Fantomex Diabolik: cultural background

I went to the comic book store the other day and I found a Fantomex solo comic. In fact, I mistook him with Diabolik. I was puzzled with the cover of the comic, thinking it was a funny one for Diabolik. But then I noticed the huge title: Fantomex, Max. Which meant he was Marvel’s Fantomex, and not the Italian thief. Despite the confusion, I decided to take Fantomex home and compare his solo adventure with Diabolik.

Though Fantomex is inspired in Diabolik, I find that they’re different, and I’m not talking about the costume color change from black to white. Both have lots of similarities, like being thieves, sharing a companion of crimes called Eva, sharing similar origin stories, and having a very piercing look. However, they are pretty different. The main difference is the cultural background.

Diabolik was created by two Italian sisters, Angela and Luciana Giussani, back in 1962. Born in Milan, they created a perfect Italian “anti-hero”: a ruthless thief who would steal from criminals (though at the beginning of the series he was pretty evil), aided by his intelligence, cunning and his girlfriend. His character and manners are, at best, without any type of morality. Though the comics were softened, the image of the anti-hero, who is cunning and who really doesn’t care if he kills the bad guy or not to accomplish his objective was there.

His looks are also a little bit characteristic: black hair backwards, piercing look and cunning smile. Though he is a “womanizer” in the comics seems to keep himself for Eva, but he does flirt with other females at ease.

Though this comic might seem a comic from grownups, kids in Italy used to exchange numbers to read the adventures of their favorite hero: Diabolik, the stereotype of what an Italian should be: cunning, irresistible, surrounded by beautiful women and capable of doing whatever he wants. The stereotype of a flirting guy, who does what he wants, and steals to achieve his objectives might seem crazy specially if he is taken as the hero. However, Italy has produced lots of characters in real life that do fit almost perfectly the stereotype. Remember Silvio Berlusconi? Prime Minister of the Republic for a long time? The womanizer who was involved in sheer numbers of scandals?

It might seem quite of disturbing to realize that the stereotype of perfect man, or the stereotype that many kids wanted to adhere to, belongs to a “criminal”. It is not only the praised intelligence and cunning that Italians adore what is clicking here, but also a deep sense that the State cannot be trusted. Italians believe that they’re ruled by a “Stato-ladro,” a “thief-state” which is taking the last drop of their blod for its own purposes. Much in the way old Roman Emperors, such as Nero, used to do, certain personalities and policies just reinforce this idea. With such a background, there is no surprise to find Diabolik, the perfect Italian superhero.

But what about Fantomex? Is he fitting Diabolik’s stereotype of Italian Casanova who does whatever he wants? Is he the hero-Berlusconi? Or has the american culture made him, slightly different?

Fantomex was created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey, first appearing in 2002 within New X-men. He was based on Diabolik and Fantomas, a French character who appeared back in 1911. He is, however, a sentinnel born from his genetically engineered mother. Someone whose purpose is to fight the mutants. Despite this origin, he ends up claiming he is a mutant thief, and that authorities are pursuing him because he has valuable information. Along with other appearances and stories, he shares some traits with Diabolik: he is a thief, has a companion call EVA (in this case, his ship where the artificial intelligence is called E.V.A.), has piercing eyes and is pretty intelligent. Still, he does not resemble much of the Diabolik we know from Italian comics.

In his solo adventures, within the Max series, he is not connected with Xmen, thus he seems to resemble more the Diabolik we know. But there is something missing from the equation: the cultural background of the Italian comics is missing completely. Diabolik is cunning and his origin story is that of a criminal: trained to be a criminal, basically. Fantomex, on the other hand, appeared to be a force agaisn’t an immenent threat to humanity: mutants. Though the stories might be similar, there is a great difference: Diabolik was raised to be a criminal, Fantomex was raised to be a soldier who would fight a “devil” (in this case the mutants). Said in other words: Diabolik was raised by criminals and Fantomex was raised by a corporation aimed to eradicate a minority who threatens the status quo.

Diabolik was not created for any purpose. He just happened to be an orphan, and raised like the perfect criminal. Fantomex had a purpose: raised to be a weapon. This makes both characters different, and their personalities are at odds. Diabolik is more a player, Fantomex is more a soldier. Diabolik is more free, Fantomex is less free. Diabolik does what he wants, Fantomex, not really.

Fantomex represents a different anti-hero, a victim from a corporation who is searching for his space in society. He is an outsider from origin. Though he was created to get rid of the different ones, the mutants, reality is that Fantomex himself will never fit into the society of those who created him. Thus, he either walks alone with his machine-like companion EVA, or teams up with the other outsiders, the mutants. He represents disappointment in society values, while also represents the fight to find one’s place.

So, Fantomex, Diabolik… are they similar? Only on the outside.

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