Fantastic Four (1961 series) #30

The Fantastic Four are on vacation in the mountains of Transylvania, and they've got lost in a forest that villagers specifically warned them to avoid because it's the lair of Diablo. It's almost as if the vegetation is trying to trap them. Then they find an abandoned stone castle in a clearing.  But the Mayor Baron Hugo catches up with them with some men and dogs and leads them back to his mansion. He tells them the legend of the evil alchemist Diablo. The Baron's ancestors sealed him in his castle 100 years ago, but rumour has it that he'd learned the secret of extending his life.

The Baron offers the quartet his hospitality. But that night a voice compels Thing to leave his bed and trek alone back to the castle. He finds a giant stone plug sealing a round opening and grasping a big iron ring he slowly pulls it out. Stepping inside he sees a hand reaching through an iron grating in the floor. He rips the grating apart and frees ... Diablo.

Next morning his 3 companions follow the trail that Thing left as he blundered through the forest, which leads them to where Ben Grimm freed the alchemist. Human Torch burns a way through walls until he finds his teammate and the villain. But as Reed and Sue join him they see that see that their friend now has a more normal human appearance, although he's still quite bulky and his skin is still orange with jigsaw puzzle markings still on it. And Ben has agreed to serve Diablo for 1 year in return for the change.

Diablo shows Reed Richards the formula he used. Reed says *he* tried the same thing but it didn't work. The alchemist claims that's because Reed isn't Diablo, and he demonstrates his prowess by dripping a potion into a plant pot which immediately sprouts a flower as tall as himself.

Mr Fantastic is convinced that Diablo has somehow stolen Ben's loyalty so he tries to attack the villain but Thing stops him and ties his flexible body into a knot. Torch tries it next but Thing empties a convenient sack of sand over him. Sue Storm tries to talk to him but Ben says Diablo has promised to make him completely human at the end of the year, and then he can marry Alicia. The trio agree to leave but MrF uses a stretchable arm to sneakily steal 1 of the alchemist's potions to examine later.

Over the following days the world hears about Diablo's potions and the rich and powerful flock to his castle to offer any amount of money for them. Ben Grimm oversees local workers 'mass-producing' the chemicals. The alchemist sells some of his 'lesser' potions for eye-watering sums, allowing deserts to bloom and impervious domes to be erected that no missiles can penetrate. But in a lab provided by Baron Hugo Reed has discovered that the potion he was testing is a dangerous fraud. The Baron tells them that Diablo intends world-domination and has spent his money on a private army.

In the castle Ben sees evidence of this. He's also feeling unwell so Diablo gives him some more potion. But before he drinks it he sees in a mirror that he's become the Thing again. He realises that the 'cure' was only temporary (as Reed's have always proved in the past), and now he's come to his senses. He turns on his 'benefactor' who smashes a potion between them whose fumes render him unconscious.

Meanwhile the world learns that Diablo's potions eventually fail and the UN somehow realises that he's intent on conquering the world. So the Fantastic Three think now the time has come for action. Torch flies ahead and is met by heat-seeking missiles which he burns through a mountain to lead them to self-destruct. Diablo's soldiers prepare a stun shower to hit him but Invisible Girl makes them drop the 'hose' and it splashes over the troops, knocking *them* out. She picks it up and aims it at Diablo but before she can fire it he throws a pellet which dissolves the hose. So instead she makes *him* invisible (thereby rendering herself visible) so that when more troops arrive they bash into their boss who flees down a stairwell.

HT shows up to drive the troops away while his sister protects herself with a forcefield. They go down the stairs into the castle and are joined by Mr Fantastic who has 'seeped' in through cracks in the stonework. He leads them to where he's seen Ben in a glass 'coffin' which even Johnny Storm's flame can't crack. Diablo finds them and throws his knockout potion but IG encases it in a forcefield. The 2 males dive on him but they're hit by more gas which his garment's were saturated in. Sue is shocked to see her companion's fall and loses control of her forcefield so *that* gas gets her.

He puts the 3 in containers like Ben's. He gloats that the air won't last long inside. But just then Thing awakens and his strength and determination shatter the unbreakable glass. He doesn't give the alchemist time to find another suitable potion but pursues him relentlessly though rooms and corridors, stopping at 1 point to crush a metal armour into a smooth ball which he sends ricocheting after the fleeing villain. Diablo runs back into the crypt Ben found him in, and Thing hammers the stone plug back into place. But his blows also bring the whole castle crashing down. Diablo's imperfect glass cylinders shatter freeing the rest of the FF and they run through falling debris sheltered by Invisible Girl's forcefield until they see Thing holding an exit up for them. Once outside Torch fuses the pile of rubble into a mound to seal Diablo in. And then they try to find their way out of the forest.