Blue Diamond is a fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, debuting under the company's 1940s forerunner,

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

. The character was created in 1941 by Ben Thompson, who also drew the first comic book adventures of Ka-Zar the Great and

Citizen V Citizen Vee is the codename of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The original incarnation (John Watkins) first appeared in ''Daring Mystery Comics'' (Jan 1942), during the Golden ...

for Timely, as well as

the Masked Marvel ''The Masked Marvel'' (1943) is a 12-chapter film serial created by Republic Pictures, who produced many other well known serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced. Plot In ''The Masked Marvel'', a hero dress ...

for

Centaur Publications Centaur Publications (also known as Centaur Comics) was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing-Man. History Comics Magazine Co ...

and Dr. Frost for

Prize Comics A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

. An unrelated

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

called the Blue Diamond appears as an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

in Timely's '' The Human Torch'' #11 (Spring 1943).

Publication history

The Blue Diamond first appeared in ''

Daring Mystery Comics ''Daring Mystery Comics'' is an American comic-book series published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the 1930-1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Primarily a superhero anthology, it ran eigh ...

'' #7 (April 1941), published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor,

, during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. During that time, he appeared only in that issue and its subsequent, final issue, #8 (January 1942). More than thirty years later, Marvel launched ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...

'' in 1975, an intentionally nostalgic comic featuring star characters from the Golden Age —

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared ...

, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner — in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era adventures. Writer and editor

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

wanted to expand the franchise, so he created the

Liberty Legion The Liberty Legion is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was first created in 1976 and set during World War II. Composed of existing heroes from Marvel's 1940s Golden Age of Comic Bo ...

with a group of second-string Golden Age heroes, including the Blue Diamond, along with

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

, the Whizzer, the Patriot,

the Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of ''Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main cha ...

, Red Raven and

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...

. In a 2018 interview, Thomas said, "I played around a little bit with the Blue Diamond. I made him bigger and stronger. In the original comics, he's just a guy about the same size as everyone else, and I bulked him up to make him a little more unique for that series." The Blue Diamond fought with the Legion for five stories in 1976. The team was introduced in ''

Marvel Premiere ''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own seri ...

'' #29 and 30 (April and May 1976), as well as an issue of ''The Invaders'' and two issues of '' Marvel Two-in-One''. The Liberty Legion returned for another four issues of ''The Invaders'' in 1978–1979, and then the team disappeared from the canvas. Thomas said that there were plans for a ''Liberty Legion'' series, but by that point, the sales figures on the ''Invaders'' comic were dropping, and Marvel decided against launching a spin-off. He returned in 1981 for a one-on-one team-up with the Thing in ''Marvel Two-in-One'' #79 (Sept 1981). In the 2000s, the Blue Diamond returned in two issues of ''

New Invaders The Invaders is the name of two fictional superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The original team was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema in '' The Avengers'' #71 (Dece ...

'' (2004-2005), and '' Citizen V and V Battalion: The Everlasting'' #1 (March 2002). He also appears in flashbacks as a member of the Crazy Sues in ''All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes'' (2011).

Fictional character biography

Elton T. Morrow is an archaeologist who finds a mysterious blue diamond on an expedition to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. The diamond is a piece of the Lifestone Tree, which powers the alien Chosen Eight of Fate. A German sub attacks Morrow's ship on the way home and Morrow is the only survivor. An explosion shattered the diamond during the battle, forcing innumerable tiny diamond particles into Morrow's body. After he is rescued by a British ship, he finds that the shards of the diamond gave him diamond-hard skin, giving him superhuman strength and nigh-invulnerability. Dubbing himself the Blue Diamond, he battles

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

spies during

as part of the Crazy Sues. After spending years in retirement, the Blue Diamond returns to assist the

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

against Shanga, a crystal based alien. Shanga falls in love with Blue Diamond, and turns him into a living humanoid diamond creature as her consort. Morrow returns to Earth to join the new Invaders.

Powers and abilities

The strange blue diamond particles embedded in Blue Diamond's body have made his skin as strong as a diamond, giving him superhuman strength and nigh-invulnerability. After his body was altered by Shanga, Blue Diamond gains the power of flight and the ability to survive in the vacuum of space. The alterations to his body also reversed the effects of aging.

Reception

In ''Golden Age Daring Mystery Masterworks Vol. 2'', journalist and comics writer

Will Murray William Murray (born 1953) is an American novelist, journalist, short story, and comic book writer. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms. With artist Steve Ditko, he co-created the superhero Squirrel Girl. Biography Early ...

describes the Blue Diamond as "an obvious attempt to imbue some of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

's strength and invulnerability to a lawsuit-proof character".

References

External links

Blue Diamond
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Blue Diamond
at Nevins, Jess
A Guide to Golden Age Marvel Characters
of latter.
Marvel Database wiki: Blue Diamond
{{Avengers characters Comics characters introduced in 1941 Fictional archaeologists Fictional characters with slowed ageing Fictional World War II veterans Golden Age superheroes Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics superheroes Timely Comics characters