BALLOON MAN

Real Name: Professor Emilio Helio

Identity/Class: Human mutate, technology user, citizen of the United States

Occupation: Professional criminal, formerly professor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Balloon Platoon (Inflata-Saurs, Wiggle Men, others)

Enemies: Spider-Boy's Amazing Friends (Boy-Spider/Boyd Briggs, Captain Pachyderm/Eli Hartman, Hulkette, Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Spider-Girl/Makawalu Akana, Toy Soldier), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Gaping Maw, Santa Claus (Kris Kringle), Spider-Boy (Bailey Briggs), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green), Christina Xu

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City, New York

First Appearance: Spider-Boy II#1 (November, 2023)

Powers/Abilities: After an unspecified incident, Professor Emilio Helio gained the ability to control and manipulate various gases. He found he could mentally control the helium in balloons of various sizes, making them do his bidding. Helio has access to a variety of high-end attack gases he uses to fill the balloons he controls. He is also the creator of polymer X, a coating that renders rubber and latex impenetrable. He has access to a giant zeppelin. As a result of the accident, his respiratory system requires a constant supply of helium. To breathe comfortably, his head is placed inside a helium- filled balloon. This causes Helio to permanently speak in a peculiar, high-pitched voice which makes him very insecure. 

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 190 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:

(Spider-Boy II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Professor Emilio Helio was involved in an accident that permanently altered his respiratory system. Now only able to survive on helium rather than oxygen, he was forced to wear a transparent bubble helmet filled with a supply of the gas. As a result of breathing in helium, his voice became high and squeaky. When people mocked him for this, he grew angry and resentful. When he realized the accident also gave him the ability to control and manipulate various gases, he decided to weaponize balloons and make the world pay as Professor Emilio Helio, the Balloon Man.

(Spider-Boy II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Emilio Helio had several unspecified run-ins with the young hero Spider-Boy (Bailey Briggs) who considered him one of the most diabolical villains of all time.

(Spider-Boy II#1 (fb) - BTS) - As a result of being cut and erased from the web of destiny and life, Emilio Helio, along with everyone else in existence, forgot about Spider-Boy.

(Spider-Boy II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Emilio Helio hatched a plan to take over the giant Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons. He hid a number of his Wiggle Men along the parade route and posed as a balloon vendor, handing out his specially prepared balloons to unsuspecting children.

(Spider-Boy II#1 - BTS) - When Spider-Boy accidentally touched one of Helio's balloons, his psychic spider-sense showed him what Helio was up to. Aided by Squirrel Girl, he sought out Helio.

(Spider-Boy II#1) - Helio had no idea who Spider-Boy was, but that didn't stop him from launching his plan. The Wiggle Men popped up out of the sewers and began to spray the massive floats with Helio's polymer X coating. Helio grew enraged at Squirrel Girl and her animal friends for laughing at his voice; he summoned all the balloons he had handed out and sent them against the heroes as his stretchable stampede.

(Spider-Boy II#1 - BTS) - While Squirrel Girl and Spider-Boy dealt with the smaller balloons, Helio gained control over numerous parade balloons, which had now become impenetrable thanks to their fresh coat of polymer X.

(Spider-Boy II#1) - As soon as Spider-Boy and Squirrel Girl focused their attention on Helio, he sent in his new forces, including a Forbush Man balloon and a Planet Terry one.

(Spider-Boy II#2) - Emilio Helio squeaked triumphantly as he made his balloons destroy New York City.

(Spider-Boy II#2 - BTS) - The Forbush Man balloon stepped on Spider-Boy and destroyed a nearby rooftop from where Bailey's friend Christina Xu was watching the fight. Squirrel Girl told Spider-Boy she would get Xu to safety, leaving him to deal with Helio. He was surprised to get an assist from Santa Claus himself, who had been riding at the back of the parade and felt it was time to get involved. Saint Nick cheerfully started blasting the giant balloons with his sack full of coal.

(Spider-Boy II#2) - Emilio Helio was so busy manipulating the numerous balloons under his control that he didn't notice Spider-Boy and Santa sneaking up on him to 'deck his halls'. The duo's well-timed 'season's beatings' burst the professor's helium balloon and knocked him out. By the time he came to, he gleefully refused to confirm Spider-Boy's claims to Squirrel Girl and Xu that he had just teamed up with Santa. However, he did thank the hero for supplying him with helium to prevent him from choking, even calling him a good kid.

(Spider-Boy II#8 - BTS) - Balloon Man was included in Puzzle Man's top ten Spider-Boy villains crossword puzzle.

(Spider-Boy II#20 (fb) -  BTS) - For his latest scheme, Emilio Helio created a Super Helium Bomb he planned to drop over New York City, which would permanently give everyone in town a voice as silly and squeaky as his. He planned to drop the bomb from his Dred Zeppelin. For added security, he brought in a quartet of goons in inflatable dinosaur outfits he called his Inflata-Saurs.

(Spider-Boy II#20 - BTS) - Balloon Man's scheme was uncovered by the Gaping Maw, an elite tong loyal to Spider-Boy. Spider-Boy ordered the Maw to evacuate the area where Helio had been spotted, telling the ninjas to put everyone on party buses.

(Spider-Boy II#20) - Spider-Man and Daredevil watched from a distance as Spider-Boy led his informal 'Amazing Friends' team against Helio and his Inflata-Saurs. Fighting high in the sky on the zeppelin, the henchmen proved no match for the young heroes. One well-placed shuriken destroyed the latex Super Helium Bomb and Captain Pachyderm sucked up the gas, making sure no one was affected. Helio and his accomplices were soon tied up and left on a rooftop.

Comments: Created by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton.

So, what do you get when you combine DC's Mr. Freeze with Turner D. Century's fashion style? Emilio Helio is a delightfully silly villain, ideally suited for the rogues' gallery of a kid hero like Spider-Boy. Thing is: why didn't Helio fight any other heroes during the time the world had forgotten about Bailey Briggs after the events of End of the Spider-Verse?

Profile by Norvo

CLARIFICATIONS:
Emilio Helio, the Balloon Man should not be confused with

• HELIO, minion of Maelstrom who manipulates air molecules--Marvel Two-in-One I#71
• HELION, Kree starship commanded by Yon-Rogg--Marvel Super-Heroes II#12
• HELIOPOLIS, home of the Egyptian gods--Thor I#240
• The HELIOPOLIAN GODS, gods of ancient Egypt--Thor I#240
• HELIOS, Eternal, father of Sersi--Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9
• or any other "Helio" or "Balloon" characters

Wiggle Gang

Emilio Helio's special brand of inflatable tube men. He fills these oversized fabric stick figures with a variety of gases so he can control their movements. The Wiggle Gang was instrumental in Helio's plan to capture the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons, hiding a number of them in the sewers around the parade route. As soon as the parade got underway, the Wiggle Gang popped up from sewer grates, causing confusion and distraction while also spraying the massive balloons floating by with Helio's polymer X, which made the helium-filled figures impenetrable. After fulfilling their mission, the Wiggle Gang deflated again.

--Spider-Boy II#1

Inflata-Saurs

A foursome of underlings hired by Emilio Helio to wear his brightly colored Inflata-Saur costumes, shaped like dinosaurs. They carried blasters of an unknown make and were tasked with protecting Helio when he attempted to detonate the Super Helium Bomb from his Dred Zeppelin over New York City. The Inflata-Saurs were opposed by Spider-Boy and his Amazing Friends, who made short work of the group. They were tied up along with the Balloon Man on a nearby rooftop.

--Spider-Boy II#20

Images: (without ads)
Spider-Boy II#1, p17, pan5 (main)
Spider-Boy II#2, p21, pan4 (will never tell)
Spider-Boy II#20, p17, pan4 (super helium balloon)
Spider-Boy II#1, p17, pans3&4 (Wiggle Gang)
Spider-Boy II#20, p6&7, pan1 (Inflata-Saurs)

Appearances:
Spider-Boy II#1 (November, 2023) - Dan Slott (writer), Paco Medina (pencils & inks), Ellie Pyle (editor)
Spider-Boy II#2 (December, 2023) - Dan Slott (writer), Paco Medina (pencils & inks), Ellie Pyle, Nick Lowe (editors)
Spider-Boy II#8 (August, 2024) - Dan Slott (writer), Jason Loo (pencils & inks), Ellie Pyle (editor)
Spider-Boy II#20 (August, 2025) - Dan Slott (writer), Paco Medina (pencils & inks), Ellie Pyle (editor)

First Posted: 10/03/2026
Last Updated: 10/03/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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