DRAN DECKER

Real Name: Dran Decker

Identity/Class: Human (World War II)

Occupation: Nazi agent

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Adolf Hitler, Phil Krott

Enemies: Admiral Pierce, Franklin Roosevelt, Terror (Laslo Pevely), General Thompson

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Dollmaker

Base of Operations: Life-Like Doll Company, somewhere near Washington, DC

First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#6//4 (October, 1941)

Powers/Abilities: A normal human being, Decker displayed no paranormal abilities.

   Decker was equipped with a poisonous shrinking fluid, along with a large spraying machine which dispensed the chemical.

Height: 5' 8" (by approximation)
Weight: 160 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown (balding)

History:
(Mystic Comics I#6/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Decker is largely unrevealed, but at some point the Nazis equipped him with a shrinking fluid spraying machine and sent him on a mission to kill various United States governmental officials. Decker set up his headquarters in the Life-Like Doll Company, then captured General Thompson and used the lethal shrinking fluid to reduce the military official to the size of a doll. Decker placed Thompson's body in a box to personally deliver it to President Franklin Roosevelt as a "birthday present" the following week.

   At some point, Decker also kidnapped Admiral Pierce and held him captive.

(Mystic Comics I#6/4) - In Washington, DC, Decker carried the box and stood in line at the White House with hundreds of well-wishers on the President's birthday (see comments). Decker grew impatient with waiting and brutally shoved a woman out of his way--Decker's harsh actions were seen by Laslo Pevely, who was also standing in line, and having become angered by what he'd just seen, Pevely transformed into his alter-ego of the Terror.

   The Terror punched Decker, causing him to drop the package, along with a label with the doll company's address. As Decker fled, the Terror returned to his normal human form; Pevely picked up the box and hand-delivered it to the President. Within the box, the President found a "doll" that looked like General Thompson, who had disappeared a week ago. The President gave the "doll" to his top research man, who determined that it was actually the body of the general, shrunken and preserved by a process similar to that used by witch doctors. Pevely went back outside and found Decker's dropped address label, so he went to investigate the Life-Like Doll Company.

   Pevely arrived at the doll company, where he was greeted by Krott--Krott lied and told him that Decker was out of town. As Pevely left the office, he heard a shriek of agony coming from the basement, so he transformed himself into the Terror and ran back inside; after a brief physical confrontation with Krott, the Terror went down the trapdoor to the basement, where he found Decker spraying shrinking fluid on Admiral Pierce. As Pierce began to dwindle in size, the Terror punched Decker aside, but Krott sneaked up from behind and knocked out the Terror with a blackjack--the unconscious Terror transformed back to Laslo Pevely.

   Pevely awoke to find himself tied to a chair; Decker was standing before him and directed Pevely's attention to a table-top to see the fate which awaited him--Pevely saw Admiral Pierce reduced to miniature size. Decker confirmed he was working with the Nazis, and told Pevely that he planned to shrink the President down to doll-size and present him as a gift for Hitler. The infuriated Pevely's strength returned and he transformed back into the Terror, then burst his bonds and jumped from the chair to deliver a knock-out punch to Decker.

   Krott came running toward the Terror, ready to strike him again with his blackjack. But the Terror punched Krott, whose body flew to hit the activating lever of the spraying machine, and Krott was doused with the shrinking fluid. The Terror transformed back into Pevely as the shrinking Krott begged him for the antidote. Pevely grabbed the bottle of antidote and first poured it on Admiral Pierce to restore him to his normal size, then he administered the rest to Krott; the two Nazi agents were taken into custody.

   Later at the White House, the President informed Pevely that Decker and Krott would be going on trial the following week.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and an unidentified artist.

Decker's shrinking fluid probably contained the size-altering Pym Particles.

Perhaps shortly after this story, the Nazis used a non-fatal variant of Decker's shrinking fluid to reduce Roger Aubrey's size so he could become Dyna-Mite of the Crusaders.

The story occurred during the President's birthday. The president during this time was Franklin Roosevelt, who was born January 30, 1882, so this story probably occurred in late January/early February.
--Wolfram Bane

Decker and Krott received first names in Terror's handbook profile in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC#12 (2009). Decker apparently also received his Dollmaker codename in this profile.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Decker has no known connections to:

Krott has no known connections to:

Admiral Pierce has no known connections to:

General Thompson has no known connections to:

Life-Like Doll Company

A building near the White House, it was where Decker made his headquarters.

Decker kept his shrinking fluid spraying machine in the building's basement.

--Mystic Comics I#6/4

Phil Krott

A Nazi agent armed with a blackjack, Krott was Decker's accomplice, and he assisted Decker in his scheme to shrink American officials to doll-size.

Krott himself nearly met that very fate when the Terror punched him into the shrinking fluid spraying machine and he accidentally doused himself with the shrinking fluid; but Krott was spared when he received the antidote in time (Laslo Pevely: "He'll live! And he won't need a doll-size electric chair, either!")

--Mystic Comics I#6/4

Decker's shrinking fluid

Used by Nazi agent Decker, it was a liquid which reduced humans to the size of dolls. The liquid was contained within, and dispensed by, a large spraying machine in the basement of the Life-Like Doll Company.

The chemical was apparently absorbed through the victim's skin, and the process of shrinking appeared to be quite painful; additionally, the shrinking fluid was apparently poisonous and eventually killed the victim after an unspecified period of time.

Decker also had a bottle of liquid antidote which quickly reversed the effects of the shrinking fluid and restored the victim to his normal size.

--Mystic Comics I#6/4

General Thompson

A military official, he had been kidnapped by Nazi agent Decker. Thompson was subjected to Decker's shrinking fluid and he was reduced to the size of a doll.

The general eventually died from the effects of the shrinking fluid, and Decker put his reduced body in a box to deliver it to the President.

--Mystic Comics I#6/4

Admiral Pierce

A military official with the United States Navy, Pierce had been kidnapped by Nazi agent Decker and was being held captive in the basement of the Life-Like Doll Company.

Decker was spraying Pierce with shrinking fluid, and as his size began to dwindle, the admiral's agonized scream drew the attention of the Terror.

Later, the doll-sized Pierce lay on a table-top, but he was saved from the deadly effects of the shrinking fluid when the antidote was poured upon him, and Pierce returned to his normal height.

--Mystic Comics I#6/4

images: (without ads)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Decker (holding shrunken Admiral Pierce and Pierce's jacket in left hand))
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p6, pan4 (Headshot - Decker)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p1, pan3 (unidentified woman (left); Decker (with package containing shrunken body of General Thompson) impatiently waits in line to see the President)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p6, pan5 (Decker (in front of shrinking fluid spraying machine) reveals his plans for the President)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p4, pan1 (Laslo Pevely (AKA The Terror) standing outside Life-Like Doll Company)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p4, pan2 (Krott (right) speaks with Laslo Pevely)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p5, pan5 (Krott (right) hits the Terror with blackjack)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p7, pan5 (Krott gets sprayed by shrinking fluid, begins to shrink)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p5, pan2 (Decker uses shrinking fluid spraying machine to spray Admiral Pierce with shrinking fluid)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p3. pan3 (President's hand holds shrunken body of General Thompson)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p6, pan3 (shrunken Admiral Pierce laying on table-top)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p7, pan6 (Laslo Pevely's hand pours antidote on shrunken Admiral Pierce)
Mystic Comics I#6/4, p7, pan7 (Admiral Pierce restored to his normal height)

Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#6/4 (October, 1941) - unidentified writer, unidentified artist, Joe Simon (editor)

First Posted: 09/16/2018
Last updated: 09/19/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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