(Daredevil I#6 (fb)) - Drago was working in his basement lab one day when his pet cat knocked over some chemicals. When Drago inhaled the fumes that were produced, he grew incredibly frightened; he soon recovered and was thrilled with this unintentional discovery, so he encapsulated the gas into pellets he could fire from a gun, then designed a gruesome costume to become Mr. Fear (both the fear gas creation and costume design were influenced by the Dweller-in-Darkness; see above).

   The costumed Drago looked over his statue replicas for potential henchmen to recruit and selected Ox and Eel. Using his fear gas, he manipulated criminals into revealing the Eel's location, then used the gas to convince the Eel to join him. As the Ox was released from prison, Drago and Eel picked him up and recruited him as well, and Drago dubbed his gang as "The Fellowship of Fear".

(Daredevil I#6) - Mr. Fear hired a movie crew to film Ox and Eel robbing a store, surmising that the public would think it to be a legitimate movie with the camera crew present. The costumed hero Daredevil attacked the criminal duo and successfully fought them off, until Mr. Fear arrived and shot a pellet at Daredevil, and scared the hero away.

   Drago later created a new wax statue of Daredevil and advertised it, figuring the real Daredevil would come to investigate when it was put on display for the public, then he and his henchmen could get their revenge for his interfering with their robbery. Vast crowds--including patrons Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, and Karen Page--came to see the new statue, while the concealed Fellowship members watched silently.

   That night, Daredevil entered the museum, only to be attacked by the Fellowship. While the Ox and Eel kept Daredevil occupied, Mr. Fear was about to fire another pellet at the hero; but Foggy Nelson--who thought he had seen the Ox in the museum earlier that day and wanted to investigate further--entered the building and knocked Mr. Fear's shot off-balance, then he lunged and tore off Mr. Fear's mask. Fearing that Nelson was a cop, Drago ordered Ox to handle him, so Ox punched Nelson into a wall. Mr. Fear ordered his Fellowship to abandon the building, fearing more cops would soon be arriving. Nelson had suffered a concussion, so Daredevil took him to a hospital for treatment.

   Drago was worried that Nelson had seen his face and would reveal his identity to the police, so the three members of the Fellowship later posed as doctors and went to Nelson's hospital room to silence him; but just as they entered, Daredevil burst through the window. The hero evaded Ox's punches, then switched off the lights and knocked the three criminals around -- since Mr. Fear and Eel didn't have their costumes, they were powerless, so the trio soon fled.

   The Fellowship returned to the wax museum to retrieve their loot; Mr. Fear grew frustrated when Ox and Eel began to question his leadership, so he promised to prove his worth with their next heist. But as they walked past the wax figures of various heroes and villains, Daredevil suddenly revealed he'd arrived at their hideout moments earlier and had been posing as the wax statue of himself. After knocking Ox and Eel down, Daredevil activated and reversed a window exhaust fan that blew the fumes of Mr. Fear's gun back at Ox and Eel -- Mr. Fear himself was not affected by the gas, as his face was protected by his mask, but the frightened Eel and Ox ran past Mr. Fear, knocking the gun from his hand and onto the floor.

   Daredevil kicked the fallen gun away and turned the villains' attacks against each other; after easily beating the Eel, Daredevil wore down the Ox, then turned his attention back to Mr. Fear -- the whimpering villain begged Daredevil to not hit him, and the hero concluded that Mr. Fear was a natural-born coward. With all three of the Fellowship of Fear members defeated, Daredevil left them tied up for the police.

(Daredevil I#15 - BTS) - While Drago was incarcerated, his lab was used as a hideout by escaped prisoners Dr. Karl Stragg and Ox -- Stragg built a machine that transferred his and the Ox's minds between their bodies.

(Daredevil I#55 (fb) - BTS) - Drago was sent to state prison and watched over by Warden Williams. A prison psychiatrist analyzed Drago and compiled a list of of his various phobias, including his fear of heights.

   After Drago was paroled from prison, he was staying in a New York hotel, where he was shot by Starr Saxon -- Saxon subsequently assumed the identity of Mr. Fear, and would use a flying hover platform for his crimes.

(Daredevil I#91 (fb)) - As Drago lay dying, he was questioned by Larry Cranston and revealed the location of his costume and equipment -- Cranston later became another Mr. Fear.

(Daredevil I#55) - Having learned of Drago's fear of heights, Daredevil was suspicious when he battled Mr. Fear on the villain's hover platform and suspected he wasn't the original Mr. Fear -- the villain unmasked himself as Starr Saxon, and admitted that he killed Zoltan Drago "weeks ago".

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Wally Wood.

As part of Mr. Fear entries throughout all OHotMU editions, Drago received partial entries in OHotMU I#7, Deluxe Edition#8, Master Edition and Daredevil 2004.

Mr. Fear is listed as Daredevil's 8th deadliest villain in Daredevil Annual I#8/2 [...although the easily-defeated Drago-iteration of the character probably wasn't the intended nominee--Ron Fredricks].

The coloring of the main image was a bit off, but it is a great body shot of Drago as Mister Fear and thanks to Loki (Stuart Vandal) the coloring was even fixed.
--Markus Raymond

Thanks to Markus Raymond for adding the Dweller-in-Darkness connection.

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Chadman. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mr. Fear (Zoltan Drago) should not be confused with:

• MISTER FEAR (Starr Saxon) - second holder of the title, later became Machinesmith--Daredevil I#49
• MISTER FEAR (Larry Cranston) - third holder of the title--Daredevil I#91
• MISTER FEAR (Alan Fagan) - fourth holder of the title--Marvel Team-Up I#92
• any other future successors of Mr. Fear

...and Mr. Fear has no known connections to:

• FEAR - aka Dark Man--Thor I#323
• FEAR BUGS of Earth-928 circa 2099 AD - creatures inhabiting asteroid JM881--Punisher 2099#25/3
• FEAR-EATERS - Kkallakki race, offspring of Fear Lord Kkallakku--Marvel Comics Presents I#1/4
• FEARFUL ELIZA - torture device--Hellstorm: Prince of Lies#15
• FEAR LORDS - Dr. Strange foes--Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#31/2
• FEAR MACHINE - of Jarella's world of K'ai--Incredible Hulk II#156
• or any other "Mister" or Fear" characters or items
  

Zoltan Drago's wax museum Located on a dingy side-street in New York City, it was where Drago displayed his wax figures of various superheroes and villains. But the museum was a failure and attracted few patrons. The basement of the building contained a laboratory where Drago spent his spare time attempting to create a chemical formula to bring his wax figures to life. During his experimentation, Drago accidentally created fear gas, which he used when he turned to crime as Mr. Fear. He maintained the building as a hideout for himself and his Fellowship of Fear (Ox, Eel), but they were all eventually defeated by Daredevil and arrested. During his incarceration, Drago's lab was used as a hideout by escaped prisoners Dr. Karl Stragg and Ox -- Stragg built a machine that transferred his and the Ox's minds between their bodies. (Comment: Some of the wax figures displayed in Drago's  museum included statues of the Black Knight, the Cobra, the Hate-Monger, Mr. Doll, Mr. Hyde, the Melter, the Owl, Pharaoh Rama-Tut, and Baron Heinrich Zemo.) --Daredevil I#6 (Daredevil I#6, 15

Warden Williams The warden of a state prison, Williams [red rectangle] was contacted by attorney Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, who was seeking information on former inmate Zoltan Drago, who had once been Mr. Fear. (Comment: Warden Williams was only "seen" in this one panel during Foggy Nelson's phone call, and otherwise made no actual appearance.) --Daredevil I#55 (Daredevil I#55 - BTS

images: (without ads)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#32, p21, pan2 (main image - Mr. Fear)
Daredevil I#6, p6, pan6 (headshot - Zoltan Drago discovers fear gas)
Daredevil I#6, p4, pan2 (headshot - Mr. Fear fires gun at Daredevil)
Daredevil I#6, p6, pan10 (Mr. Fear)
Daredevil I#91, p19, pan6 (in flashback, Zoltan Drago [on floor], dying after being shot by Starr Saxon; Larry Cranston [right])
Daredevil I#6, p5, pan6 (Zoltan Drago, about to enter his wax museum)
Daredevil I#6, p5, pan7 (Zoltan Drago walks into his wax museum; wax figures of various heroes and villains)
Daredevil I#55, p13, pan4 (Foggy Nelson speaks to Warden Williams [red rectangle] on telephone)

Appearances:
Daredevil I#6 (February, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Wally Wood (pencils/inks), Sam Rosen (letters)
Daredevil I#15 (April, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Romita (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks)
Daredevil I#55 (August, 1969) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#91 (September, 1972) - Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Artie Simek (letters), Roy Thomas (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#32/2 (August, 1991) - Jean-Marc Lofficier, Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Larry Alexander (pencils), Tim Dzon (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)

First posted: 04/12/2008
Last updated: 05/08/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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