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LUCIUS DILBY

Real Name: Lucius Dilby

Identity/Class: Human magic & technology user

Occupation: Scientist, servant of Doctor Doom

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), Dormammu

Enemies: Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Debra Whitman

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Faitfhul Dilby", "our little tool" (nicknames used by Doctor Doom)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
     formerly Doomstadt, Latveria
     formerly New York City

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 (October, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Prior to Dormammu granting him great mystical power, Dilby was an accomplished but frustrated scientist and engineer. Arrogant, eager to prove himself and dismissive of his lessers, Dilby dreamed of influence and power. After being mystically empowered, Dilby could accomplish a number of feats most notably conduct the powerful Bend Sinister ritual as well as combining magic and technology to create unstoppable automatons.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Doctor Doom became aware of the Bend Sinister, a mysterious mystic confluence occurring once every 60.000 years. Once summoned and controlled by a special crystal demanding a ritual sacrifice, the Bend Sinister offered its wielders immense powers. Allying himself with the dread Dormammu, they schemed to find a way to get the Bend under their control without it destroying them. They became aware of New York scientist Lucius Dilby, a frustrated, diminutive man dreaming of power, glory and recognition. Doom lured him to Latveria, offering him "a great boon" if he helped him spearhead the construction of a dimensional teleporter. Unbeknownst to Dilby, Doom planned to send him to Dormammu's realm where he'd receive sufficient mystical powers to summon the Bend Sinister.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14) - Dilby enjoyed working for Doom in his castle, mercilessly ordering his workers around as slaves until after ten years the work was completed on a dark and stormy night. Doom was pleased with Dilby's work, but surprised him when he stunned Lucius and had his servants strap him on the dimensional platform for a "test". Dilby woke up just as Doom was getting ready to send him into the Dark Dimension. Upon arriving there, he was scared of Dormammu's demonic minions who took him to see their master.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Dormammu granted the gleeful Dilby considerable control and knowledge over mystical energies. Fully embracing this gift, he began to experiment and master his new powers. He found his technical background came in handy when he created a giant, magic resistant robot he planned to use against Dormammu's enemy Doctor Strange. Dilby was told of the Bend Sinister and the way to summon it, by slaying Strange on a giant, sacrificial gem. Dormammu conveniently left out that summoning the Bend would be lethal.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 - BTS) - Dilby had his robot shipped and delivered to Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. There, it made short work of Strange and his assistant Wong. After the fight, Dilby took Strange's unconscious body and prepared to summon the Bend Sinister. He was unaware that Strange had escaped in his astral form, managing to warn Spider-Man (Peter Parker) who came to Strange's home where a recovered Wong told him Strange had sent him a faint, telepathic message as well telling him he was at the CBGB. Correctly deducing that must be the rock club on the Bowery, Spider-Man went there.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14) - Dilby took the magically bound Doctor Strange to a hiding place near the CBGB where he gloated over the tied down Sorceror Supreme, sipping tea and explaining his plans for the Bend Sinister and Strange's part in it. A little while later, Dilby went outside and was accidentally bumped over by Peter Parker and his ladyfriend Deb Whitman. Furious at this, Dilby thought to himself Deb and Peter would suffer particularly gruesome fates once the Bend Sinister arrived.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 - BTS) - Dilby's magics influenced the people at CBGB, causing them to become so enthralled by the band Shrapnel who happened to be performing that they led each other into a zombie-like march towards the Latverian Embassy chanting "Bend Sinister". Spider-Man followed them there.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14) - With the hour of convergence rapidly approaching, Lucius was ready to sacrifice Strange on an eldritch crystal used to focus the magics. Hovering over the Latverian embassy while the CBGB partygoers danced around the building, Lucius felt drunk with power. He ranted and raved, telling Doctor Strange that he was going to make sure Doctor Doom and Dormammu didn't survive the Bend Sinister either. Just then, Spider-Man arrived to fight him. With no time to waste, Dilby summoned his robot to deal with the wallcrawler while he continued the summoning. Unable to defeat the magic defying automaton, Spider-Man realized he could blind it with his webfluid. He then cleverly guided it along until it crashed headfirst into the giant crystal, shattering it and disrupting the summoning. Immediately free, Doctor Strange went after the terrified Lucius who tried to escape but was instead captured by Dormammu and brought to the Dark Dimension. Weeks later, Doctor Doom received a gift from Dormammu: the inert, miniaturized form of Lucius Dilby trapped in crystal. Smirking, Doom commented he'd always considered Dilby a rather small person, before adding him to his collection.

Comments: Created by Denny O'Neil (writer), Frank Miller (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks)

A bit player who met a rather tragic ending as a living paperweight. This story might have appeared in an Amazing Spider-Man Annual but it might as well have been a Marvel Team Up or a Doctor Strange solo story. Frank Miller clearly enjoyed drawing Strange and his even weirder dimensions. There were even concrete plans for Miller to join writer Roger Stern on the mage's monthly book in 1981. This Strange versus Dilby story very much feels like a test run. However, for unknown reasons that all fell through. We still have this house ad, tho.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lucius Dilby should not be confused with

Lucius Dilby's robot

Crafted in the Dark Dimension by Earth-born scientist Lucius Dilby using mystical powers granted by Dormammu, this giant super strong robot was resistant to most forms of magic, couldn't be detected by defensive magic wards and would shatter all spells and magical constructs it came in contact with. Mechanical in nature, it used external sensors to "see". Dilby first used the robot to invade Doctor Strange's home. Because of its magic annuling properties, the robot easily defeated the mage and his assistant Wong. Dilby later called on the robot to stop Spider-Man while he was in the middle of summoning the Bend Sinister. The robot would have beaten the hero, if he hadn't blinded his optical sensors with his webbing. Unable to see where it was going, the robot was then used by Spider-Man to smash the giant summoning crystal Lucius was using to bring forth the Bend. As a result of this, all of Dilby's magical spells and constructs ceased to exist, including the robot.

--Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14















images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14, p4, pans6-7 (main image)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14, p25, pan3 (gloating over Doctor Strange)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14, p40, pans3-4 (as a pressepapier)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14, p7, pans4-6 (Lucius Dilby's robot)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man Annual I#14 (October, 1980) - Denny O'Neil (writer), Frank Miller (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)

Last updated: 11/30/16

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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