Elton Morrow (Earth-616)

The Blue Diamond was just one of many costumed operatives active during World War II who were recruited into the United States military. The purpose was to enlist such individuals in order to publish propaganda in the form of comic books that were commissioned by the United States military and published by Timely Comics. These comics were used to convince Americans to support the war, and increase enlistment.^[1]

While Blue Diamond's origins are true, many of his early solo adventures were presumably, like the Young Allies' adventures,^[2] works of fiction that were based on actual events.

Early Solo Adventures[]

Elton Morrow (Earth-616) from Daring Mystery Comics Vol 1 7 001 — Professor Elton Morrow

Professor Elton Morrow was exploring in the Antarctic when he found an enormous diamond which glowed with a strange blue light. He returned to the US via a ship, but when the ship entered the North Atlantic it was torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat. Morrow grabbed the box the diamond was in and used it as a flotation device, but he was spotted by the U-boat and the crew machine gunned him, blowing up the box and the diamond and embedding the fragments of the diamond into his body. This gave him a mostly-diamond body, which made him bulletproof, mostly invulnerable, and super strong. Deciding to use these powers for good, Morrow developed the identity of the Blue Diamond and became a crime fighter.^[3]

Unknown to Morrow, the Blue Diamond's diamond was actually a sliver of a Lifestone Tree, a power gem created to form an evolutionary advanced group of the Guardians of the Galaxy; other figures who had slivers of the Lifestone included Man-Wolf, Moonstone, the Basilisk, Ulysses Bloodstone, Dr. Spectrum, and the Sphinx.^[4]

In his second and apparently last recorded solo adventure of the 1940s, Morrow stopped Nazi scientist Dr. Eric Karlin and his legion of undead zombies from stealing German assets frozen at the Federal Reserve Bank.^[5]

World War II[]

Eliot Morrow (Earth-616) from Daring Mystery Comics Vol 1 7 002 — Original costume

Following the United States entry into World War II, the Blue Diamond became involved with various groups of costumed and super-powered individuals to assist in the war effort.

In early 1942, after most of the Invaders were captured and brainwashed by the Red Skull,^[6] lone member Bucky recruited other heroes in forming the Liberty Legion, which included Blue Diamond as a member.^[7] After clashing with the brainwashed Invaders,^[8] Blue Diamond and the other members of the Liberty Legion freed the group from the Skull's control and vowed to remain together as a team.^[9]

When Nazi operatives Skyshark, Master Man, Slicer, U-Man, and Brian Drain attacked New York City the Liberty Legion were there to respond to the danger. During the attack on New York, the group met the Thing, who had come back in time to prevent the Nazis from obtaining a cylinder of Vibranium metal that was accidentally transported into the past. Blue Diamond and his comrades stopped the air strike on New York, but were unsuccessful in stopping the Nazis from obtaining the Vibranium and various other devices they needed to construct a massive Swastika shaped ship to attack the city.^[10] The Legion, along with the Thing counter attacked, and were successful in stopping the Nazis and destroying their ship. When the Thing recovered the Vibranium, he returned to his own time.^[11]

Blue Diamond and the Liberty Legion attempted to prevent armored Nazi operative known as Iron Cross from capturing Professor Schneider, but were defeated by the Nazi operative.^[12] They were captured and placed inside a sinking submarine^[13] but were rescued by the Invaders. Together, they defeated Iron Cross and saved Schneider.^[14]

Elton Morrow (Earth-616) from All-Winners Squad Band of Heroes Vol 1 2 002 — Blue Diamond as a member of the Crazy SUES

Later in 1942, Blue Diamond was drafted as a member of the Specialized Unit, Enhanced Soldiers (or Crazy Sues) under the command of Captain America (Steve Rogers).^[1] Blue Diamond was with the unit when they were deployed to Guadalcanal in August and presumably remained with the unit during their tour of the Pacific Theatre.

In late December 1943, the Red Skull had obtained the Cosmic Cube and used it to turn the entire world into a massive Nazi empire, using its power to slay many of the worlds heroes including the Blue Diamond.^[15] Later, the combined efforts of the Invaders, and the time traveling Mighty and New Avengers the Red Skull was stopped and history restored to its proper order. Blue Diamond and the Skull's other victims were restored to life, but their memories of events were erased in order to preserve history.^[16]

Back under the Crazy SUES' command, the Blue Diamond participated in the Battle of Normandy.^[17] Later he and and fellow teammate the Invisible Man were captured by Nazi forces for interrogation. When Blue Diamond refused to talk, their interrogator threatened to torture Gade to get the information out of the Blue Diamond. The pair were rescued by the timely arrival of the Young Avenger and Taxi Taylor^[18] Blue Diamond's subsequent activities with this unit are unknown.

The Blue Diamond later resurfaced in 1945, joining an army of super-heroes under the command of Captain America. He was part of a strike force on the Kohnstein rocket factory, where the Red Skull was keeping the mythical Spear of Destiny, assisting the allies in securing it.^[19] In April of that year, the Blue Diamond was involved in the Battle of Berlin. There he took part in the super-hero invasion of the Nazi stronghold that was under the command of Captain America's successor William Nasland.^[20] After the defeat of the Nazis, the Liberty Legion reunited to continue fighting domestic threats. Their last recorded mission had the group in San Francisco where they defended the area from Lava Men tricked into attacking the surface world by the Imperial Japanese Army. After this mission the group decided to split up, as the war was over and most of the team was joining with the Invaders.^[21]

Blue Diamond's activities remain largely unrecorded at this point. He was not seen again until 1953 where he appeared in costume at the funeral of Union Jack who had died in a fatal car accident.^[22] At some point during the later half of the 20th century, Morrow retired as the Blue Diamond.

Modern Era[]

Elton Morrow (Earth-616) from Marvel Two-In-One Vol 1 79 001 — Blue Diamond transmuted by Star-Dancer

Morrow apparently spent most of his retirement years living in Hartsdale, having grown old though his powers remained. He was visited by the Star-Dancer who defined him as her perfect partner. She decided to use her cosmic powers to transmute him into a diamond-like being, giving him the ability to fly away with her in space.^[23]

Later, the Star-Dancer was captured by the alien the Stranger after she and the Diamond left Earth; what happened to the Diamond is not known. He has since been seen, apparently returned to his original human form, he was last seen in attendance at the funeral of the Human Torch.^[24]

Attributes

Power Grid^[27]

Powers

Superhuman Strength^[25]
Superhuman Stamina^[25]
Invulnerability: He is invulnerable to most physical and energy attacks.^[25]
Extended Lifespan
Flight: When he was transmuted by Star-Dancer, he displayed the ability to fly in the same way Star-Dancer does.^[25]

Abilities

Elton was a professor in an unspecified subject.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

After his transmutation, Blue Diamond travels the Universe in the same way Star-Dancer does; formerly Liberty Legion vehicles.

Links and References

References

[All-Winners_Squad_Band_of_Heroes_Vol_1_2-1] 1.0 ^1.1 All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2

[Young_Allies_Comics_70th_Anniversary_Special_Vol_1_1-2] Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1

[Daring_Mystery_Comics_Vol_1_7-3] Daring Mystery Comics #7

[Thunderbolts_Vol_1_46-4] Thunderbolts #46

[Daring_Mystery_Comics_Vol_1_8-5] Daring Mystery Comics #8

[Invaders_Vol_1_5-6] Invaders #5

[Marvel_Premiere_Vol_1_29-7] Marvel Premiere #29

[Invaders_Vol_1_6-8] Invaders #6

[Marvel_Premiere_Vol_1_30-9] Marvel Premiere #30

[Marvel_Two-In-One_Annual_Vol_1_1-10] Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1

[Marvel_Two-In-One_Vol_1_20-11] Marvel Two-In-One #20

[Invaders_Vol_1_35-12] Invaders #35

[Invaders_Vol_1_36-13] Invaders #36

[Invaders_Vol_1_37-14] Invaders #37

[Avengers_/_Invaders_Vol_1_11-15] Avengers / Invaders #11

[Avengers_/_Invaders_Vol_1_12-16] Avengers / Invaders #12

[All-Winners_Squad_Band_of_Heroes_Vol_1_3-17] All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #3

[All-Winners_Squad_Band_of_Heroes_Vol_1_1-18] All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1

[Twelve_Spearhead_Vol_1_1-19] Twelve: Spearhead #1

[Twelve_Vol_1_1-20] Twelve #1

[Captain_America_Patriot_Vol_1_1-21] Captain America: Patriot #1

[Citizen_V_and_the_V-Battalion_The_Everlasting_Vol_1_1-22] Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting #1

[Marvel_Two-In-One_Vol_1_79-23] Marvel Two-In-One #79

[Captain_America_Vol_5_48-24] Captain America (Vol. 5) #48

[Official_Handbook_of_the_Marvel_Universe_A_to_Z_Vol_1_2-25] 25.0 ^25.1 ^25.2 ^25.3 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2

[26] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2

[27] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 2

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Elton Morrow (Earth-616)

Contents

History

Preface[]