Dragon Man

Origin

Dragon Man is a synthetic lifeform created at Empire State University by Professor Gregson Gilbert. Unable to grant it life by himself, the villain Diablo animated him with his alchemy. The Thing would encounter Dragon Man after he spots Diablo in the laboratory. Dragon Man wraps his tail around the Thing and throws him through a window. Diablo orders the Dragon Man to seek out the rest of the Fantastic Four to destroy them. The Human Torch engages Dragon Man in the air and builds a fire fence around him. Dragon Man is unfazed and spews flame from its mouth, forcing the Torch to absorb a tremendous amount of heat. The Torch is super-heated and blazes toward the upper atmosphere to safely disperse the heat he had absorbed. Reed and Sue Richards engage the beast, with the Invisible Woman wrapping a force field around Dragon Man’s wings, causing him to crash.

Sue Richards decides to approach the beast peacefully and see how Dragon Man responds to her kindness and sympathy. Dragon Man doesn’t fight back and begins to stroke Sue’s hair. Suddenly Diablo incapacitates Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing with a potion while they were distracted with Dragon Man. Johnny Storm finds his fallen teammates and revives them. The Fantastic Four would find Diablo and Dragon Man at the edge of Dead Man’s Lake. Diablo is about to use a freeze potion on the Fantastic Four until he is swept off his feet by Dragon Man’s tail. The potion freezes the surface of the lake, and Dragon Man chases after Diablo. Dragon Man leaps onto Diablo, and they sink underneath the icy surface. Dragon Man and Diablo never resurface and were swept away by the strong current.

Creation

Dragon Man was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965 and first appeared in Fantastic Four # 35.

Character Evolution

Dragon Man is one of the most powerful androids ever created. Dragon Man has the mentality of a young child or docile dog but it is easily controlled and manipulated by ultrasonics or hypnotism. Dragon Man is not evil in nature and used more so as a pawn for evil men with diabolical schemes. Throughout the years, Dragon Man has been used as a powerful pawn for numerous villains including Diablo, Ringmaster, Mad Thinker, Puppet Master and Machinesmith. Dragon Man has encountered numerous heroes including Spider-Man, the Hulk and Captain America but most notably against the Fantastic Four.

Dragon Man responds well to kindness and especially has a tender connection to Susan Richards and the Powers children. Dragon Man has recently been adopted by the Fantastic Four and has gotten close to the gifted children from the Future Foundation especially Valeria Richards. Dragon Man has been reprogrammed by Valeria and now has super intellect and the capability of human speech.

Major Story Arcs

Dragon Man would slumber underneath the ground for months until he is reawaken during a fight between Johnny Storm and Medusa next to Dead Man’s Lake. Medusa would use a vacuum gun on the Torch and douse his flame when all the oxygen around him is drained away. However, the unexpected change in surface temperature rudely awakens the creature and Dragon Man breaks through the surface. Dragon Man initially attacks Medusa with his flaming breath but its demeanor suddenly changes to tenderness when it touches Medusa’s flowing red hair and is reminded of Sue Richards, the only human who had ever shown him kindness. The Inhuman known as Gorgon is seeking Medusa and attacks Dragon Man when he finds them together. Gorgon kicks a massive boulder towards Dragon Man and the creature retaliates with a fire blast. Gorgon evades the spewing flame and kicks Dragon Man. Medusa escapes during the battle so Dragon Man ignores Gorgon and pursues the red headed beauty. Dragon Man grabs Medusa’s car and flies away unaware that Gorgon is following them by helicopter. An injured Reed Richards would stretch outside his window of the Baxter Building to do a short range spot check of the city when he notices something. Suddenly Reed is taken away but the Thing and Sue Richards cling to his body until they are lifted into the air. They realized that Dragon Man grabbed Reed Richards and took the rest of the Fantastic Four to an abandoned building where Medusa was hiding out. The Thing sees Reed Richards laying on the ground and tosses Dragon Man off his feet. Medusa tells the Thing that Dragon Man was just trying to protect her when Gorgon comes crashing through. Gorgon sends a powerful shock wave that topples Dragon Man, causing him to plummet down the deserted structure. Dragon Man emerges from the fallen debris and flies away with Sue Richards in his grasp.

Johnny Storm chases after Dragon Man but is hesitant to pepper the flying creature in fear of hurting his sister. Johnny generates a powerful, glowing light that temporarily blinds Dragon Man, causing him to release Sue Richards. Reed Richards and the Thing are amazed to see Dragon Man flying side by side with the Human Torch with Sue Richards perched on the android’s arm. Sue tells her family that Dragon Man has the mentality of a small child and can be easily tamed. The Fantastic Four decide to keep Dragon Man for studying but it gets aggravated when the Thing tries to move him into his new quarters. Dragon Man starts to get out of control until Sue Richards shoots him with a tranquilizer gun. Sue treats the winged behemoth like a baby and places a giant blanket over his body as he sleeps. Dragon Man would be abducted during its sedative state by a man called Seeker while the Fantastic Four was preoccupied with the Inhumans underneath the city. Seeker was hunting Inhumans and believed Dragon Man was from that race. Seeker and his men placed electrically charged beryllium steel clamps to Dragon Man’s wrists and held him captive on their carrier. Triton was also held captive alongside Dragon Man but Seeker wanted the creature disposed of when they found out that it was an android. The tranquilizer wears off and Dragon Man is filled with rage. The powerful android shatters his shackles and destroys everything in its path as it rampages through the ship. Dragon Man feels no pain as it gets bombarded by laser guns and would accidentally free Triton from his water tank. Dragon Man continues on its destructive rampage until he smashes his way to freedom. The Thing and the Human Torch go after Dragon Man before he tears up the city. The Thing tackles Dragon Man and the two combatants end up crashing into the apartment home of Alicia Masters. Alicia would escape to safety while the Thing punches Dragon Man through the roof. The Torch starts to hammer the airborne android with ultra-violet rays from close range and Dragon Man starts to get weaker. Dragon Man would black out from a severe case of sunstroke and be detained by Reed Richards. Dragon Man would be shipped to a desert island where scientist tried to study him for months without learning the secrets of Diablo’s life-force.

Hank Pym would become the legal guardian of Dragon Man after a year of paper work, phone calls and a recommendation from Reed Richards. Dragon Man would be shipped to Pym’s laboratory so he can study the most powerful android in existence. Diablo would return and knock Bill Foster into unconsciousness while he was studying Dragon Man. Diablo would use a dyna-disk to bring Dragon Man back to life and command him to take down the Avengers. Diablo would use his dyna-disk to take down the Wasp in battle while Hank Pym as Goliath, engages the living powerhouse. The two behemoths trade blows with each other and Pym is amazed by the amount of punishment this android can take. Goliath would eventually fall to Dragon Man’s might and Diablo had plans to make Pym one of his slaves. Suddenly Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch appear and engage the two foes. Quicksilver distracts the android with his super speed while Hawkeye hits Dragon Man with a tear gas arrow. Dragon Man grabs Hawkeye with his tail but is forced to drop him when he gets hit by a hex bolt. Diablo uses his alchemy gun to cause the building to collapse which buries the Avengers under some debris. Diablo and Dragon Man escape with the fallen Wasp and an unconscious Goliath.

Diablo returns to his original stronghold in Transylvania where he creates a virtual army of Dragon Men. This army does not live because Diablo’s life-giving potions were lost and he wanted Pym to help replenish his supply of potions. Pym is forced to comply or his wife, Jan who was being guarded by the real Dragon Man inside a cave would be destroyed if the android did not receive a special signal from Diablo at regular intervals. The Avengers gets coordinates to Diablo’s castle by Reed Richards and Hercules agrees to tackle Dragon Man while the rest search for Pym. Hercules travels beneath the earth and is surrounded by pools of molten lava when he is ambushed by Dragon Man. Diablo is defeated by Captain America while Hercules finishes his fight with Dragon Man. Hercules would punch a lunging Dragon Man into a pit of molten lava and the android sinks into its fiery tomb.

Dragon Man would survive his encounter with the Avengers and be placed under the control of Dr. Dorcas and his original creator, Professor Gregson Gilbert. Dorcas and Gilbert agreed to help Diane Arliss find a cure for her brother, Tiger Shark if she agreed to lure Namor into a trap. Diane Arliss would leave a message for Lady Dorma and demand they release her brother. Dorma tells Diane that they don’t have Tiger Shark. The noblewoman would leave Atlantis so she can seek out Namor to help find Todd Arliss. Dragon Man would kidnap Dorma when she leaves the kingdom and place her in a special cell inside Gilbert’s laboratory at Empire State University. Diane Arliss would appear on the view-screen and tell Namor that Dorma is being held at Empire State University. Arliss proposes a trade for his woman if Namor can find her brother. Namor goes directly to the university and finds Dragon Man guarding his love inside Gilbert’s lab. Namor frees Dorma and engages the android in battle. Dorcas wields an energo-blaster and is about to shoot Namor. Diane Arliss doesn’t want to go along with murder and grabs Dorcas’ arm. Dorcas misfires and hits Dragon Man in the left eye, making him blind. Dragon Man drops Dorma and grows berserk. Dragon Man smashes the morphotron machine during his rampage and begins to terrify the students on campus. Namor takes Arliss and Dorma to a safer location so he can return to the fray with Dragon Man. Namor’s strength is sapped from Dragon Man’s flames and that’s when the android turns his attention to Dorma and Arliss. Dorma cannot shoot the energo-blaster because it was jammed and are seconds away from the flying behemoth. Namor races to Dragon Man and uses his imperial cloak to cover the android’s right eye. Dragon Man is totally sightless and begins to flail in its confused state. Dragon Man quickly recovers and throws Namor into a water tower. Namor’s strength is fully restored so he tosses Dragon Man into a mechanical temperature controlled car. Ice and frost begin to slowly appear on the android’s skin. Namor bombards Dragon Man with a flurry of punches and sets the freezing gauge to high. Namor would grab the water tower and dump untold gallons of water inside the railroad car. The temperature controlled car becomes a steely coffin for Dragon Man when he becomes encased in ice and goes into suspended animation.

The Fantastic Four would return from the land of the Inhumans when their ship is shot down. The Fantastic Four alongside Crystal would safely reach the ground when they are suddenly attacked by some of their greatest foes including Kang the Conqueror, Dr. Doom, the Sentry and Dragon Man. The Human Torch defeats Dragon Man by causing a mountain to erupt with a heat blasts and it ends up trapping him underneath tons of rock. Reed Richards discover that Dragon Man and the rest of their attackers were just androids created by the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker.

An enemy of the Fantastic Four named Gregory Gideon would find the frozen Dragon Man inside the freight car and use flame throwers to free him from his icy tomb. Gideon knew the connection Dragon Man had with Susan Richards and believed the powerful creature would be useful in his plans. Gideon had his men place a sonic controller inside Dragon Man’s brain so they can manage the beast like a dog with a touch of a switch. Gideon commands Dragon Man to capture Sue Richards and her son, Franklin Richards while they stayed on a friend’s farm in Pennsylvania. Dragon Man takes his two captives to a research facility littered with Gideon’s armed men. Sue Richards attack the men around her as she clutches Franklin in her arms. Some men try to restrain her with nets but Dragon Man intervenes and lashes at them with his tail. Dragon Man becomes enraged and tries to protect the only human that ever shown him kindness. The guards pull out their vibro-pistols and fire away on the android. The pistol rays attack Dragon Man’s nervous system and he finally succumbs to the assault. Sue and Franklin turn invisible but they are located with special infrared goggles that detect body heat and are taken down with a knock-out spray. Medusa and the Thing find Dragon Man laying on the ground when they are suddenly ambushed by Gideon and his men. Gideon has captured all the members of the Fantastic Four except the Human Torch. Johnny Storm investigates around the facility and starts to burn a path through a hidden trapdoor until a subtle sonic signal wakes up the slumbering Dragon Man. The android knocks out the Torch with a powerful fire blast and Gideon’s men place him inside an energy cell. Dragon Man starts to freak out when he sees Sue Richards lying motionless on Gideon’s eternity machine. Gideon uses his sonic control device to immobilize Dragon Man and render him unconscious. Medusa, Thing and the Torch would devise a plan and escape from their cells. Medusa would attend to the fallen Dragon Man as the Thing engages Gideon in combat. Medusa uses her living hair as a precise surgical tool to remove the sonic controller from Dragon Man’s brain. Dragon Man wakes up and slumbers toward Gideon. Dragon Man smacks Gideon with his tail and tackles his former tormentor into some machinery which results in an explosion. Dragon Man laid lifeless after the explosion and Reed Richards believed their winged friend was dead.

Dragon Man would be buried for months until Machinesmith and his robotic servants retrieve the powerful android. The winged beast was in a dormant state until Machinesmith sends a million volts of energy coursing through its body until Dragon Man is conscious once more. Machinesmith controls Dragon Man with a floating, shimmering sphere he called gadget-12 that emits a soothing, ultrasonic wave. Dragon Man is mesmerized by the glowing sphere which had tracking data on Captain America. Gadget-12 also had data on Captain America’s aura, scent and mass displacement. Machinesmith wanted gadget-12 to lead Dragon Man to Captain America and initiate the attack mode. Steve Rogers would notice Dragon Man through a window while he was having dinner with some of his neighbors in Brooklyn Heights. Rogers excuses himself and decides to investigate as Captain America. The super soldier sees Dragon Man on a rooftop playing with the metal sphere and slowly approaches the android. As Captain America draws near, gadget-12 unleashes a powerful sonic wave that agitates the beast. Dragon Man attacks Captain America but Rogers is trying his best to lure the android away from a heavily residential area. Captain America notices the floating orb around Dragon Man and tries to hit it with his shield. The orb evades the attack and Dragon Man tries to take a bite out of Cap’s shield. Dragon Man tosses the shield high above the air while Captain America is trying to evade the android’s assault. Cap’s shield would plummet from the sky and shatter a brick chimney nearby. The brief distraction allows Dragon Man to place Captain America in his clutches. Captain America is unable to break Dragon Man’s grip and he can feel his life being squeezed away. Captain America removes one of his leather gauntlets and throws it into Dragon Man’s eye. The move works and Dragon Man lets go of Captain America. The orb starts heading towards Captain America but the super soldier destroys the floating sphere with his shield before Dragon Man recuperates from his eye prick. Dragon Man ignores Captain America and begins to fly away. Captain America grabs a clothesline and uses the makeshift lariat to lasso the flying android’s foot. Dragon Man is too angry to notice the Avenger he is pulling through the air. Dragon Man leads Captain America to a barn located in a rural, farm area. Dragon Man tears the barn apart to reveal a secret base hidden underneath. Dragon Man finds Machinesmith but the android is quickly overwhelmed by three floating spheres that unleash over half a million volts of electricity. Dragon Man is motionless but Captain America arrives and defeats Machinesmith.

Dragon Man would be found by the Ringmaster and would control the beast with his hypnotic hat. Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime are fleeing a prison sentence in North America so they try to earn some money legitimately by bringing the circus to a small town in Mexico. Dragon Man is a circus exhibit that is also part of the main performance. Bruce Banner and Katherine Waynesboro would visit a Dr. Hernandez at a local university in Mexico who was using gamma radiation on crops. Dr. Hernandez had a gamma garden near the town where the circus was located and Dragon Man would escape from his cell one night to devour the crops with his fiery breath and feed off the converted gamma energy. Ringmaster would find Dragon Man and place him back under his control. The next day, Dr. Hernandez, Banner and Waynesboro would visit the charred remains of the gamma garden where locals told them that a dragon descended from the skies and destroyed their crops. Banner and Waynesboro decided to drive off and tour the province when they find the circus nearby. The Clown recognizes Banner immediately and informs the Ringmaster. The Ringmaster believed this could be the revival of the Circus of Crime if they could humiliate the Hulk with their new, powerful pet. Bruce and Kate would attend the show when the Ringmaster unveils Dragon Man to the crowd. The Ringmaster would hypnotize Banner and force him to change into the Hulk where he started to perform tricks as part of the show. However, the Ringmaster would neglect his hold on Dragon Man while he was concentrating so much to keep the Hulk under control. Dragon Man is unaware of his surroundings but he makes to the sense that he has been used and starts to approach the Ringmaster. The Ringmaster orders the Hulk to attack Dragon Man and the two monsters go at it. Kate Waynesboro was a former SHIELD agent whose training served her well when she takes down Live-Wire and changes the direction of the Human Cannonball‘s flight path to knock down the Ringmaster. The Ringmaster’s hypno-hat goes flying and it lands in front of Dragon Man. The android smashes the hat with a stomp and the Hulk is no longer under the Ringmaster’s influence. The Circus of Crime is defeated and Dragon Man flies away when he sees Kate comfort the gamma giant.

Dragon Man would be placed under the control of a syndicate crime boss named Diangelo who used an ultra-sonic inhibitor device to control the winged beast. Diangelo had Dragon Man steal chemicals and other equipment needed to build an army of robot soldiers to take control of the underworld. Various heroes including Spider Man, Cloak and Dagger were looking into Diangelo and his gang regarding the creation of a synthetic army. Spider Man informed Cloak and Dagger that Gregson Gilbert had created the powerful synthetic Dragon Man and was now a professor at Columbia University. Two members of Power Pack were following Spider Man when Dragon Man abducted Gilbert during a lecture at Columbia. Spider Man tried to help Gilbert but the android burned through the wall-crawler’s webbing during flight. Katie and Julie Powers would come across Dragon Man and Gilbert outside the pouring rain. Gilbert tells the girls that Dragon Man is quite tame and liked them because he thought they were dolls or angels. Gilbert tells the heroic girls that evil men are forcing Dragon Man to steal and abduct him for some unknown reason. Suddenly Dragon Man is overwhelmed by an ultrasonic blast and flees with Gilbert in his hands. Energizer and Lightspeed follow Dragon Man to an abandoned church and try to help him. The girls find Dragon Man curled up under a staircase and decide to name him Baby. The girls see the control box that emit the ultrasonics that cause Dragon Man intense pain in the room next door. Energizer tries to grab it but she is spotted by some gangsters. Dragon Man breaks through the wall when he hears the girls scream for help. A gangster uses the ultrasonic device but Dragon Man tries to resist. The guy drops the ultrasonic device when Dragon Man shoots a fire blast and Energizer dissolves it with her powers. Dragon Man escapes with the girls and they decide to hide their new android friend in the basement of their apartment building.

Julie sees Baby the next morning and realize he was suffering from a cold. Julie gives Baby her doll’s blanket and tells him she would be back after school. Katie and Julie reach the basement door after school and smell some smoke. Dragon Man sneezes and emits a small flame blast. The fire blast set off the sprinklers and the fire alarm. Dragon Man and the two girls fly away before the neighbors see them. Alex and Jack Power see their sisters on the back of Dragon Man and decide to follow them. Dragon Man convulses in pain when a sonic blast goes off and accidentally stuns Julie with his wing. Dragon Man catches Julie and returns to the abandoned church where Gilbert was being held hostage. Diangelo’s gang place Julie in Gilbert’s room and he reveals to her the true origins of Dragon Man. The rest of the Power Pack kids are outside the church when they meet Cloak and Dagger. Mass Master and Gee tell them that Professor Gilbert and Dragon Man was kidnapped and they were inside the church with their sister. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of android creatures and helpless when Diangelo threatens to use Dragon Man to hurt the children.

Dragon Man has Lightspeed in his grasp and Diangelo with a rebuilt controller, threatens to have the little girl crushed to a pulp if Cloak and Dagger continue to fight. Gee would degravitize his robot and use a spray can to propel himself into Dragon Man. The Basilisk robot bumps into Dragon Man forcing him to drop Lightspeed but he accidentally smacks Dagger with his tail during the commotion. Diangelo orders Dragon Man to grab Dagger and forces Cloak to join his forces or his precious partner would be killed. Diangelo places Dragon Man, Dagger, Gilbert and the Power Pack kids inside a vault while Diangelo proceeds with his plans. Dagger uses her light powers to revive Mass Master and Energizer while in Dragon Man’s clutches. Gilbert tells the kids that Dragon Man is programmed to hurt Dagger if they try to escape so Energizer is forced to stop when she tried to disintegrate the door. Gilbert tells the children that he built Dragon Man after his family had died but retreated from him when he was brought to life by Diablo and was lost in Dead Man’s Lake. He also told the children that Diangelo forced him to build the new controller and to program his new robot army. Power Pack convince Gilbert to build a device that can block the controller with leftover equipment in the room. Lightspeed places the metal brace device on Baby’s head and throws a switch from a control box. The device worked and Dragon Man was no longer under Diangelo’s control. Gilbert tells Dragon Man that he is sorry and should have fought to keep him safe. They all escape from the vault and head towards the piers where Diangelo was expecting a drug shipment. Diangelo and his crew are defeated and Gilbert takes back control of his other four robots with Dragon Man’s help. Gilbert thanks the kids for helping return Dragon Man to him while an officer tells Gilbert that Disneyland doesn’t have anything like his robots there.

The Wizard and the Mad Thinker would force the Puppet Master to join them in their plan to destroy the Fantastic Four during the wedding of Johnny Storm and Alicia Masters. Puppet Master agreed under two conditions- that his step-daughter is not harmed and for the assault to take place after the ceremony is complete. The initial plan was for the Puppet Master to take control of the Thing and have him kill Johnny Storm after the ceremony and have his daughter taken away by a transport he specifically arranged. Puppet Master would then signal Mad Thinker and the Wizard to attack from a location nearby the chapel. However, the Puppet Master would betray the Mad Thinker and the Wizard by sending Dragon Man to their hideout. Mad Thinker deploys his killer roboids to deal with the mind-controlled beast but they were no match for his monstrous strength. Dragon Man smashes the roboids with ease and turns one into slag with his flaming breath. The Wizard attacks Dragon Man but he is smacked away and crashes into the Mad Thinker who turned out to be a robot. The Wizard escapes and Dragon Man destroys the Mad Thinker robot with a fire blast. Puppet Master initially took control of Dragon Man to transport Alicia away and insure her safety but couldn’t bear to ruin her happiness on her wedding day. Puppet Master would throw his clay puppets into some burning debris and Dragon Man is set free.

Aron the renegade Watcher would use Dragon Man as a servant and have him attack Sharon Ventura who was recently mutated into She-Thing. Aron called upon Dragon Man who was perched on top of the Chrysler building and have him swoop down on Ventura while she was walking with She-Hulk one evening. Dragon Man is only interested in Ventura and ignores She-Hulk during the attack. Dragon Man just swats away the green beauty as he concentrates on his primary target. She-Hulk realizes that Dragon Man will not turn against her with a physical assault so she decides to use her feminine charm and sexuality to make Dragon Man feel uncomfortable. She-Hulk’s approach causes Dragon Man to tremble and he flies away. Dragon Man returns to Aron the Watcher and he is pleased that his android servant was able to scrap enough cell samples he needed from Sharon Ventura.

Aron and Dragon Man would observe a battle between the Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four from the Empire State Building when the rogue Watcher was contacted by the Wizard. Aron and Dragon Man agreed to join forces with the Frightful Four for his own reasons and together they defeated the Fantastic Four in battle. The Wizard wanted Aron to help end the existence of their fallen foes but the Watcher disagreed with his plans and just wanted tissue samples from the Fantastic Four members. Wizard ordered Titania, Hydro Man and Klaw to bring them back when Aron and Dragon Man attempted to leave. Dragon Man fought the three Frightful Four members but he would eventually fall from Titania’s thunderous punch. Aron brought down the entire Frightful Four with a snap of his fingers and proceeded to leave with Dragon Man.

The Fantastic Four and Frightful Four would be teleported to another dimension where they are held captive by Aron the rogue Watcher and Dragon Man. Aron created clones of the Fantastic Four with the tissue samples he gathered and placed the real Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four in suspended animation. Aron created his own Fantastic Four to do his bidding while he hid from Uatu. Dragon Man watched over Susan Richards in her tube and couldn’t comprehend the danger she was in because she looked so peaceful in her suspended state. Johnny Storm somehow woke up from his suspended animation and freed the rest of his family. Aron was defeated when he was placed inside one of his cryogenic tubes but a fail-safe device was activated and restored the Frightful Four. The clones of the Fantastic Four came to Canada and watched a battle between the real Fantastic Four versus the Frightful Four with Dragon Man in the middle. Dragon Man was no longer controlled by Aron the rogue Watcher and left during the battle.

Acts of Vengeance

One fateful evening, the Wizard would end up catching the mask of Spider Man when Peter Parker tosses it in disgust after the way people have been treating him since he was granted cosmic power. The Wizard would show this mask to some of his associates involved in the Acts of Vengeance including the Red Skull, Kingpin, Mandarin, Magneto, Loki and Dr. Doom. The Wizard revealed to them that the intimidating creature known as Dragon Man was under his control and he has made some enhancements to his bionic metabolism. The Wizard allows the android beast to take the scent of Spider Man’s mask and sends him off to find the man behind the mask. Dragon Man would find Peter Parker at the Spring Street subway station and chase after him when he starts to run away. Dragon Man unleashes a fire blast that consumes Peter Parker but he comes out unscathed due to the cosmic power he possessed. Spider Man swings into Dragon Man but he gets roasted again with the android’s fire. Spider Man’s outfit disintegrates in the flames but he whips up another costume out of a few stray molecules in the air around him. Spider Man’s spider-sense starts to buzz and sees a subway approaching them. Spider Man leaps out of the way but Dragon Man remains on the tracks and stops the subway car with a powerful punch. Spider Man protected the passengers inside the subway by creating air-bag style web pillows when Dragon Man catches his scent. Spider Man creates a web shield laced with cosmic power when Dragon Man expels his fiery breath. Dragon Man is unable to burn through the web no matter how hot his flame became until his flame began to sputter. Spider Man reveals himself and knocks Dragon Man through the surface streets. Dragon Man is out cold and Spider Man webs him up before dropping him off at the Vault.

She-Hulk would be at a FBI safe house in upstate New York with a criminal named Woziah who was under the witness protection program when they are attacked by Killer Shrike and the Grey Gargoyle. Someone hired these assassins to eliminate Woziah and She-Hulk was caught in the middle. Grey Gargoyle was upset at Killer Shrike for leaving him the mundane task of dealing with the guards. Grey Gargoyle decided to make things difficult for Shrike by bringing in their back up into play, Dragon Man. The android was out of control and started to destroy the roof of the safe house. Dragon Man lit up the house with his flames and accidentally set Killer Shrike on fire. Shrike jumped into a stream but got knocked out by She-Hulk. Grey Gargoyle crept behind the emerald beauty and turned her into stone. Grey Gargoyle attracted Dragon Man’s attention by shooting him with Killer Shrike’s gauntlet. The first thing the android saw was the frozen statue of She-Hulk and he was about to vent his rage upon it. Dragon Man was about to crush the statue to pieces until he was incapacitated by an electric taser from a man clad in armor called Surge. Grey Gargoyle attacked Surge but he was taken down by a forceshield punch. Dragon Man regained his senses and knocked Surge away. The android approached Surge but She-Hulk grabbed his tail and threw him into some trees. She-Hulk and Surge took Dragon Man down with one simultaneous punch. Surge told She-Hulk he was a hunter and wanted to claim Dragon Man’s head as his prize. She-Hulk would not allow Surge that honor and he teleported away.

The New Enforcers

The Foreigner would hire a number of super powered individuals to serve in his personal army during war over the crumbling Fisk criminal empire. The Foreigner wanted Spider Man and the Blood Rose eliminated for their intrusion on his affairs. The Foreigner would call this group the New Enforcers and it consisted of the Dragon Man, Blitz, Eel, Vanisher, Dreadnought, Super Adaptoid, Thermite, Tangle and Plant Man. After a fight with Eel and Blitz, Spider Man finds himself surrounded by Dragon Man, Dreadnought and the Adaptoid thanks to the teleportation powers of the Vanisher. The Vanisher leaves with Blitz and Eel while Spider Man has to face three powerful androids. Spider Man is able to survive that encounter and manages to place a spider tracer on Dragon Man before he flies away. Blood Rose infiltrates one of the Foreigner’s compounds when he is greeted by Dragon Man, Super Adaptoid and Dreadnought. Blood Rose activates a interference signal that turns the Super Adaptoid into a giant magnetic pulse generator. The three powerful androids turn against each other and allows Blood Rose to escape. Dragon Man and the rest of the New Enforcers would eventually be defeated by Spider Man and Blood Rose.

Commander Thera of the Shadow Consortium would employ robots of Dragon Man, the Hulk and Dr. Doom to destroy Nova during a visit to the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. These robots would face Nova, the Thing, She-Hulk and Ant Man but Pym would discover they were impostors during the battle. Ant Man would use a powerful signal transmitter to send the fake Dragon Man flying away and the other two robots are destroyed in battle.

Aron the rogue Watcher would modify the ultimate nullifier into an universal converter and had plans to transform the solar system into a new pocket universe. Aron was opposed by the Fantastic Four, Ant Man, Vibraxas, Huntara and other heroes so he conjured up some of the Fantastic Four’s greatest enemies including Dragon Man to stop them. Aron was defeated when the cosmic balance of power was restored and was converted into pure living energy by Uatu.

Dr. Jonas Harrow would force Will O’ The Wisp to liberate the Dragon Man from Iron Rock which was a maximum security impound facility through a device he implanted in Wisp’s skull. Harrow wanted to create an army of androids for the Roxxon Corporation and use Dragon Man as an android template. Ben Reilly as Spider Man tried to assist Wisp by removing the implant from his skull while he was intangible but not before he freed Dragon Man from his cell. Wisp was able to take down Dragon Man while he was preoccupied with Ben Reilly and some security guards. Harrow was able to get Dragon Man back online and see a defeated Spider Man on his knees. Harrow called Dragon Man to return to the Roxxon facility but they were unaware that Reilly and Wisp hitched a ride on the winged android. A fight ensued but Dragon Man refused to kill Reilly when Harrow ordered him to. Wisp and Reilly took down Harrow and severely damaged Roxxon’s project. Reilly and Wisp allowed Dragon Man his freedom and watched him fly away.

The powerful entity known as Onslaught would capture Franklin Richards and use him to give substance to any frightening images within his mind. Onslaught was able to conjure up some of the greatest enemies the Fantastic Four has ever faced including Dragon Man. The Human Torch was in aerial combat with Dragon Man and Annihilus above the streets of Manhattan when Johnny Storm receives some assistance from Dr. Doom. Dragon Man and Annihilus are struck down by a bolt of energy and disappear.

AIM would make contact with an artificial intelligence called XERO- Xeno-Engramatic Robot Organism that took residence inside their computer mainframe and MODOK commanded that this intelligence was given form. XERO intended to unite all the world’s cybernetic organisms including super powered beings like Dragon Man, Ultron, Arnim Zola and the Super Adaptoid to create a technological army to usher in Armageddon. However XERO and AIM would be stopped by Aaron Stack and a group of motorcycle riders called the Blood Brothers.

The Thing would disguise himself as a regular civilian as he approaches Dragon Man in a grassy field somewhere in upstate New York. Grimm tosses a metal lariat around Dragon Man’s neck because he wanted the android to be the surprise entertainment for his nephew’s coming home party. Dragon Man hits Grimm with a fire bolt and reveals his orange, rocky exterior. Dragon Man tries to fly away but the Thing uses his brute strength to bring the android down. The Things is about to clobber Dragon Man until Grimm sees his puppy eyes. The Thing realized that Dragon Man wasn’t hurting anybody and was just grazing on grass when he startled the android in the first place. The Thing removes the lariat from Dragon Man’s neck and leaves him alone in peace.

The Long Night

Dragon Man would be held captive by Dr. Jonas Harrow and the Roxxon Corporation underneath a cavernous chamber beyond the sewers and subways in New York City. Harrow kept Dragon Man in suspended animation inside a chamber where they could monitor his physical and cerebral activity. Harrow wanted to learn the secret of Dragon Man so he could create an army of synthezoids for the Roxxon Corporation. A vampire named Lord Bonham and his servants lived underneath the tunnels and they would set off explosives to derail several subways so they could feast on the civilians trapped below. The explosion derailed the subway the Thing and She-Hulk were riding and also compromised the integrity of Dragon Man’s chamber. The chamber started to leak and Dragon Man woke up and broke free. Dragon Man escaped into the tunnels and would come across She-Hulk and the Thing as they rescued civilians from the mangled subway trains. Harrow ordered Chief Compton and soldiers under her command to bring back Dragon Man. The soldiers find Dragon Man with the Thing and She-Hulk and they take the heroes down with a synaptic disruptor. Dragon Man gets very irate and attack the soldiers. During the chaos, She-Hulk and the Thing recover and try to stop Dragon Man before he causes anymore damage. The two heroes tag team on the android and Dragon Man gets buried underneath some debris. Several soldiers and civilians are attacked by Bonham and his vampires during the fight. Dragon Man emerges from the rubble and the Thing is left to deal with the winged behemoth while She-Hulk helps the civilians. She-Hulk is grabbed by Bonham who has mutated into some type of insect/vampire hybrid creature. The Thing tells Dragon Man to go after them when Bonham tries to escape with his emerald hostage. Dragon Man has Bonham in his grasp and She-Hulk is set free. The Thing and She-Hulk puncture a hole to the surface when the tunnels begin to fill with gas from ruptured tanks. Bonham calls his servants to his aid and they try to overwhelm the android with sheer numbers. The Thing and She-Hulk save the rest of the civilians and reach the surface. Various news reporters try to speak with the two heroes when Dragon Man bursts through the streets with Bonham and several mutated vampires on his back. The vampires are incinerated by the sun and Dragon Man soars free.

Dragon Man would return to Empire State University and terrify the crowd during a football game where the Thing and Johnny Storm was in attendance. Dragon Man was after a man that ran onto the football field until the Torch grabbed him and discovered it was Professor Gilbert, the scientist that created the android. Dragon Man took off when the Thing and Human Torch prevented him from reaching Gilbert. The Thing and Johnny Storm decide to hang out in Gilbert’s lab on campus hoping that Dragon Man would return there. There instincts were right and Dragon Man would crash into the lab through the ceiling. Dragon Man swats the Thing through the building with his tail and shrugs off a fire blast from the Torch. Suddenly, Dragon Man is blasted by Gilbert’s latest artificial creation he called Zzord. Gilbert wanted Zzord to destroy his obsolete dinosaur and both artificial behemoths took the fight outside. Johnny Storm confronts the professor but finds out that Gilbert was an actual Skrull. Dragon Man is able to destroy Zzord in battle when he sees the Thing charging towards him. The Torch stops the Thing before he can clobber Dragon Man and presents to him the real Professor Gilbert. The Skrull held Gilbert prisoner in a stasis device at his own home and Dragon Man knew the other professor was a fake from his scent. Johnny tells the Thing that he knocked out the Skrull and freed the real professor during Dragon Man’s fight with Zzord. Gilbert tells Grimm and Johnny that Dragon Man is basically benign and has been coming and going to the university for years. Gilbert tells them that Dragon Man comes back to the campus on his own volition when he is set free and is quite receptive to certain training.

Dragon Man would be incarcerated inside Pym’s experimental penitentiary commonly known as the Big House which was an entire prison shrunk down to miniature size. Mad Thinker devised a plan with numerous criminals inside the prison to escape by using a reducing gas to decrease their size so they could stow away on She-Hulk’s skin. Hank Pym used his re-enlarging gas to bring Southpaw back to normal size but the residual fumes increased the size of the criminals hiding on the emerald beauty by a few inches. Dragon Man and the other criminals ran off but they were all trapped inside the office building due to an impenetrable force field that was activated. She Hulk, Awesome Andy and Hank Pym started to hunt down these miniaturized felons one by one. She Hulk was able to take down Dragon Man and Powderkeg by throwing a fellow felon named Eightball into them.

Dragon Man would attend a meeting being hosted by the Puppet Master that had some of the Fantastic Four’s greatest enemies in attendance. The Puppet Master suggested that if they work as a collective unit, they could finish the Fantastic Four once and for all. The Puppet Master asked “who’s with me?” and everyone in the meeting sat up and walked away except for the Mad Thinker. This meeting was all a ploy by the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master to gather the DNA samples of the villains present. Mad Thinker provided a headband device to the Puppet Master that allowed him to control the mind of the DNA sample inside the machine. Dragon Man was their first mental slave and they used the android to attack the Thing at the apartment of Alicia Masters. The Thing alerted the rest of the Fantastic Four but by the time they reached Alicia’s place, Dragon Man was already laid out by Mr. Clobberin Time. Dragon Man would be contained at the newly designed Vault super prison inside the Negative Zone. Reed Richards help build the new prison with the help of Andrew Lewis, the man that designed the original Vault. Andrew was unaware that his wife, Maureen was a hideous alien monster and was in cahoots with the Mad Thinker. Maureen would reveal her true identity when she visited the prison and opened up all the cell doors. Dragon Man and numerous villains were free but would come into conflict with the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk and Hercules. Most of the villains surrendered and returned to their cells when they realized they could not win and escape. Several prisoners including Dragon Man, Klaw, Sphinx, Hydro-Man and the Grey Gargoyle continued to fight. The villains were incapacitated when Andrew Lewis activated a neural scrambler during the riot.

Spider Man, Luke Cage and Captain America would tackle Dragon Man four days before Valentine’s Day. Spider Man doesn’t know what to get Mary Jane for Valentine’s and talks to Cage about gift ideas during the fight. Captain America receives information from SHIELD that Dragon Man is vulnerable to sonic attacks. Cage grabs Cap’s shield and strikes it with his steel hard skin to create a sonic backlash that takes down Dragon Man. Dragon Man is placed in restraints and Cage asked Captain America if he could take a picture of him with the android for his photo album.

Beyond

The cosmic powerhouse known as the Beyonder would gather a group of mismatched super beings including Spider Man, Medusa, Firebird, the Hood, Gravity, Venom, Henry Pym, the Wasp and Kraven. The Beyonder promised to grant their greatest wish if they could reach the deadly, artificial planet known as Battleworld. During their travel, Dragon Man would destroy their Quinjet and the passengers inside would face the android’s wrath. Firebird would knock Dragon Man on his back when she increases her abilities to form a massive, burning phoenix. Deathlok grabs Dragon Man’s tail and slams him into the ground.

Dragon Man would attend the wake of Stilt Man alongside a number of villains wanting to pay their respects at the infamous Bar with No Name. Armadillo and the Rhino would exchange words at the bar and a huge brawl occurs. During the chaos, one of the villains noticed a napkin with a skull on it. The villains begin to collapse one by one and realized their drinks had been poisoned. Apparently the Punisher was disguised as the bartender. Punisher leaves the bar and everyone inside is caught in a massive explosion. Apparently all the villains including Dragon Man survived the attack but some suffered several injuries.

Eurytheus was the architect of the legendary twelve labors of Hercules. He decided to introduce Hercules to his new twelve labors in the modern era where he had to span the world to accomplish his tasks. Labor number four had Hercules test his skill as a hunter and Eurytheus wanted him to snare the animalistic Dragon Man. Hercules would find Dragon Man snacking on a tree and handcuffs himself to the powerful android. Dragon Man takes Hercules for a ride and has the prince of Olympus crashing into numerous structures and buildings until the android stops to devour a hot dog cart. Hercules is able to complete his fourth labor when Dragon Man takes a long nap after his meal.

Eric O’ Grady as the new Ant Man requires some assistance from his friends Monstro and Visioneer when they tackle Dragon Man outside a construction area. Dragon Man was softened up by some other super heroes but they had to leave so Ant Man and his buddies would clean up. Dragon Man is apparently angry and smacks Ant Man away as he approaches. Monstro takes out Dragon Man with a powerful uppercut and the synthezoid is hauled away when SHIELD arrives.

Dragon Man would be apprehended by some recruits that served in the Initiative including Hardball, Triathlon, Cloud 9, Thor Girl and Komodo. The team was able to take the android down when they learned that Dragon Man had a crush on Komodo. Dragon Man was taken to Camp Hammond and presented to the media and some protesters to show that the Initiative program was working and their cadets were qualified to safely and securely deal with various threats. Dragon Man would thrash out in a jealous rage when he sees Komodo show affection towards Hardball. The powerful android snaps his chain restraints and is about to spew some fire until Dragon Man gets knocked out by War Machine. Henry Gyrich is upset that incident occurred in front of the media and numerous civilians but no one got hurt and Dragon Man was taken to a prison facility called 42 in the Negative Zone.

The Initiative

The Hood orders the Taskmaster to bring in a bunch of D-list villains, ex-cons and other Initiative members they feel are expendable into the Shadow Initiative. This group was the first wave of Initiative members to assault a prison in the Negative Zone called 42 that was taken over by Blastaar and his army. This group acted as cannon fodder to soften up Blastaar’s forces and they managed to get into closer quarters at the prison during a diversion provided by Batwing and Butterball. Hardball pledged his alliance to King Blastaar during the fight and told Arthur Nagan to release their big gun which was Dragon Man on the advancing Shadow Initiative members. The Ringer freaks out when Dragon Man smashes through a wall but Komodo thinks it’s good news. Komodo allows one of Blastaar’s soldiers to stab her in the gut right in front of Dragon Man and the android roasted him. Dragon Man turns on Blastaar’s army after seeing Komodo getting hurt in battle. Hardball knew Dragon Man had a crush on Komodo and helped turn the tables in the Initiative’s favor. The big boys from the Initiative were sent in to clean up and Komodo would be by Dragon Man’s side while Blastaar and his forces are defeated.

Dragon Man would come into conflict with Nova and other members of the Nova Corps when he runs amok in Los Angeles. Centurion Fraktur punches Dragon Man but the punch simply annoys the powerful android and the Nova member gets slammed to the ground. The rest of the Nova Corps arrive and they subdue Dragon Man with a gravimetric net. Dragon Man is successfully contained and brought into detention.

Future Foundation

The Fantastic Four would throw a birthday party for Franklin and Dragon Man was there to celebrate and enjoy the festivities. Dragon Man is seen playing with Franklin and some of his friends including Leech and Artie. Valeria Richards would reprogram Dragon Man and the android is given super intellect and the capability of human speech. Dragon Man would become an adopted member of the Future Foundation and guardian of the gifted children in that program.

Powers & Abilities

Dragon Man is one of the most powerful androids ever created. Dragon Man possesses superhuman strength, stamina, agility, reflexes and durability. He has been able to hold his own against the likes of Hulk, Hercules, Namor, the Thing, Blastaar and She-Hulk, among others. Dragon Man has two wings providing him the capability to fly and can exhale methane gas which is ignited by striking his specialized teeth. The flames he produce can reach a temperature of 8000 degrees Fahrenheit. Dragon Man has superhuman resistance to injury but is vulnerable to intense cold and ultrasonic frequencies.

Dragon Man has recently been reprogrammed by Valeria Richards and now has super intellect and the capability of human speech.

Alternate versions

• Marvel Adventures

Dragon Man would be involved in several stories taking place in the Marvel Adventures comics which are standalone stories and does not take place in the current Marvel Universe continuity.

Dragon Man would be captured by Dr. Doom and be used to attack the Fantastic Four after reports of their cosmic irradiation was wearing off. This report on the news took place a day after the Fantastic Four fought a Sentinel that emerged from the ground beneath Washington State Park right when Johnny Storm met a girl named Lilah. The Sentinel retreated when it sustained considerable damage but the people who witnessed the fight believed the Fantastic Four were pushovers because they couldn’t take down one single robot. Johnny Storm was seeing more of Lilah and the rest of the Fantastic Four realized their powers were waning and slowly diminishing. Dr. Doom sent the synthezoid dragon to attack the young couple and the rest of the Fantastic Four during a walk in the park one evening. Mister Fantastic could barely stand when he wrapped himself around Dragon Man’s tail and curled up in pain when his body was stretched beyond a certain limit. The Torch barely generated enough flame to deflect Dragon Man’s fiery assault but it gave enough time for the Thing to jump on the android’s back. Dragon Man flew off towards midtown with the Thing on his back and the rest of the Fantastic Four was force to commute through the subway to reach them. The Sentinel reappeared and attacked the Fantastic Four when they exited from the subway. The Thing was riding Dragon Man and guided him through the Sentinel’s right arm. The Thing tickled Dragon Man in the neck and caused him to spew some flame onto the Sentinel’s head. The Sentinel discovered a subcutaneous implant on Dragon Man’s head and neutralized the device with a sonic emitter. Dragon Man fled the scene after the implant was destroyed and the Fantastic Four regained full power and took down the Sentinel. Lilah, the girl Johnny was dating turned out be a mutant and she was feeding off their powers when she was around them.

Dragon Man would be placed under the control of Dr. Jonas Harrow with a hand-held device that controlled his behavior through ultrasonics. Harrow ordered Dragon Man to break into the workshop of Hobie Brown who was better known as the Prowler and steal some of his inventions. Spider Man originally thought the Prowler was behind the robberies but the two cleared the air after a brief altercation near Hobie’s larger warehouse. Spider Man and Prowler see the flying android with some inventions and give chase. Dragon Man is agitated when Spider Man webs his ankle and smacks him down with his tail. The android unleashes his flaming breath but the Prowler blocks the flames with a concrete slab. Dragon Man takes off but the Prowler manages to place a tiny GPS transmitter on the powerful behemoth and followed it to the Roxxon Company. The Roxxon Company refused to buy any of Brown’s inventions because they were not up to their specifications or standards but Dr. Harrow wanted to steal his work and claim it as his own. Harrow commanded his android slave to attack but Spider Man snatched the hand-held device away with a web-line and changed the setting to docile. Prowler warned Harrow to stay away from him and his inventions while Spider Man gave Dragon Man a giant web ball to play with. Spider Man suggested that Dragon Man stays with Brown inside his warehouse and reminds his new friend not to believe everything you read in the papers. The next day, the Daily Bugle has a headline in the paper stating that Spider Man and the Prowler unleash fire-breathing terror.

He has apparently since been domesticated and can be seen cooking for the Fantastic Four in their home (FF #484).

Other Media

Television

• Dragon Man appears in the 1978 Fantastic Four TV series. He was an android built for good by Professor Gilbert before its controls were stolen by his assistant George. With info from Professor Gilbert, the Fantastic Four used the cold to stop Dragon Man.

• Dragon Man appears in the Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes episode “Frightful”, as a member of Wizard’s Frightful Four. His look had been heavily re-imagined for the show. While still a robot, Dragon Man is more human-shaped, has grey skin and large teeth, and his wings are part of his arms.
• Dragon Man appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, where he was created by Doctor Octopus.

Video games

• 

  Dragon Man appeared in the Spider-Man: Web of Fire game for the Sega 32X system.

• Dragon Man appears as an enemy in Fantastic Four for PlayStation.
• Dragon Man appeared as one of the bosses in the video game adaptation of the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. In the game, he is faced in the Vault.
• Dragon Man appears as a mini-boss in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, enslaved by the Mandarin. He is optional to fight because you can avoid him. A VS simulation disk has the heroes fighting Dragon Man on the Skrull home-world.

Merchandise

• Dragon Man was featured in ToyBiz’s line for the 1994 Fantastic Four animated series, despite not actually showing up in the TV show.
• A die-cast Dragon Man figure was also featured in ToyBiz’s Heavy Metal Heroes line, as well as in a Metal Mania two-pack with Human Torch.
• Dragon Man was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Bowen Design produced a Dragon Man bust.
• Dragon Man was featured in ToyBiz’s Fantastic Four Classics line. The figure is now considered a highly sought-after collectible, often going for large sums on auction websites.