El Diablo is a name shared by several characters appearing in media published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

: Lazarus Lane, Rafael Sandoval, and Chato Santana. Santana appears in the 2016 ''

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

'' film, set in the

DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comic ...

Publication history

The Lazarus Lane incarnation of El Diablo first appeared in ''

All-Star Western ''All-Star Western'' is the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 t ...

'' #2 (October 1970), and was created by

Robert Kanigher Robert Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for over ...

and

Gray Morrow Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001)Gray Morrow
at the S ...

. The character starred in a four-issue miniseries published by DC Comics through their

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

imprint as a mature readers title; ''El Diablo'' #1 (March 2001) was written by

Brian Azzarello Brian Azzarello (born August 11, 1962) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter who first came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series ''100 Bullets'', published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo. ...

and drawn by Danijel Zezelj. The Rafael Sandoval incarnation of El Diablo first appeared in ''El Diablo'' #1 (August 1989), and was created by

Gerard Jones Gerard Jones (born July 10, 1957) is an American writer, known primarily for his non-fiction work about American entertainment media, and his comic book scripting, which includes co-creating the superhero Prime for Malibu Comics, and writing for ...

and Mike Parobeck. The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo first appeared in ''El Diablo'' #1 (September 2008) and was created by Jai Nitz, Phil Hester and Ande Parks.

Fictional character biography

Lazarus Lane

Lazarus Lane is the original iteration of El Diablo, operating in the later half of the 19th century in the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

. Lane was originally a

bank teller A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. T ...

who is nearly killed by a gang of thieves and put in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

after being struck by lightning. After being revived by Native American

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

"Wise Owl", Lane becomes the vigilante El Diablo. The name "El Diablo" means "the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

" in Spanish. According to ''

Jonah Hex Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the r ...

'' vol. 2 #11 (November 2006) and #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 The Crimson Avenger is the name of three separate superheroes and supervillains in the DC Comics Universe. The character debuted in 1938 and is notable as the first masked hero in DC Comics. The first Crimson Avenger, Lee Walter Travis, first app ...

. 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 (John Tane), 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. In ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Lazarus Lane appeared in a backup feature in ''

''. 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 concept for the character was initiated by editor Brian Augustyn, who wanted to come up with a new angle on the name El Diablo. He stated, "Forget the old west setting and the paralysis gimmick of the old El Diablo, make up a new character in the new west a city in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and play off the Spanish name by making him

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

. He'll be a councilman, because all of his Anglo cohorts treat him like just a token

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

, So he decides what he can do for the underdogs of the city in his own time, under an assumed name, and a mask". Rafael Sandoval was the second iteration created in 1989 by writer

and artist Mike Parobeck as a title set in the modern DC Universe. This title lasted 16 months. As created by Jones and Parobeck, 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) after being stymied by officials while trying to pursue the case of a serial arsonist. 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 Sandoval's conscience over how to serve the people of Dos Rios. Rafael Sandoval's character has subsequently made guest appearances in one of the ''

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

'' titles, in which he is possessed by the spirit of an

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

god-emperor and takes on an appearance reminiscent of Lazarus Lane. He also appears in the '' Villains United Special'' when he is pulled out of retirement by

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

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 Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He is wounded in the battle, but rescued by the warden of the facility.

Chato Santana

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

reboot of DC's continuity, Santana's El Diablo is a member of the

. He joins

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

under the leadership of Uncle Sam, until he realizes that he is being lied to and abandons them in search of the truth.

In other media

Television

* The Lazarus Lane incarnation of El Diablo appears in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'' episode "The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales", voiced by Néstor Carbonell. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. * The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo appears in the ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' episode "TV Knight 2". This version's design is based on the DCEU incarnation (see below).

Film

The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo appears in ''

'', portrayed by

Jay Hernandez Javier Manuel "Jay" Hernandez (born February 20, 1978) is an American actor. After making his television debut in NBC's '' Hang Time'', he made his film debut opposite Kirsten Dunst in the romantic drama '' Crazy/Beautiful'' (2001). He has sin ...

. This version was previously a gang leader before accidentally destroying his family home in a moment of anger, killing his wife and two children in the process. Guilt-ridden, he is incarcerated in Belle Reve Penitentiary and vows to never use his powers again. Despite being forced into Amanda Waller's

Task Force X The following is a list of fictional government agency, government agencies, comic book organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints. A Agency The Agency is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books pu ...

program, Diablo maintains his vow until

Deadshot Deadshot is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer David Vern Reed and artist Lew Sayre Schwartz based on a concept from Bob Kane, the character first appeared in ''Batman (comic book), Batman ...

goads him into helping defend the squad from the Enchantress' forces. El Diablo later helps his squad-mates resist the Enchantress' illusions before sacrificing himself to kill her brother Incubus.

Video games

* The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo appears in '' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham'' via "The Squad" DLC. * The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo appears as a playable character in ''Suicide Squad: Special Ops''.

Miscellaneous

The Chato Santana incarnation of El Diablo makes cameo appearances in '' DC Super Hero Girls'' as a student of Super Hero High.

References

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diablo, El Groups of fictional characters 1989 comics debuts Characters created by Phil Hester Characters created by Robert Kanigher Comics characters introduced in 1970 Comics characters introduced in 1989 Comics characters introduced in 2008 DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics martial artists DC Comics superheroes DC Comics titles Fictional boxers Fictional characters from Texas Fictional characters from the 19th century Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Fictional filicides Fictional gangsters Fictional Hispanic and Latino American people Fictional murderers Mexican superheroes Suicide Squad members Western (genre) comics Vigilante characters in comics