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Quote1 Not to be a bother, but I'd like to remind the class that none of you are wearing sunblock. Do we have to revisit the perils of skin cancer? Please, children, protect your noses. Quote2
Dragon Man[src]

History

Creation[]

Draconus (Earth-616) and Gregson Gilbert (Earth-616) from Fall of the Hulks Red Hulk Vol 1 1 001

Professor Gilbert constructing the Dragon Man

The android known as Dragon Man was an invention of State University's Professor Gregson Gilbert.[6] Gilbert has stated that his motivation for creating the Dragon Man was to fill the void in his life after the death of his entire family.[2] However Gilbert was also motivated by the so-called Cosmic Automation, a self-replicating program that seeks out intelligent worlds and seeks to imprint itself in an artificial construct created by a given world's dominant species.[7] While Gregson completed the Dragon Man, he had failed to bring his creation to life.

Draconus (Earth-616), Gregson Gilbert (Earth-616), and Esteban Corazón de Ablo (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 35 001

Dragon Man unveiled

That all changed on the day that the 9th century alchemist named Diablo paid him a visit at State University. Combining science and alchemy brought the Dragon Man to life, however the creature had only a rudimentary intelligence.[6] Because of Diablo's interference the Cosmic Automation passed over the Dragon Man as a vessel for its power.[7] As soon as the creature was brought to life, Diablo manipulated it into attacking his foes the Fantastic Four who were also visiting the university. During the battle with the Fantastic Four, the Dragon Man became attracted to their female member the Invisible Girl and it fled with her to Dead Man's Lake. The Fantastic Four tracked down Diablo and the Dragon Man and battled to a standstill. When Diablo attempted to flee, he froze the lake and attempted to cross it. However the added weight of the Dragon Man caused both to plunge through the ice and get swept into the underwater caverns deep below the surface where they both were assumed to have perished.[6][8] However neither were truly dead, and both the Dragon Man and Diablo would return time and time again.

Early Exploitation[]

A short time after the creature's apparent demise, the Dragon Man resurfaced when the Fantastic Four's Human Torch tried to hide his enemy Medusa from her pursuer Gorgon who was hunting her down to return her to her native Inhumans. During the battle between the Torch and Dragon Man, Gorgon intervened complicating matters. Confusing Medusa with the Invisible Girl, the Dragon Man grabbed her and fled into New York City. This led to another clash with Gorgon and the entire Fantastic Four. During the confusion, Dragon Man grabbed the Invisible Girl and fled with her leaving the rest of the team to deal with Gorgon.[9] With Gorgon having absconded with Medusa, the Fantastic Four went after Sue. When they found her she was able to tame the Dragon Man and convince the artificial beast to calm down and return home with them. The FF's leader Mister Fantastic then made a dwelling for the Dragon Man in their headquarters, the Baxter Building, before continuing their search for Medusa.[10] While the Fantastic Four were busy clashing with the rogue Inhuman Royal Family, their pursuers the so-called Seeker broke into the Baxter Building to capture the Dragon Man, having mistaken it for another one of the Inhumans. However the Seeker quickly realized his error but kept the Dragon Man to lure the Fantastic Four into a trap so he could learn the location of the rogue Inhumans. The Dragon Man revived after the Fantastic Four were captured and broke free from its bonds and went on a rampage, breaking loose from the Seekers ship.[11] The Human Torch and the Thing went after the Dragon Man, incapacitating it outside of the apartment owned by the Thing's girlfriend Alicia Masters, before going to resolve their conflict with the Inhumans.[12][13]

Custody of the Dragon Man was then given over to Goliath of the Avengers who sought to study the artificial construct for his own interest in android technology. On the day that Goliath obtained the Dragon Man, Diablo resurfaced and sought to reclaim the beast for himself. Reviving Dragon Man, Diablo battled with the Avengers, capturing Goliath's girlfriend and partner the Wasp forcing Goliath to surrender to him in exchange for her continued safety.[8] Diablo took Goliath back to his castle in Transylvania where he forced him to begin building an army of Dragon Men while the original kept guard over the Wasp in the caves below. Soon enough the other Avengers tracked Diablo down and a battle broke out. While the Avengers defeated Diablo and destroyed his army of Dragon Men, the original Dragon Man battled with the Avengers' ally Hercules. Dragon Man was defeated and seemingly lost in a sea of lava as the Avengers fled the scene.[14] The Dragon Man was recovered by Goliath who began examining the creature,[15] and the secrets therein assisted the hero in creating his own artificial lifeform, the robot Ultron.[16] The Dragon Man eventually escaped and found refuge in a nearby cave. Its presence attracted the attention of mutant telepath Professor X who sent his X-Men to investigate. The Dragon Man quickly became smitten with Marvel Girl and became docile, following the X-Men back to their headquarters. The Dragon Man became an unofficial mascot with the X-Men for a time assisting them in battling the Juggernaut, Blob, and the Sentinels. However the creature often caused more trouble than good for the team of mutants and Xavier convinced Jean that Dragon Man had to go. The X-Men then found a suitable home for the Dragon Man, on Monster Island.[17]

Eventually the Dragon Man was recovered by Professor Gilbert who had since began working at Empire State University. The Professor agreed to assist Doctor Dorcas and Diane Arliss restore Diane's brother Tiger Shark to normal. However, at the time Tiger Shark was believed to be prisoner of the kingdom of Atlantis. When Diane contacted Lady Dorma to get her brother released, Dorma informed her that Tiger Shark escaped custody. Not believing this, Diane had Dorma captured in the hopes of drawing out her lover the Sub-Mariner, the prince of Atlantis. Namor came for Dorma and Gregson unleashed Dragon Man on the hero. During the course of the battle the device to restore Tiger Shark to normal was destroyed and Dragon Man went on a rampage. In order to stop the beast, the Sub-Mariner knocked the creature into a refrigerated boxcar at a nearby rail yard and flooded it with water freezing the creature inside rending it inert.[18]

Pawn[]

The Dragon Man next spent a period of time being exploited by various criminal elements to further their own ends. The first was the wealthy Gregory Gideon who sought revenge against the Fantastic Four after contracting radiation poisoning and sought to use the life forces of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl and their son Franklin to save the life of himself and his son Thomas. Gideon hired a private army to recover the Dragon Man and free it from its icy prison.[19] While Gideon captured the Fantastic Four, he sent Dragon Man to capture Sue -- who was separated from Reed at the time -- and her son Franklin.[20] The Fantastic Four eventually broke free from their imprisonment and during the battle the Dragon Man turned on Gideon. The creature then slammed Gideon into a bank of machines the resulting explosion apparently killing Gideon, and deactivating the Dragon Man.[19] When the team left Gideon's hideout, they left the inert body of Dragon Man behind.[21]

Dragon Man's inert body was later recovered by the Machinesmith who was sending robots to attacks against Captain America in the hopes that the hero would track him down and destroy him ending his life, something that the Machinesmith's robotic form prevented him from doing. Succeeding in reactivating the robot, the Dragon Man was unleashed on Cap in New York City.[22] Captain America managed to break free from the Dragon Man and followed it back to the Machinesmith's secret lair. Finished with the Dragon Man construct, the Machinesmith deactivated it and later Captain America seemingly destroyed the Machinesmith's data banks apparently ending his life.[23]

Good and Evil[]

Somehow the Dragon Man was reactivated and it sought refuge in an abandoned coal mine in Pennsylvania. Around this time Ral Dorn came to Earth's dimension from the realm of Rammatpolen to clear his name after being accused of murdering the dragons that lived there by Rammatpolen's leader Skagerackrakor. With the aid of the Fantastic Four and his ally Lalique, Ral located the Dragon Man and tamed the creature. After besting Skagerackrakor in battle, Ral exposed that Skag was responsible for killing the new generation of dragons and he was disposed as leader. Ral was then crowned the new Dragon Master and returned to Rammatpolen with Dragon Man as his steed.[24] At some point Dragon Man returned to Earth from Rammatpolen, the reason behind this return are unknown at this time. Dragon Man eventually came into possession of the Circus of Crime who were forced to put on legitimate shows around Mexico while avoiding the law in the United States. The Circus' leader the Ringmaster kept the Dragon Man under his control thanks to the hypno-disc on his top-hat. This enterprise came to a crashing end when the Ringmaster recognized Bruce Banner in one of the crowds. Wanting revenge against Banner's alter ego the Hulk for a previous clash, the Ringermaster forced Banner to transform into the Hulk and battle the Dragon Man. With the aid of his lover Katherine Waynesboro, the Hulk defeated the Circus of Crime and the Dragon Man fled into the night.[25]

Draconus (Earth-616) from Power Pack Vol 1 6 001

Under the control of Deangelo[26]

Dragon Man was next manipulated by a drug dealer named Diangelo, who discovered designs for a sonic transmitter that allowed him to control the Dragon Man. Seeking to build an army of similar creatures he sent the Dragon Man to rob various supplies to build his robot army, attracting the attention of the heroes Spider-Man, Cloak, Dagger and the fledgling Power Pack. When the Dragon Man was later sent to kidnap his inventor, this kidnapping was intervened by the Power Pack's Lightspeed and Energizer. While they failed to rescue Professor Gilbert, they managed to destroy the sonic transmitter and escape with the Dragon Man. Nicknaming the creature "Baby" they hid it in the storage area of the apartment building in which they lived with their family at the time.[26] Diangelo and his men forced Gilbert to build an army of robot monsters and reconstruct the sonic transmitter, forcing the Dragon Man to return to them. The creature was followed by the Power Pack and Cloak and Dagger. During the ensuing battle, Diangelo gained the upper hand by taking the Power children hostage in order to force Cloak and Dagger to do his bidding as well.[2] The Power Pack managed to break free and escaped with Cloak, Dagger, the Dragon Man and Professor Gilbert. Gilbert then designed a headband to block any further sonic attacks and the Dragon Man was used by the heroes to destroy the other creatures that Gregson was forced to build. With Diangelo captured, the heroes left Dragon Man in the care of Gregson.[27]

When the Puppet Master learned that his step-daughter Alicia Masters was going to marry the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, he sought to stop this wedding and get revenge against the Fantastic Four at the same time. To this end he joined forces with the Wizard and the Mad Thinker. However during the wedding ceremony, the Puppet Master had second thoughts. When the Thinker and Wizard refused to call off the attack, the Puppet Master used one of his clay puppets to control the Dragon Man, after defeating his would-be partners, the Puppet Master had the Dragon Man help him flee the scene.[28]

Later the Dragon Man was used as a pawn of Aron a rogue Watcher, who sent the Dragon Man to collect a DNA sample from recent Fantastic Four inductee the She-Thing. This led to a three-way clash with the She-Hulk as well. Although the Dragon Man fled the battle, it succeeded in collecting the DNA sample that Aron required.[29] Dragon Man waited by Aron's side as the rogue Watcher determined how to collect DNA from the Human Torch as well.[30][31] After successfully gathering the required DNA from all the members of the Fantastic Four, Aron created Clones of the team. He then interrupted a clash between the Fantastic Four and their evil opposites the Frightful Four. The Dragon Man defended Aron and he ultimately incapacitated both teams and made them prisoners in another dimension while he unleashed his clones of the Fantastic Four upon the world.[32] When the Fantastic Four and Frightful Four were placed in cryogenic stasis in Aron's cave in the Rocky Mountains, Dragon Man was placed on guard.[33][34] Recognizing the Invisible Woman, the Dragon Man found itself conflicted over what to do in this situation but was not intelligent enough to make up its mind.[35] Eventually the Fantastic Four freed themselves from their prison and incapacitated Aron. They then battled and defeated the Dragon Man, the Frightful Four and their evil clones. Eventually Aron was allowed to leave with his clones so that he could watch their dreams, while the Frightful Four and Dragon Man were all incarcerated in the Vault prison.[36]

Later during the Acts of Vengeance conspiracy, the Wizard unleashed Dragon Man against Spider-Man, who at the time was considering quitting his career as a superhero after being endowed with too much power by the Enigma Force and becoming the most recent Captain Universe. This plan backfired when the Dragon Man attacked Spider-Man in a subway tunnel. After Spider-Man defeated the Dragon Man and rescued those trapped inside, the wall-crawler was inspired to continue his heroic career.[37]

Organized Crime[]

Draconus (Earth-616) with the New Enforcers from Web of Spider-Man Vol 1 99

New Enforcers (from left to right): Super-Adaptoid, Dragon Man, Vanisher, and Dreadnought[38]

Dragon Man was next acquired by the Kingpin and sent along with Killer Shrike and Grey Gargoyle to eliminate Woziah, a star witness for the District Attorney's office. Woziah was under the protection of the She-Hulk who tried to protect Woziah to the best of her abilities. Although Dragon Man and the others were defeated by She-Hulk and the alien bounty hunter known as Surge, Woziah was killed.[39] Dragon Man also joined a group of mechanical operatives for the New Enforcers, along with the Super-Adaptoid and the Dreadnought. When the New Enforcers known as the Eel and Blitz attempted to infiltrate the headquarters of the Foreigner they were opposed by Spider-Man. During the clash their fellow Enforcer the Vanisher teleported in Dragon Man, the Adaptoid and Dreadnought to battle the hero.[38] The New Enforcers got what they came for while Spider-Man was occupied with their mechanical minions. When Dragon Man attempted to escape, Spider-Man tagged him with a Spider-Tracer. Later Dragon Man, Adaptoid and Dreadnought were unleashed when the Enforcers based was invaded by Blood Rose. Blood Rose easily incapacitated Dragon Man and the others with a magnetic pulse generator. With the aid of Spider-Man and Nightwatch, Blood Rose took down the New Enforcers leaving them for the authorities.[40] Later, the Dragon Man was plucked out of time and space by Aron the Rogue Watcher to battle members of the Fantastic Four and Fantastic Force. When Aron's plot to destroy the universe to recreate his own reality was stopped, Dragon Man was returned to his appropriate time and place with no memory of what happened.[41]

Some time later Dragon Man was part of an army of super-villains that attacked a court trial for the Hulk. The Hulk easily defeated his attackers winning an acquittal in his case.[42] Dragon Man was imprisoned within Iron Rock a New Jersey a super-villains weapon holding facility. When the Roxxon Corporation sought to create an army of creatures like the Dragon Man, they hired scientist Jonas Harrow to do so. To this end, Harrow enslaved Will o' the Wisp to steal the means necessary to do so. Although Will O' the Wisp managed to warn Spider-Man of this plan, the wall-crawler failed to prevent Dragon Man from being set free.[43] Spider-Man managed to free both the Wisp and Dragon Man from Harrow's control and the trio went to Roxxon and trashed the facilities there. In the aftermath of the battle Dragon Man went free once again.[44]

For a time the Dragon Man roamed free, but was late tracked down by the Thing who hoped to take the creature to his godson, Franklin Richards, for his birthday. After roping up Dragon Man, the Thing felt pity for the creature and let it loose instead.[45] Dragon Man was captured by Jonas Harrow and Roxxon once again who attempted to examine the creature. However Dragon Man broke free from their underground facility and into the adjacent subway tunnel. Inside the tunnel the Thing and the She-Hulk were busy evacuating people from the wrecked subway train. To make matters worse the scene was also attacked an insectoid breed of Vampires led by a man named Bonham. She-Hulk convinced Dragon Man to hold back the Vampires while they evacuated everyone from the tunnel. The Vampires had the upper hand, and Dragon Man carried them away as he attempted to flee the scene, however as dawn was breaking the Vampires were incinerated by the sunlight.[46] By this time Dragon Man began returning to his creator Professor Gilbert at State University. Gilbert then began trying to train the dragon. When Professor Gilbert was later replaced by a Skrull spy, Dragon Man was able to detect it and attack. The Skrull managed to trick the visiting Thing and Human Torch into protecting him until he completed his own android Zzord. Zzord proved no match for Dragon Man, and the Torch ultimately uncovered the Skrull's secret and freed the real Professor Gilbert. With the fight ended, Gilbert allowed Dragon Man to go free once again.[47]

Incarcerations[]

Dragon Man was later incarcerated within the Big House a maximum security prison where the convicts were shrunk down in size with Pym Particles. When the juvenile criminal known as Southpaw was incarcerated there, the Mad Thinker convinced her to assist in a breakout. Dragon Man joined a number of criminals who shrank themselves even smaller to smuggle themselves out on the body of Southpaw's lawyer, She-Hulk.[48] When the villains made their move at the offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, the She-Hulk and Southpaw worked together to round up Dragon Man and the others.[49] Dragon Man apparently escaped and was present with Baron Blood, Arnim Zola, Mr. Hyde, Baron Strucker, MODOK, Sin, and others waiting for a mock trial against Captain America being put on by the Serpent Society. However, Captain America and his ally Diamondback managed to escape captivity before the "trial".[50] Sometime after this, Hercules battled Dragon Man again while recreating his 12 labors for a reality television series.[51] Dragon Man was briefly held in the basement of the home owned by Eurystheus.[52]

Dragon Man was later one of the many foes of the Fantastic Four gathered by the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker to participate on a massive assault on the heroes. Dragon Man and the others refused to work together and abruptly left the meeting unaware that they left their DNA at the scene, the organizers true goal all along. The Puppet Master used the DNA with a device to enslave Dragon Man and summon him when his step-daughter Alicia refused to join him and their meeting was interrupted by the Thing. The Thing easily defeated Dragon Man and the Fantastic Four confiscated the Puppet Master's device and DNA samples. However Reed Richards calculated that the team would die in two years if they continued on their current course.[53] The Fantastic Four then began incarcerating their foes in the hopes of escaping this fate, Dragon Man was initially held at the Baxter Building during this early period.[54][55] Eventually Reed teamed-up with Andrew Lewis, a security consultant, in constructing a new Vault prison in the Negative Zone. Upon the completion of the prison, the Dragon Man was one of the first prisoners held there.[56] Soon the Mad Thinker initiated a mass break out that was opposed by the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk and Hercules. Most of the criminals, including Dragon Man, were knocked out and re-incarcerated.[57] Somehow Dragon Man got into the possession of the scientist Doctor Paine who was working on horrific animal/mutant splicing experiments along with the Red Ghost in the African nation of Niganda. This attracted the attention of both the X-Men and the Black Panther, ruler of neighboring Wakanda. Dr. Paine unleashed Dragon Man on the heroes, but they tricked the beast into attacking his would-be master. The battle abruptly ended when the Red Ghost realized that Dr. Paine was a capitalist and slew him.[58]

Not long after this the cosmic being known as the Stranger began posing as the Beyonder and recreated Battleworld as part of an experiment to examine Earth's super humans.[59] One of the first beings that the "Beyonder" brought was Dragon Man,[60] to test the various heroes and villains he brought to that world.[61] The most recent batch included Henry Pym, the Wasp, Venom, Gravity, Spider-Man, ALexei Kravinoff, Firebird, Medusa, and the Hood.[62] Shortly after their arrival on Battleworld they were attacked by Dragon Man and defended by Deathlok,[60] one of the heroes from the last group who remained behind. Deathlok and the heroes easily defeated Dragon Man, incapacitating the creature for the duration.[61] Somehow managing to return to Earth, Dragon Man next appeared in Maui terrorizing a popular female pop singer (Beyoncé Knowles) there before being stopped by the Human Torch.[63] Dragon Man next resurfaced in New York City and went on another rampage before being stopped by the New Avengers.[5] The Dragon Man was also in attendance of the funeral being held for Stilt Man. Unlike the other mourners, Dragon Man proved invulnerable to the poisoned drinks and explosives set by the Punisher, Stilt Man's murderer.[64]

Draconus (Earth-616) from Irredeemable Ant-Man Vol 1 9 0001

Dragon Man rises from the rubble[65]

Dragon Man was once again incapacitated in an undisclosed battle. When Damage Control agent Slaying Mantis, Visioneer, and Monstro went to clean up the scene, Dragon Man reactivated and attacked, however was quickly defeated by the crew.[65] Members of the Avengers Initiative collected Dragon Man for transport back to their base at Camp Hammond to be transported to the Negative Zone's Prison 42. Dragon Man reactivated in front a group of protesters but was knocked out in a battle with Initiative recruits by one of the Scarlet Spiders.[66] Escaping captivity, Dragon Man ended up in Los Angeles where he went on a rampage again. This time the creature was taken down by the newly reformed Nova Corps led by Robert Rider.[67] Dragon Man was finally imprisoned in Prison 42 in the Negative Zone. It was freed from its cell during an attempted break out, but the reptilian Initiative member known as Komodo convinced Dragon Man help quell the uprising and the prison population was subdued.[68]

Future Foundation[]

Draconus (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 579 001

Dragon Man joins the Future Foundation[69]

A more docile Dragon Man was relinquished to the Fantastic Four who were forming a group of gifted students they called the Future Foundation. Dragon Man was one of a attendees at Franklin Richards birthday party that year.[70] Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman's daughter Valeria discovered a means of upgrading the Dragon Man's programming increasing his intelligence to an advanced degree. The now highly intelligent and pacifist Dragon Man joined the class of the Future Foundation along with the Richards children, the Moloids Tong, Turg, Mik, and Korr, the Uhari royals Vil and Wu, young Wizard clone Bentley-23, and the mutants Artie Maddicks and Leech.[69] One of the first assignments Dragon Man undertook with the Foundation was coming up with a means of restoring the Thing to his human form. Although unable to find a permanent cure, they discovered a means to allow the Thing to become human for a single week once a year.[71]

For the most part Dragon Man cared for the young members of the Future Foundation and meeting their needs, such as preparing breakfast.[72] Not long after this Dragon Man and the children listened to one of Ben Grimm's stories of a past Fantastic Four adventure.[73] Later when the Baxter Building was being invaded by creatures from the Negative Zone, Dragon Man joined the Human Torch and Ben Grimm in defending the building and keeping the Future Foundation children safe.[74] Although Dragon Man and the others drove the invaders back, the Torch seemingly died to close the portal to the Negative Zone from the inside.[75] Dragon Man was one of the mourners at the funeral held for the Human Torch five days after his death.[76] It later assisted the surviving members of the Fantastic Four when they took on the Future Foundation title, adding Spider-Man to their ranks.[77] Dragon Man was later left in the care of the children while the adult members of the FF went to investigate a strange anomaly in the Caribbean Sea. While they were gone, Valeria determined that it was the location of the Fantastic Four's first trips through time.[78]

Draconus (Earth-616) from Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 660 001

Dragon Man... minus the man[79]

Dragon Man was convinced to bring the children to warn the adults of the danger there when they suddenly realized that it was all a trap sprung by Doctor Octopus and his Sinister Six.[80] The unstable energies created by the portal created by Doctor Octopus caused reality to bend and members of the Future Foundation took on the appearances of their counterparts in other realities. For a brief moment Dragon Man was transformed into an completely dragon form. Ultimately the Future Foundation managed to shut the portal. However this was all a ruse, the Sinister Six battled there nothing but robots leaving the Baxter Building open for infiltration by the real Doctor Octopus and his minions.[81] Returning to the Baxter Building and discovering Doctor Octopus had been there in their absence, Mister Fantastic sent Dragon Man with the children to New Atlantis until it could be determine there were no traps waiting for them.[82]

When Reed Richards revealed that he was willing to assist their longtime foe Doctor Doom in restoring his damaged mind to join the Future Foundation, Dragon Man accompanied the Thing and Invisible Woman to try and rationalize the move, unaware of what was going on.[83] When Reed required advice on how to stop the Interdimensional Council of Reeds, he reached out to some of the Fantastic Four's oldest foes. He sent Dragon Man and Franklin to recruit Diablo to this cause.[84] Dragon Man kept the other Future Foundation children occupied while that meeting was in session.[85] Dragon Man, Vil and Wu later informed Reed that his wife had gone to defend Old Atlantis which was under attack from the Interdimensional Council of Reeds and the Mole Man.[86] Not long after this the world was under siege by the Serpent who sent seven mystical hammers to Earth.[87] The Thing was tricked into taking the Hammer of Angrir transforming him into the avatar for Angrir, the Breaker of Souls.[88] The Thing went on a rampage through Yancy Street opposed by his teammates. Dragon Man entered the fray, but was easily knocked out by the Thing who continued on his path of destruction.[89] Eventually Earth's heroes defeated the Serpent and all of his minions were restored to normal.[90]

With things back to normal, Dragon Man joined the Future Foundation children and Spider-Man on a field trip to the Bermuda Triangle.[91] He later met the mutant X-23 during a brief visit to the Future Foundation headquarters.[92] As the FF adults were planning to fend off an invasion by both the Kree and the Negative Zone, Dragon Man assisted the children in developing a device to teleport the top three floors of the Baxter Building away from any danger during the battle.[93] Despite the efforts of the heroes fighting outside, the Baxter Building was infiltrated by warriors from the Negative Zone, forcing Dragon Man and the children to initiate the teleporter.[94] They appeared in the nation of Latveria, where Dragon Man and the children found refuge in the castle of Doctor Doom for the duration of the crisis.[95] While they were in Latveria, the adult members of the FF defeated the invaders, and the Human Torch was discovered alive and well, resulting in the reformation of the Fantastic Four.[96] With Johnny back, he briefly acted as a substitute teacher for a session with the children. As the new ruler of the Negative Zone, Johnny took Dragon Man and the children on a field trip there, where they bowed to pressure for a free election from its people. Dragon Man assisted in the elections and they were all surprised when the people of the Zone voted to have their former ruler Annihilus brought back into power.[97] Dragon Man next joined the Foundation on a trip to Wakanda,[98] given a tour by a young girl named Onome, Dragon Man and the children prevented the Hyena Clan from stealing a supply of water from Wakanda. Shortly thereafter Onome agreed to join the Future Foundation.[99] Dragon Man also accompanied the children on a trip to the Foundation space station.[100] Things got back to a normal place, allowing Dragon Man to spend some leisure time with the children,[101] and resume classes.[102]

Ant-Man's FF[]

After preparing breakfast for the children, Dragon Man's prepared meal was interrupted by the sudden return of the Fantastic Four after a trip in the past. Shortly thereafter the team began planning a mission to go through time and needed to select suitable replacements while they were gone.[103] The FF selected Ant-Man, Medusa, She-Hulk, and Johnny's girlfriend, pop-star Darla Deering. After the new group was formed Dragon Man was introduced to the group. During this period Dragon Man began paying closer attention to Bentley-23 who was displaying more super-villain like tendencies.[104] Although the Fantastic Four intended to only be gone for four minute in real time,[105] it became very clear that something went wrong and they would be gone for an indefinite period of time, leaving Ant-Man and his crew to take over running the Future Foundation. Amid the negative press the Fantastic Four's old foe the Mole Man attacked the Baxter Building intent on destroying the "impostors". During the fight, Dragon Man provided Darla with the exosuit once worn by Ben Grimm during a period in which he lost his powers. After the Mole Man was defeated they were drawn to the roof where the time portal that the Fantastic Four disappeared into became active again. Emerging from the portal was the Human Torch from the future of Earth-13266 where the Fantastic Four died on their mission.[106] "Old John Storm" as this version of the Torch soon became called told Dragon Man and the others how the team was decimated fighting Doom the Annihilating Conqueror, a gestalt of Doctor Doom, Kang the Conqueror and Annihilus and urged the FF to destroy Doom in this era before it was too late.[107] Dragon Man was present in a meeting about how to handle the Doctor Doom situation, which ultimately was left unresolved at that time for other more pressing concerns.[108]

Draconus (Earth-616) from FF Vol 2 6 001

Dragon Man lost in thought[109]

When the adults were off on a mission into the Microverse they left Spider-Man to look after the children, unaware that his body was now being controlled by the mind of his greatest foe Doctor Octopus. Dragon Man had to defend the children when the Time Variance Authority sent the bounty hunter Death's Head to eliminate the Future Foundation. When it was revealed that the TVA sought to wipe the children out due to a weapon Bentley-23 was working on, Spider-Man convinced him to stop working on it, satisfying the TVA for the time being.[110] Dragon Man went on to continue helping Darla adapt her "Miss Thing" costume, providing her with a device Reed Richards created to duplicate Sue's invisibility powers to work as a helmet for the armor.[111] Shortly thereafter Dragon Man noticed that both Bentley and Medusa had gone missing under mysterious circumstances. Before they could investigate further the entire Baxter Building was transported into the Negative Zone.[109] Dragon Man and the rest of the Future Foundation had to face off against the Wizard's latest incarnation of the Frightful Four in order to save Medusa and Bentley. Defeating the Wizard, they were returned to their native reality.[112]

Back home, Dragon Man then helped develop rings that, when crashed together, causes Darla's Miss Thing costume to form around her.[113] When the FF later visited Julius Caesar to learn about the Fantastic Four's mission in the past, Dragon Man was assigned to watch the children as they played in the pool at the Julian Enterprises headquarters.[114] Dragon Man later prepared breakfast when Old John accused Alex Power of betraying them to Doctor Doom.[115] Dragon Man later conducted further tests on Darla's Miss Thing costume by having her fight it out with the She-Hulk.[116] As Doctor Doom began planning an attack on the Future Foundation with Annihilus, Kid Immortus and Ravonna, Ant-Man decided to hide the Foundation after discovering Alex Power was spying on them for Doom. First they teleported onto the body of the Impossible Man before going to the Blue Area of the moon and hiding on the Watcher's citadel.[117] While preparing for the final assault on Doom, Dragon Man was put to work building autonomous duplicates of Miss Thing's battle suits that could be controlled remotely.[118] When the FF launched their all out attack on Latveria, Dragon Man remained on the moon to oversee the children who were piloting the Thing-bots as well as monitoring Dakor the Mystic's magical assault on Doom.[119] Ultimately, Ant-Man defeated Doctor Doom in battle.[120] When the Fantastic Four returned from their mission alive and well, Dragon Man participated in the celebrations at the Watcher's citadel.[120][121]

Fall of the Fantastic Four[]

By this time, the being known as Quiet Man, who has claimed to have been manipulating the Fantastic Four from the start, began a series of events to destabilize the team.[122] The happy reunion brought but a moment of peace for the Future Foundation, and Dragon Man had to once again defend the children from an attack from creatures of the Negative Zone. The Fantastic Four and other heroes helped drive back the invasion.[123] However during the course of the battle Johnny lost his flaming powers.[124] In order to take the children's mind off of things, the Invisible Woman took them and Dragon Man on a field trip to see the mating grounds of the sea-beast Giganto.[125] The Fantastic Four were rocked with another blow when the Thing was later framed for the murder of the Puppet Master and arrested. Meanwhile, someone within the government ordered the children of the Future Foundation taken away from the Fantastic Four and Dragon Man be incarcerated. Dragon Man was taken into custody by the original android Human Torch from World War II who took sympathy of the Dragon Man's plight.[126] The Human Torch and the Future Foundation then broke into the SHIELD facility holding Dragon Man and freed him, hiding him out at the site of Camp Hammond with the secret blessing of SHIELD director Maria Hill.[127]

Attributes

Power Grid[129]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Medium Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Incalculable:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Slow or Impaired

Powers

Superhuman Strength: Dragon Man possesses high levels of superhuman strength, the full limits of which aren't known. It is known that he can lift somewhere in excess of 100 tons. His tail, which is 7 feet long from base to tip, can be whipped at speeds of up to 130 feet per second, generating enough force to smash a 3-foot thick stone wall or topple a loaded 5,000 gallon tank truck.

Superhuman Stamina: Dragon Man's advanced, synthetic musculature does generate fatigue toxins, but not quite in the same way as human musculature and generates considerably less than a human's. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several days before fatigue begins to impair him.

Superhuman Durability: Dragon Man's body, made of high-density long-chain organic polymers, which were an attempt at manufacturing life-mimicking materials, has incredible durability and strength. His thick hide is capable of resisting without rupture ballistic impacts up to and including 155mm Howitzer shells, or 300 pounds of TNT. His body can withstand extremes in both temperature (from -200° to 1,000°+ Fahrenheit) and pressure (from 0.02 to 12.5 atmospheres). Not truly alive, Dragon Man does not need oxygen to sustain his pseudo-life. He is an omnivore, capable of consuming diverse forms of matter and converting them to energy.

Flight: Dragon Man can fly by means of an internal antigravity generator constructed out of synthetic materials. His bat-like wings, which span 35 feet from tip to tip, aid him in controlling his stability and direction. He can fly at a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour and reach a maximum height of 1,800 feet.

Fire-Breath: Dragon Man exhales fire through his mouth by releasing a high-pressure stream of methane gas, a by-product of his unusual digestive system, through vents in the back of his throat. The gas mixes with air from his lungs and is ignited by specialized teeth, which can spark when struck together. This fire, which reaches a temperature of about 8,000° F, can be emitted for a maximum of 7 minutes before he needs to "refuel".

Abilities

Dragon Man has no particular skills or abilities. However, his sheer physical strength, coupled with the rest of his powers, make him a formidable combatant. Also, despite his great size and mass, he can run at speeds comparable to those of a well conditioned human athlete.

Weaknesses

Dragon Man formerly had the intellectual capacity of a domestic dog, and is governed by simple thoughts and feelings. His artificial brain is particularly sensitive to high pitched sounds: certain ultrasonic frequencies can jam his mental functions to paralyze him or make him highly susceptible to external domination. Also he is vulnerable to intense cold.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Flight under his own power

Notes

  • Dragon Man is an atheist.[77]

Trivia

  • Dragon Man was one of the characters featured in the series of Marvel Value Stamps issued in the 1970s.
Draconus (Earth-616) from Marvel Spotlight Vol 1 15 001

Marvel Value Stamp #83

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #28
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Power Pack #7
  3. FF (Vol. 2) #5
  4. FF #14
  5. 5.0 5.1 I (heart) Marvel: Web of Romance #1
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Fantastic Four #35
  7. 7.0 7.1 Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk #1
  8. 8.0 8.1 Avengers #41
  9. Fantastic Four #44: During this period of time Medusa was stricken with amnesia as revealed in Fantastic Four #36 and had no memory of her fellow Inhumans.
  10. Fantastic Four #45
  11. Fantastic Four #46
  12. Fantastic Four #47: Seeker was after the Inhuman Royal Family for Maximus who was then ruler of the Inhumans. He was quickly disposed by Black Bolt, rightful ruler of the Inhumans in that same issue.
  13. Marvels #3
  14. Avengers #42
  15. Age of Ultron #6
  16. Age of Ultron #10
  17. X-Men First Class Special #1
  18. Sub-Mariner #15
  19. 19.0 19.1 Fantastic Four #135
  20. Fantastic Four #134
  21. Fantastic Four #136
  22. Captain America #248
  23. Captain America #249
  24. Fantastic Four Annual #16
  25. Incredible Hulk #292
  26. 26.0 26.1 Power Pack #6
  27. Power Pack #8
  28. Fantastic Four #300: It was later revealed that the woman who married the Human Torch was not Alicia Masters, but Lyja a Skrull spy posing as Alicia (Fantastic Four #358)
  29. Fantastic Four #321
  30. Fantastic Four #322
  31. Fantastic Four #323
  32. Fantastic Four #328
  33. Fantastic Four #329
  34. Fantastic Four #330
  35. Fantastic Four #332
  36. Fantastic Four #333
  37. Web of Spider-Man #61: Spider-Man gained the Enigma Force power of Captain Universe in Spectacular Spider-Man #158 and later lost this power after defeating the Tri-Sentinel in Amazing Spider-Man #329
  38. 38.0 38.1 Web of Spider-Man #99
  39. Sensational She-Hulk #27
  40. Web of Spider-Man #100
  41. Fantastic Four #400
  42. Savage Hulk #1
  43. Spectacular Spider-Man #235
  44. Spectacular Spider-Man #236
  45. Fantastic Four Annual #2001
  46. Thing & She-Hulk: The Long Night #1
  47. Human Torch (Vol. 3) #12
  48. She-Hulk #5
  49. She-Hulk #6
  50. Captain America (Vol. 4) #31
  51. Hercules (Vol. 3) #3
  52. Hercules (Vol. 3) #5
  53. Fantastic Four: Foes #1
  54. Fantastic Four: Foes #2
  55. Fantastic Four: Foes #4
  56. Fantastic Four: Foes #5
  57. Fantastic Four: Foes #6
  58. Black Panther (Vol. 4) #9
  59. Beyond! #6
  60. 60.0 60.1 Beyond! #2
  61. 61.0 61.1 Beyond! #3
  62. Beyond! #1
  63. Thing (Vol. 2) #6
  64. Punisher War Journal (Vol. 2) #4
  65. 65.0 65.1 Irredeemable Ant-Man #9
  66. Avengers: The Initiative #8
  67. Nova (Vol. 4) #20
  68. Avengers: The Initiative #27
  69. 69.0 69.1 Fantastic Four #579
  70. Fantastic Four #574
  71. Fantastic Four #580
  72. Fantastic Four #584
  73. Fantastic Four #585: Ben is referencing the Fantastic Four's first battle with the Mad Thinker circa Fantastic Four #15
  74. Fantastic Four #586
  75. Fantastic Four #587
  76. Fantastic Four #588
  77. 77.0 77.1 FF #1
  78. Amazing Spider-Man #658: That trip through time was in Fantastic Four #5 when Dr. Doom sent the male members of the Fantastic Four to gather a mystical gem once owned by Merlin that was aboard Blackbeard's pirate ship.
  79. Amazing Spider-Man #660
  80. Amazing Spider-Man #659
  81. Amazing Spider-Man #660: This was all part of Doctor Octopus' long running plans to get out of his dying body. Ending with him taking over the body of Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #700
  82. Amazing Spider-Man #666
  83. FF #2
  84. FF #3: The Interdimensional Council of Reeds were accidentally unleashed upon Earth-616 by Valeria Richards in Fantastic Four #586
  85. FF #4
  86. FF #5: the Invisible Woman became the ruler of Old Atlantis in Fantastic Four #585
  87. Fear Itself #1
  88. Fear Itself #3
  89. Fear Itself: FF #1
  90. Fear Itself #7
  91. X-Men (Vol. 3) #16
  92. X-23 (Vol. 3) #4
  93. FF #11
  94. Fantastic Four #600
  95. FF #12
  96. Fantastic Four #600604
  97. FF #18
  98. Fantastic Four #607
  99. FF #19
  100. FF #21
  101. FF #22
  102. FF #23
  103. Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #1
  104. FF (Vol. 2) #1
  105. Fantastic Four (Vol. 2) #2
  106. FF (Vol. 2) #2: The Thing lost his powers in Fantastic Four #137 prompting Mister Fantastic to build a suit based on his powers which Ben used from Fantastic Four #139 to Fantastic Four #175
  107. FF (Vol. 2) #3
  108. FF (Vol. 2) #4
  109. 109.0 109.1 FF (Vol. 2) #6
  110. Avenging Spider-Man #17
  111. FF (Vol. 2) #5: When the Fantastic Four lost their powers in Fantastic Four #38, Mr. Fantastic developed mechanical versions of their powers in Fantastic Four #39, these were discarded when their powers were restored again in Fantastic Four #40
  112. FF (Vol. 2) #7
  113. FF (Vol. 2) #8
  114. FF (Vol. 2) #9
  115. FF (Vol. 2) #10
  116. FF (Vol. 2) #12
  117. FF (Vol. 2) #13
  118. FF (Vol. 2) #14
  119. FF (Vol. 2) #15
  120. 120.0 120.1 FF (Vol. 2) #16
  121. Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #16
  122. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #14
  123. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #1
  124. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #2
  125. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #3
  126. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #8
  127. Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #9
  128. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  129. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3
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