GILDED LILY

Real Name: Lillian von Loont

Identity/Class: Disembodied spirit, former Cyborg Alchemist/Sorceress
We know she was once fully human, 120 years ago.

Occupation: Collector of Husbands; Recluse

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Diablo (former lover)

Enemies: Alpha Flight; the villagers who entombed Diablo (several of whom she later married and "gilded")

Known Relatives: Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch, grand-nephew), Lionell (husband, deceased).
All those whom she encased in gold were also husbands, though only for the purpose of encasing them.

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A house off the Straits of Juan De Fuca, Canada, which later became Maison Alpha off Tamarind Island, Canada

Appearances: Alpha Flight I#20 (March, 1984)

Powers: Apparently she has an extensive knowledge in alchemy and some knowledge of sorcery. She seemed to be a cyborg, or controlled a cyborg body. She can use this cybernetic body to immobilize any human and coat them with pure gold. However, this is not a total transformation. The gold merely entombs the victim and grants them eternal life in stasis so long as they are trapped within the shell. Besides Sasquatch (who transformed into his monsterous form while trapped), no one has escaped her gold shell. Not even her 'death' freed her victims.
Gilded Lily had access to a number of elixirs developed by Diablo. Using these, she could animate inanimate matter, create elementals (an electrical elemental was seen, but presumably she could make ones from earth, air, fire, and water) and presumably accomplish other feats as well.
Lily could pass through mirrors into pocket dimensions, in which she could imprison others.
After merging with Maison Alpha, she was able to manipulate every single molecule in the mansion. She could cause parts of the wall or floor to wrap around others, she could rearrange the location of rooms, release electrical shocks, form walls or pits, etc.

Weaknesses: Her robot body isn't very sturdy. She needs her mask to keep from feeling the effects of age.

Physical Description: Gilded Lily currently exists as a disembodied spirit, which can inhabit computer circuitry and manifest itself via hologram or an image on a screen.
Gilded Lily first appeared as woman wearing a golden mask, and a high-necked white robe. Underneath the robe is a cyborg body (on wheels!), with only her head and some random internal organs in a jar being human.

History:
(Alpha Flight#21(fb)) - Way back in 1875, in the ever-popular tourist destination, Transylvania, tragedy struck (go figure). Lillian von Loont was enjoying a motor ride through the local mountains (Carpathians). The car hit a bump and her husband, Lionell, was killed instantly. She stumbled from the wreckage onto the grounds of a large castle. She fell unconscious on the doorsteps. She awoke to find a figure standing above her bed named Esteban Diablo. He greeted her with kind words, offering her shelter during her recovery. Diablo offered an ear to the woes of her passed love. She eventually became trusting of Esteban and that’s when he revealed his secret to her. He revealed he was Diablo and had acquired immortality through alchemy. He told her he loved her and took her as his student in alchemy. She was blind to the fact that Diablo was hurting the village which he ruled. She didn’t understand why those villagers conspired against him and trapped him. She fled the castle and returned to England. She tried for years in her alchemical workshop to find the secret of immortality and happened upon a formula to turn any substance to gold. She drew a connection between her revenge for her husband and immortality through this discovery. Returning to Transylvania with knowledge of whom her beloved’s (Diablo) betrayers had been, she embarked on her scheme. She met and married each one of the villagers, each time encasing them in gold on the honeymoon.

(Alpha Flight#20) - The Alpha members Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch) and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier (Aurora) were scoping out a new headquarters location on the Straits of Juan De Fuca. Walter came upon a house he said would be great. He and Jeanne-Marie both agreed to check out the place. Once inside, Walter disappeared (It was just like when Freddy goes though the wall in the Scooby Doo opening credits)--Aurora heared Walter say “Whoops” and turned around and he was gone. She got scared and then the lights went out. She found herself in a hall lined with eerily-lifelike gold statues of humans. She realized they were alive when one statue opened an eye and looked at her. That’s when Gilded Lily clasped Aurora’s wrist and first appeared. Aurora demanded to know where Walter was, only to find him encased in GOLD!

(Alpha Flight#21) - Aurora was panicking over Walter's condition when the truth was revealed. Gilded Lily was one of those villains, the kind that must torture your friends then torture you with an origin story. Afterwards, Gilded Lily revealed that Aurora would be her first female statue and hauled her off to the alchemical workshop in the house. Walter transformed himself into Sasquatch moments later, breaking through his golden prison. He smashed in true Sasquatch-style into the workshop. Gilded Lily willed the floor (via one of Diablo's elixirs) to attack Sasquatch. Fighting through flying floor and lab equipment, Sasquatch finally got his clutches on Gilded Lily as she was “walking” off. She did not stop “walking” and her clothes were torn straight off--now, this would be great for the male readers if we had not found out that Gilded Lily was a skinny robot on wheels. Sasquatch ripped off her face mask, revealing a skeletal face. Gilded Lily let out a last "no no no no no no" as she disintegrated. And then the ceiling above the two Alpha members collapsed and the true origin and whereabouts of Gilded Lily was shrouded in mystery forever.

(Alpha Flight Annual#1) - Gilded Lily returned to awareness--now inhabiting her former mansion, which had since become Maison Alpha, the headquarters of Alpha Flight. After coming to understand her new existence, she monitored her inhabitants for some time. She accessed the database of Alphanex, Alpha Flight's computer. She then used the chemicals in the laboratory to create an electrical elemental and sent it via computer modem to Oswego, New York, where it converted Diablo to electricity and brought him to Maison Alpha.
Meanwhile, she began manipulating the Maison to attack Alpha Flight and prevent them from escaping or making outside contact. She brought Aurora through a mirror into a pocket dimension of total darkness, where she lapsed into her Jeanne-Marie persona--helpless. Upon Diablo's arrival, she led him to the lab where she recreated his costume and created a form for herself from chemical mist. Lily asked Diablo to help her take over the body of Aurora. However, somewhat shellshocked by recent defeats, Diablo refused, fearing the reprisal of Aurora's teammates. In addition, he expressed doubts about wanting to be joined with " some century old female fury who's every bit my alchemical equal." Lily responded by stopping her assaults on Alpha Flight and bringing them to the lab. She told Diablo that she would let them have him unless he agreed to help her.
Diablo agreed and she whisked the two of them away. When Diablo caught a gander of Aurora (Lily's would-be body), he decided that maybe he wouldn't mind spending eternity by her side after all. Alpha Flight located and attacked them, but she held them off by creating a dust storm. Diablo completed the immortality potion (containing Lily's essence) for Aurora to drink to effect the transfer, but as she reached through the mirror to gain the potion, some light passed through as well, reviving Aurora. Aurora overpowered Lily and forced the potion down her throat. The immortality potion/essence of Lily combined with Lily's own partial immortality formula, and neutralized each other. She aged rapidly and disintegrated once again.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

The cover of Alpha Flight I#20 was Gilded Lily plain and simple, even though she showed up on the last couple pages. The next issue falsely promised Alpha Flight fighting Diablo. I was looking forward to such a battle and was sorely disappointed when it turned out to be a Gilded Lily battle and origin. Gilded Lily would have been more entertaining if they never promised that Diablo fight. Tell Marvel they owe me a Alpha Flight/Diablo battle royale. (Note: There ARE a few Diablo/Alpha Flight battles, though I don't know if I'd call either of them a 'battle royale'. Check out Alpha Flight Annual 1 and issues 101-103 -editor caliban) On a good note, these Alpha Flight comics were all acquired from the 3 for a dollar bin at my comic store. I found issue number 2 in there the week before. So don’t shy away from the cheap bins.

(Yup. I once pulled a set of Strange Tales 178-182 from the quarter bins. And a Thor 170 mint for.50c, and many other things including a complete run of Alpha Flight over two years. Support your local comic shop! Love your local cheap bins! - editor caliban)

Profile by: Mike McTighe, caliban, and Snood

Clarifications: