This page is for the original Doll Man, Darrell Dane.
For the post Infinite Crisis Doll Man, see: Lester Colt.
For the New52 earth-0 Doll Man see Dane Maxwell
Darrell Dane
Using his scientific know how, research scientist Darrel Dane used a formula he discovered to became a super hero who had the power to will his body to reduce in size to six inches. In his origin he did this to save his fiance. Martha Roberts in some stories was the only person who knew the secret of Doll Man’s identity, while at times she was as clueless as the rest of Darrel’s friends. The reduced size allowed him to get into places a full grown man could not, and he was very strong for his size. Through his career, Doll Man used several unique methods to get around. Early he had a dog (Elmo, the Wonder Dog) trained to carry him like a horse, and later he had a miniature flying saucer (disguised as a model airplane in his study).
DC Comics
When the DC people decided to use the Quality heroes, it was established that Doll Man was from the parallel world called Earth-2 and later left with other Freedom Fighter members for Earth-X where the Nazi’s won WWII. Later his team of Freedom Fighters left that world for Earth-1. Here he would fight criminals like the Silver Ghost. After a short time however he and his team later went back to Earth-X
He appeared with his team during the Crisis on Infinite Earths which was a storyline that would eliminate other confusing histories and merge all the worlds together in one so that there weren’t anymore confusion. This erased Doll Man’s Earth-X days, and merged the character’s All-Star Squadron and Freedom Fighter histories so that he is the primary member of the Squadron with the Freedom Fighters being a splinter group.
Currently Darrell was in an unnamed mental institution. it’s discovered that the years spent at a compressed size damaged his mind, leaving him mentally unstable. His most recent appearance shows Dane leading a subversive group comprised of doll-sized soldiers. He encountered Uncle Sam and his latest version of Freedom Fighters. He told Uncle Sam that Doll Girl had died of cancer.
Skills and Abilities
Doll Man is a superb athlete and hand-to-hand combatant. By willing himself to do so, Doll Man can shrink to a height of six inches and proportionate weight. He can also will himself back to his normal size and weight. He wears a special costume that changes size as he does. Doll Man has aged little over the years, perhaps due to the mystic presence of Uncle Sam during his time in the Freedom Fighters.