Created by Stan Lee and artist Johnon Buskema, Mephisto debuted in the "Silver Surfer" in 1968, #3. Ruler of the hellish dimension, he is interested in the silver surfer; The noble heart of the surfer is a mirror image of his own Mephisto, so he wants to beat him. Lee and Buskema's "Silver Surfer" It primarily focuses on her heroes who feel disappointed with the violent and hateful ways of mankind. Who else might be the main surfer an opponent From the one who encourages people to surrender in the darkness of their hearts?
Mephisto has returned several more times in 18 editions of the title and has since become Marvel's comic book theater. He is not bound by the ensemble of a book, but it is more than a general evil that many superheroes had to oppose. (Why would I debut in the "Ironian Heart" in all places?)
Mephisto's name comes from the Faust legend or the original agreement with the story of the devil. Faust, a scientific man, sells his soul to demon Mephistophel. Today, Mephistophel is often equated with Lucifer/Satan, although in the story of Faust that technical is not the same being. The same difference can be made between Mephisto on Marvel and the devil.
As a young boy, I owned a Marvel Encyclopedia edition, often an updated book passing through the characters of Marvel Universe AZ. At the entrance to Mephisto, I read (paraphrased by memory): "He is not the Bible Satan and his domain is not hell of the letter." "Why?" I thought. He is So It is clear that the devil, why disturb that?
Well, remember that Mephisto debuted in 1968. The Comics Code of Code (CCA), founded in 1954 in response to the charges that feed children's subversive and illicit topics, was still in force. GLA explicitly prohibits horror, monsters and "ridicule" of any religion. Lee and Buskema call their devilish character "Mephisto" REK of credible danger; It's a more vague name than Satan, Lucifer or just the devil. At the same time, Mephisto explicitly refers to "his satanic will" in "Silver Surfer" #3, so they did not hide so hard.
Marvel comics
CCA is no longer a factor these days, but why Marvel's writers kept the song and dance that Mephisto is not Real Devil? Probably because it is safer and in universal, not so explicitly bind the cosmology of the Marvel Universe with Christian ideas. Compare Mephisto with Him (Tom Caine) in "PowerPuff girls". Children's show how it can't say that he is a devil of cultural sensitivity, but we all know who he is supposedly to be.
In any case, Lee and Buskema raise the name of "Faust" reflects how Mephisto is characterized. Mephisto's stories focus much more on "Hell's ruler, a corrupter of souls" on Lucifer's side of the "fallen angel".
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