The Marvel Comics Universe is home to a plethora of interesting characters. Men and women who stand for ideals not far from our own. You're always likely to find a hero you worship, but just as often you'll see a black sheep in the herd. Today we talk about one of Marvel's worst Avengers, the Z-Lister known as Demolition Man. No, not the film!
Created by Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson in "The Thing #28" in 1985, this character was originally a man named Dennis Dunphy and was a member of The Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation (UCWF) along with The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm/The Thing. Dennis was an aspiring athlete who met a villain named The Power Broker. On behalf of The Power Broker, Doctor Karl Malus performed operations on Dennis that gave him enough strength to lift 15-tons. Dennis had multiple fights with The Thing, both under the UCWF and under the control of super-villains. Eventually, Dennis revealed to The Thing that The Power Broker supplied Dennis with a drug that would make his powers work, but sadly he had become addicted to them and was going through painful withdrawals every time he tried going straight. The two of them soon found out other members of The UCWF had been under The Power Broker's control, and so they worked together to take the whole organization down.
Dennis went on to create a costume resembling two of his favorite heroes: Daredevil and Wolverine. Taking the name Demolition Man (shortened to the less-flattering D-Man) and teamed up with Captain America to investigate The Power Broker. During these adventures, Dennis came to admire Cap and the two discovered the drug The Power Broker got Dennis hooked on had no effect on his powers. Dennis had his powers 24/7, but The Power Broker lied to him and told him he needed the drug so that Dennis would be dependent on The Power Broker's help. The Power Broker and Doc Malus captured Dennis again and subjected him to further experiments that made him stronger and less sane. After mistakingly fighting Cap, Dennis suffered a heart attack and had his second augmentation removed.
After a short hiatus, Demolition Man returned to help find Steve Rogers who had been on the run from the American government. After Rogers returned to being Captain America, Demolition Man was recruited onto his Avengers. After seemingly dying, Dennis went from being a member of an Inuit Tribe, to being the protector of a homeless community, to becoming a mentally unstable and delusional thief. Being discovered by Daredevil, Dennis had begun stealing women's jewelry claiming them to be "The Infinity Gems".
He recovered later, but was also brainwashed by Henry Peter Gyrich to become the next "Scourge of The Underworld", a title held by a line of dangerous criminals. Dennis almost kills Captain America with his own shield, but is fatally shot by Cap's lover Sharon Carter. After another unspecified recovery, Dennis reappears as an ally to Sam Wilson (former Falcon, current Captain America) with Sam's response to Dennis' recovery being "He's a survivor".
At first glance, I though Demolition Man was a joke. Clearly other people thought so too as every time I'd see this guy in a comic is was solely to mock him. I think the teasing he gets comes from his costume and his fanboy obsession with Captain America, further more the character's history only got pathetic after he became a delusional thief. I happen to think the idea of a wrestler turned superhero turned protector of the homeless to be kind of neat, especially considering his worse weakness is the overuse of his own powers. His past with The Power Broker creates an interesting allegory for athletes being dependent on drugs to perform in their games, and I think Marvel is sitting on a gold mine with this interesting idea. Honestly, I could see this guy getting a Netflix series if Marvel Studios got creative enough. It's like "The Wrestler" but with more drug deals. Did that movie have any drug deals? Hmm.
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Dennis went on to create a costume resembling two of his favorite heroes: Daredevil and Wolverine. Taking the name Demolition Man (shortened to the less-flattering D-Man) and teamed up with Captain America to investigate The Power Broker. During these adventures, Dennis came to admire Cap and the two discovered the drug The Power Broker got Dennis hooked on had no effect on his powers. Dennis had his powers 24/7, but The Power Broker lied to him and told him he needed the drug so that Dennis would be dependent on The Power Broker's help. The Power Broker and Doc Malus captured Dennis again and subjected him to further experiments that made him stronger and less sane. After mistakingly fighting Cap, Dennis suffered a heart attack and had his second augmentation removed.
After a short hiatus, Demolition Man returned to help find Steve Rogers who had been on the run from the American government. After Rogers returned to being Captain America, Demolition Man was recruited onto his Avengers. After seemingly dying, Dennis went from being a member of an Inuit Tribe, to being the protector of a homeless community, to becoming a mentally unstable and delusional thief. Being discovered by Daredevil, Dennis had begun stealing women's jewelry claiming them to be "The Infinity Gems".
He recovered later, but was also brainwashed by Henry Peter Gyrich to become the next "Scourge of The Underworld", a title held by a line of dangerous criminals. Dennis almost kills Captain America with his own shield, but is fatally shot by Cap's lover Sharon Carter. After another unspecified recovery, Dennis reappears as an ally to Sam Wilson (former Falcon, current Captain America) with Sam's response to Dennis' recovery being "He's a survivor".
At first glance, I though Demolition Man was a joke. Clearly other people thought so too as every time I'd see this guy in a comic is was solely to mock him. I think the teasing he gets comes from his costume and his fanboy obsession with Captain America, further more the character's history only got pathetic after he became a delusional thief. I happen to think the idea of a wrestler turned superhero turned protector of the homeless to be kind of neat, especially considering his worse weakness is the overuse of his own powers. His past with The Power Broker creates an interesting allegory for athletes being dependent on drugs to perform in their games, and I think Marvel is sitting on a gold mine with this interesting idea. Honestly, I could see this guy getting a Netflix series if Marvel Studios got creative enough. It's like "The Wrestler" but with more drug deals. Did that movie have any drug deals? Hmm.
Thanks for reading!
Facebook: The Panel Biter
Twitter: @ThePanelBiter
Podbean: Panelbiter.podbean.com
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