Enemies: Americop, Avengers, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Captain America, Daredevil, Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), Danny French, Zachary Moonhunter, Ivan Petrovitch, SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Division); the Kinder (kidnapped by his agents)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Indestructible Man

Base of Operations: Currently unknown; formerly a mansion in New Orleans, Lousiana; an island off the coast of China (not far from Hong Kong!); an immense undersea craft; a mansion on the outskirts of Berkeley, California

First Appearance: Daredevil I#92 (October, 1972)

Powers: Damon Dran is apparently almost completely invulnerable. While he doesn't appear to possess any superhuman strength (although he has been listed as being able to lift 800 lbs.-25 tons) or any fighting skills, it seems that no amount of force can harm him. It is uncertain if he can feel pain, or whether he has any type of sensation. He keeps his nails long (he may not be able to help it), and they could probably be a weapon (as could his hair...see comments), but he's never been seen to engage in physical combat.
After first gaining his powers, he was immensely strong and had other energy powers, which he enjoyed using on a rampage, but these other abilities have faded.
Dran is exorbitantly wealthy, and has access to advanced technology. He is served by a number of scientists, technicians, bodyguards, and soldiers. He has used his technology and resources for physical mutation, brainwashing, cosmetic surgery, and a number of forms of weaponry.

Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Grey, balding

History: Damon Dran made a fortune selling munitions. However, despite the fact that his technology was one of the things making it a possibility, Dran was deathly afraid of nuclear war. To this end, he organized Project: Four, a mysterious project exploring a new source of energy which he hoped would protect him in the event of such a war.

(Daredevil I#90 (fb) - BTS) - Back in 1964 (translation: 8 years before the story in Daredevil#92), Project: Four accomplished its goal and constructed a globe of immense power. Apparently Project: Four was under close government supervision, because Dran hired Danny French to steal the globe. French meanwhile enlisted the aid of Russian spy Natasha Romanoff to assist him. The two broke in to Project: Four, overpowered the scientists, and stole the globe. French set up a gas cylinder given to him by Dran, which he believed was a knockout drug to prevent the men from following him as he escaped. The cylinder actually contained a lethal drug, which killed off the scientists.
French knew that the globe was an item of immense power, although he had no idea how it worked. Nonetheless, French decided to keep the globe for himself, and disappeared with it. Dran spent the next eight years dedicating his resources to locating French, without much luck.

(Daredevil I#92 (fb) ) - Eight years later, Dran's agents, including Charles, located and ambushed the Black Widow and Danny French in order to force them to reveal the location of the globe. The Widow was doing a nice job of fighting their assailants off, until Danny, feeling a touch of machismo (or maybe he's just a dumb-@$$), clocked Natasha from behind, knocking her out, so he could prove that he didn't need her to fight his battles. Charles promptly flattened Danny with a single punch. Danny and the Widow were brought back to Dran's Berkeley mansion.

(Daredevil I#92-94) - Dran secretly observed Daredevil in action in San Francisco, taking his measure and deciding that he was a man to fear. Dran had his chauffeur take him back to his mansion, where he, his scientists, and his technicians pried the information of the location of the globe from the mind of French. Dran then had them brainwash the Widow and sent her to attack Daredevil, to prevent him from interfering with his plans.
Daredevil managed to stop the Widow, but in the meantime, Dran had Bertram and Daniel locate the globe. Dran had Charles kill the two men, to tie up loose ends. He then had his scientists activate the globe, unleashing its energies into him. Dran emerged from the chamber a walking powerhouse, and incinerated the scientists as his way of saying thanks. About that time, Daredevil arrived to stop Dran (having obtained his location from the Widow). In the ensuing battle, the laboratory went up in flames and blew up. Daredevil and Danny French narrowly escaped, but Dran did not. Fortunately for him, Dran was now the Indestructible Man.
Drunk with power, Dran emerged from the wreckage of his former mansion and headed off to San Francisco, wreacking havoc along the way. Neither the police nor the military could do anything against the immensely powerful Dran, who continued to increase in size, mass, and power as he approached San Francisco. Daredevil and the Black Widow showed up to try to stop him as well, but to no avail. Finally, Danny French realized that Dran was still keeping the globe floating over his shoulder, apparently continuing to draw power from it. Blaming himself for allowing things to come to this, French rushed Dran's monstous form, and then at the last second he hurled a shaft of wood at the globe. The globe exploded on impact, killing Danny French. However, his sacrifice proved to be effective, as Dran began to slowly shrink in size, and became vulnerable to the attacks of the two heroes. Daredevil and the Widow overpowered Dran, and he was taken in by the police.

(OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - Dran returned to normal size, but his powers eventually stabilized, rendering him virtually invulnerable, although badly scarred from his previous experiences.

(Marvel Fanfare I#10-BTS, 11-13) - Dran's agents kidnapped Ivan Petrovitch, the friend of the Black Widow, and made it appear as if he had defected back to the Soviet Union (remember that?). SHIELD recruited the Widow to go after him, which was exactly what Dran wanted. He deliberately arranged events so that the Widow would appear to have screwed up the job, and then he had his agents abduct her. After some struggle, Snapdragon defeated the Widow and brought her to Dran's island base. In the meantime, Dran placed an imposter of the Widow at the site of the battle, to rejoin the SHIELD agents who had been knocked out. The Widow claimed to have fought off Snapdragon, and returned to the SHIELD Helicarrier. Dran's plan would involve the Widow imposter murdering Nick Fury in front of a live video feed, just before his ship would blow the Helicarrier out of the sky. Dran planned this all to punish the Widow for interfering with his previous plans.
The Widow, however, put the kibosh on Dran's plans. She broke out of her cell, defeated Snapdragon, freed Ivan, and contacted the Helicarrier in time. The Widow imposter was subdued, and SHIELD then bombed Dran's island base, completely obliterating it--with him in it.

(OHotMU 2006#4 - BTS) - Being indestructible and all, Dran eventually escaped from the rubble and re-established a base in New Orleans. There he began a career of obtaining and selling anyone or anything for which he could obtain a profit. Dran apparently organized the kidnapping of a number of runaway youths and sold them to the Baron and Baroness Zemo, who trained them to become the Kinder.

(Captain America I#428-BTS, 429, 430) - The vigilante Americop followed the trail of missing children to Dran's mansion. At the same time, Diamondback was searching for proof of the death of Snapdragon, which led her into the clutches of Dran's agents. In addition, Captain America followed Diamondback, and they all ended up at Dran's mansion at the same time. Dran's agents captured all of the heroes, but Diamondback got free and summoned help from the Avengers. Americop got free as well, and went on a killing spree. While he himself was not at risk of harm, Dran feared the potential for capture, so he abandoned his mansion and took off in his helicopter. However, Americop blew the helicopter out of the sky, and Dran dropped to the ground, where he was apprehended by his old friend, the Black Widow.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and Gene "The Dean" Colan.

Dran's battle with Daredevil and the Black Widow was also broadcast on television in Marvels#4.

I don't know what the "Four" in Project: Four was supposed to represent. Let me know if you do.
...also, I found the story behind Project: Four a little hard to follow. Let me know if I messed any of it up.

Let's see, Dran appeared in 1972, 1983, and 1994. He's the crazy-eleven-year-recurring-obscure-villain! I'll look forward to seeing him again in 2005...

After surviving a helicopter explosion and subsequently dropping at least 30 feet.
Black Widow: "Are you in pain, Dran?"
Dran: "Talking to you--yes."

John Byrne wrote a really cool series called "The Next Men"--one of the women was invulnerable, and she used her nails, and her hair as weapons. She could decapitate someone with a strand of her indestructible hair. Dran's long hair reminded me of that...and Omar Karindu reminded me that Diamond Lil once nearly did the same thing to Snowbird in Alpha Flight I#12...another Byrne story.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Damon Dran the Indestructible Man has no known connections with:

• Invincible Man, Fantastic Four foe(s) @ Fantastic Four I#32
• any other indestructible character

• Mr. French, the live-in butler guy for Jody and Buffy in Family Affair

images:

Other appearances:
Daredevil I#93-94 (November-December, 1972) - Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Fanfare I#11-13 (November, 1983 - March, 1984; bi-monthly) - Ralph Macchio & George Perez (#11-12) (writer), George Perez (pencils), Joe Sinnott (#11), Jack Abel (#11), Al Milgrom (#12), John Beatty (#13) & Brett Breeding (#13) (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Captain America I#429-430 (July-August, 1994) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Dave Hoover (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)

Last updated: 05/29/04

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.