthless criminal in her own right. Their relationship begins as adversarial, then he becomes her abusive lover. Later in the series she is reimagined as Diabolik's partner and equal.
• Inspector Ginko - A determined and incorruptible Clerville police detective who attempts, unsuccessfully, to capture Diabolik on numerous occasions.

Secondary characters

• Altea - A titled heiress and Ginko's lover.
• King - The leader of a powerful criminal organization, he became Diabolik's foster father and trains him in the skills he will need as a criminal. King eventually betrays Diabolik and plans to murder him, but the infallible criminal kills him first.
• Elisabeth "Tina" Gay - A nurse who becomes Diabolik's first love after meeting him in the hospital. When she discovers his true nature, she betrays him to the police. Eventually, Diabolik drives her mad and Tina is confined to an asylum.
• Dr. Alberto Floriani - A famous neuropsychiatrist who treats Elizabeth Gay during her stay in the asylum and eventually marries her. Part of Diabolik's assault on Elizabeth's sanity involves him visiting her in the hospital, disguised as Albert.
• Bettina - a girl who should become familiar with Diabolik and Eva, until she becomes like a daughter
• Gustavo Garian - son of a wealthy family, which has been decimated by Diabolik; he sought revenge on several occasions

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).

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

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 (lately sharing the role with Giorgio Montorio) until his death. Other artists working on the series include Brenno Fiumali, Franco Paludetti, Enzo Facciolo and Lino Jeva.

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.[16]

• 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. Initially an antihero parody/homage to Phantomas and Diabolik, he quickly became a crimefighter.
• Cattivik is a humorous version of Diabolik created by Franco Bonvicini in 1967: cattivo means bad in Italian, while diabolico means evil.
• 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.[17]

• Media related to Diabolik at Wikimedia Commons
•  Italian Wikiquote has quotations related to: Diabolik
• Official website (in Italian)
• Diabolik on IMDb
• 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
• Pilot for Sky TV series