 On Day 29 of this year’s Jack Kirby Tribute Month, dedicated to the Fantastic Four and related characters, today’s prompt is Dragon Man!
On Day 29 of this year’s Jack Kirby Tribute Month, dedicated to the Fantastic Four and related characters, today’s prompt is Dragon Man!
D‑Man starts off as an inanimate figure created by State University Prof. Gilbert. But Diablo (in his second appearance in FF) manages to bring life to Dragon Man! Predictably, chaos ensues.
Dragon Man isn’t really bad; more just simple-minded and easily manipulated. He’s very strong, very tough, flies, and…oh yeah; he can breathe fire! In his first appearance, Sue’s presence seems to be a calming influence.
The character makes five appearances during Jack and Stan’s FF run, and ends up being part of the batch of issues that introduce the Inhumans too. He also seems to be a favorite “toy” for later creators to play with, as he’s shown up in a bunch of other titles.
I feel like Jack must have had at least a slight fascination with the idea of “Dragon Men,” as this wasn’t the first time he was involved with a concept like that. Way back in the Golden Age, he and partner Joe Simon did the first issue of what would soon become Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Adventures. One of those stories featured a race of Dragon Men who had enslaved humans on Saturn. More about it here.
The penultimate post is coming up tomorrow! What will it be? Come by and find out!
