DIMENSIONAL
MANDIMENSIONAL
MAN
Real Name: Joshua
Identity/Class: Human mutate/magic user
Occupation: Predator
Group membership: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s
Howling
Commandos unit (Abominable Snowman, Bradley Beemer, Brother Voodoo,
Clone of Frankenstein, Glob
(Timms), Gorilla
Man, Groot,
Hellstorm,
It the Living Colossus, Lilith, Living Mummy,
Clay Quartermain, Sasquatch, Vampire by Night; Warwolf, Zombie (John
Doe), many others)
Affiliations: former pawn of the Enclave
Enemies: Asmodeus, Dracula,
Damien and the Enclave;
Merlin
Known Relatives: parents (unnamed, deceased), Angela (twin sister)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Area 13, Pine Barrens, New
Jersey;
(formerly) Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula II#2 (December, 1979)
Powers/Abilities: Joshua's power was
magical in nature--derived from the demon Asmodeus. He was an
incubus--he drained the life force of others to survive. He
absorbed their energies completely, so that there was nothing
left of their physical forms, except their clothing. He could
even drain the life force form supernatural beings, such as
Dracula. His body was no longer of human composition, and so he
was immune to most forms of physical harm. He could feel a bullet
pass through what was once his abdomen, but suffered nothing
further from it. He was vulnerable to magical energies, as well
as mental control--at least from one using mystic means.
His name, the Dimensional Man, came solely from his appearance.
He did not appear to have any dimension traveling abilities.
Perhaps the life forces he consumed were filtered partially
through him and sent to the dimension of Asmodeus? or not.
History:
(ToD II#2 (fb)) - Joshua is the twin brother of Angela, and their
parents were demon-worshippers in the Cult of the Enclave. Both
he and his sister were born with the mark of their demon,
Asmodeus, upon their breasts. Joshua was to have been the
vanguard, or herald, of Asmodeus.
(ToD II#2 (fb)) - As he grew older, Joshua joined the Enclave, but was unable to convince Angela to do the same. He participated in a ritual (including both animal and human sacrifice) offering to Asmodeus. Following Damien's instructions, Joshua plunged his hand into the blood sacrifice, and was transformed into some sort of incubus, his appearance changing so that his features and normal skin took on the appearance of some abstract, other-dimensional realm. Joshua first realized his new state when he reached out to his fellow cultist, Druker, and drained his life.
BTS - Joshua, disgusted by his new existence, turned against the Enclave. In the space of two nights, he killed five members of the cult.
(ToD II#2) - Now twenty years old, Joshua
preyed upon a homeless man, after which his parents, sent by
Damien, tried to kill him. His father shot him through the gut,
but Joshua drained both of their lives. From his dying father,
Joshua learned that the Enclave had sought out Angela to use her
to summon Asmodeus. Joshua went to rescue her, but instead fell
under the spell of Damien. Angela called out to another ally of
hers, Dracula, who arrived to save her. However, while Dracula
easily overpowered the Cultists, her found himself unable to
overcome the Dimensional Man. Joshua shrugged off a series of
lightning bolts, and managed to grasp Dracula in his mist form
and force him back into his solid form. Joshua began to drain the
life force from Dracula, but the cries from Angela briefly
cleared his mind. Joshua turned on Asmodeus, freeing Angela, and
forcing the demon back into the hellpit from which it had
emerged. Joshua sacrificed his own existence, joining Asmodeus
through the portal to ensure it was completely banished.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6) - At some point,
Joshua was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit of
supernatural agents. He was among the Commandos who launched an assault
on the forces of Merlin.
Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko (as if it could be anyone else!).
A lot of the magazine stories have very little
to tie them in to the modern era. While this story was published
after the conclusion of the first Tomb of Dracula series, the
fact that the Dimensional Man and his sister's parents were
around during the final days of World War II seems to more likely
tie them directly into the time of publication of the issue,
rather than within the modern era. So, I would lock this story
into the year 1979, personally. Again, this is just an opinion.
If this is all true, then the birth of Joshua would have taken
place @ 1959, the same time as the first attempt to summon
Asmodeus. This would also mean, that somewhere around 18 years
would have passed b/t their first meeting with Damien and the
first summoning attempt. Alternatively, the main story may have
actually taken place at a point earlier than 1979.
As appreciated by Kyle, Joshua is referred to as the Dimensional Man only in the title of the story. Neither the narration nor any of the characters ever call him that.
Also, the narration made it fairly clear that Asmodeus...did his business with Angela. Meaning there is a potential follow up on this story. However, since I may be the only person who read/remembers it, it doesn't seem so likely.
Ten points to Giffen and Norton for remembering this
character!
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Joshua's parents
Jews in Hungary,
fleeing the Nazi tyranny. As the Gestapo marched through the
streets of Szeged, they sought a hiding place, but knew it was
impossible. However, they desperately heeded the summons of
Damien, who painted a magical marking (an inverted cross from his
own blood) on their foreheads, which made them invisible to the
Gestapo. After this, they became a member of Damien's satanic
cult, the Enclave, and eventually came to relish its orgiastic
rituals. Joshua's mother was seven months pregnant when the
Enclave first attempted to summon the demon Asmodeus, and she
collapsed during the ritual, interrupting it. Both of her twin
children were born with the mark of Asmodeus on their breasts.
Years later, after their son, Joshua, had become the Dimensional Man and had turned against the Enclave, Damien sent them to kill him. Damien, instead, consumed them both.
Angela
Angela was the twin
sister of Joshua, and while she had a much more normal existence
than he did, she did possess some degree of extra sensory
perception. She, too, possessed the brand of Damien, but, unlike
her parents, she refused to join the Enclave or follow Damien. At
the same time, Joshua saw her as the one pure, uncorruptible part
of his life. She worked as a psychic medium, allowing her
customers to commune with the spirits of dead loved ones. She was
sought out by Dracula, who wished her aid in finding
"something he had misplaced." For her aid, he vowed to
keep her under his protection.
However, after Joshua slew their parents (after they had tried to
kill him), Damien decided to use Angela as the bait to summon
Asmodeus, to defeat Joshua once and for all. She was hung from an
inverted cross and the ritual initiated. Joshua was unable to
halt the ceremony, and Asmodeus was summoned to make Angela his
mate. As...things happened...Angela called out to Dracula for
help. Dracula indeed came to her aid, but was fought off by
Joshua, who was under Damien's control. Finally, Joshua threw off
Damien's will and attacked and drove off Asmodeus, at the cost of
his own existence. Dracula took Angela to safety
--ToD II#2 (2(fb), 2
Nick
Fury's Howling Commandos#6 (May, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Mike
Norton (penciler), Derec Aucoin & Norman Lee (inkers), Mark
Paniccia (editor)
Last updated: 04/08/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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