Mister Fear
Encyclopedia
Mister Fear is the name of several fictional character
s, all supervillain
s in the Marvel Comics
Universe
. Mister Fear first appears in Daredevil
(vol. 1) #6 and was created by Stan Lee
and Wally Wood
.
Fear used his fear-gas to make terrified slaves of the brutish Ox
of the Enforcers
and the Eel
. Naming his triumvirate the Fellowship of Fear, Drago ran afoul of, and was soundly defeated by Daredevil
and imprisoned. He was later killed by Starr Saxon in New York City.
Cranston went mad during his first effort against Daredevil in San Francisco, jumping off a building, assuming that he was wearing a rocket pack which he had previously worn in battle with the hero, and seemingly died due to injuries sustained in a fall.
Cranston survived the fall and returned years later. He masterminded a series of campaigns meant to discredit Daredevil with the aid of the current Enforcers, the Eel, and a sleepless woman named Insomnia. Daredevil defeated them and Cranston abandoned the Mister Fear identity.
Cranston later resurfaced, along with the Enforcers
at his side, providing the criminals of Hell's Kitchen a drug that causes the user to become psychotic and completely unafraid of death. In an attempt to make Daredevil's life miserable, Cranston also gave the drug to Milla Donovan
, the Daredevil's wife. This ultimately lead to a decisive battle between him and an enraged Murdock, where Cranston was quickly overpowered. However, with Milla seemingly in a permanent state of psychosis, his ultimate goal was complete. And, knowing Daredevil would not kill him, he surrendered to the police, confessed all his wrongdoings and was sent to Ryker's Island. Immediately after his imprisonment, however, he became the "King" of the prison, due to his ability to unknowingly instill fear into anyone he met. This made him able to control anyone. His last appearance had him surrounded by bodyguards, saluted by prison guards, and entering a lavish cell with a female officer waiting to greet him. Cranston also came into conflict with The Hood
and his crime empire during his attacks on Daredevil and his wife.
. He was the nephew of the third Mister Fear, Larry Cranston. When Larry seemingly died, Alan came into possession of the fear gas and other equipment. Unlike the other Mister Fears, Fagan's primary adversary was Spider-Man
, not Daredevil.
Fagan attempted to use his fear-gas in blackmail schemes which were stymied by Spider-Man, with the aid of Hawkeye
. Fagan was brutally attacked in prison, much of the skin carved from his face by men in the employ of his daughter, who used the skin to draw out fear-gas residue she used to turn herself into the villain Shock.
Fagan recovered from these injuries and received improved weaponry from the interim ruler of Latveria
, Lucia Von Bardas
. The weaponry, including a suit of body armor resembling a metallic version of the traditional Mister Fear costume, was destroyed at the climax of the Secret War
miniseries.
Fagan was one of the many criminals to escape from the Raft
prison facility, becoming a thrall of the villain Crossfire
. During his efforts in service to Crossfire, Fagan was again defeated by Spider-Man.
As opposed to Cranston, Fagan has been hired by the Hood
to take advantage of the split in the superhero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act.
During the Fear Itself
storyline, Mister Fear discovers that the Serpent and the Worthy are outdoing his talents of inducing fear in people.
—chemicals produced by most animals, used to communicate a variety of simple messages over distances. This flight-scent pheromone stimulates fear reactions in herd animals. The drug is tailored for human beings, whose reactions to pheromones are not completely understood. It induces severe anxiety, fear, and panic, and sometimes nightmarish hallucinations in his victims, rendering them incapable of fighting or resisting his will. The drug is most commonly used in the form of gas pellets shot from a gun. The pellets rupture on contact, releasing the flight scent, which is inhaled by the victim. The dosage contained in one pellet is enough to incapacitate a normal adult male for about 15 minutes, or an exceptionally fit male, such as Daredevil, for about five minutes. The side effects of anxiety, edginess, and mild nausea can persist for several days.
Zoltan Drago had a gifted intellect and was an accomplished sculptor of wax figures. He was also a talented amateur chemist, and invented the fear pellets that he and the others used as Mister Fear.
Larry Cranston had a law degree, and a fair amount of legal expertise. He sometimes employed one-man jet devices, as Mister Fear. When Larry came after Matt Murdock in an attempt to ruin his life, he displayed the ability to influence the minds of other people into doing whatever he wanted them to do. Using a drug he created, he also made himself fearless. He also trained extensively in hand to hand combat for his confrontation with Daredevil.
Alan Fagan discovered that the flight scent can be administered in other ways: Fagan has used a miniature hypodermic needle mounted on his ring to inject a large dose of the liquid directly into his victim's bloodstream. He has also used a hand-held weapon that fires capsules of the fear gas. Small but effective doses of the flight scent can be absorbed through the pores in the skin within an enclosed space, but the length of time it takes limits its usefulness. Working with an unidentified chemist, Fagan has also adapted other pheromones to his use, including one that makes a man sexually irresistible to women.
Alan Fagan is a highly adept businessman. He briefly wore a suit of armor, which presumably at least provided protection from injury. Chronic exposure to his various chemicals has resulted in accumulation of his fear drug within Fagan' skin. Though he has not proven able to utilize this himself, samples of his skin were used by Ariel Tremmore to gain superhuman powers as Shock.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s, all supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. Mister Fear first appears in Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
(vol. 1) #6 and was created by Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
.
Zoltan Drago
Zoltan Drago was the proprietor of a financially-ailing wax museum who attempted to use his knowledge of chemistry to create an elixir which would turn his wax statues into living creatures, with which he would create a private army. The chemical failed to create life in wax, but Drago discovered the brew he had created could evoke fear in those who inhaled it. Designing a frightening costume for himself, Drago became Mister Fear.Fear used his fear-gas to make terrified slaves of the brutish Ox
Ox (comics)
Ox is a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain, and he usually works for the Kingpin, Mister Fear or Hammerhead.-Publication history:The original Ox, Raymond Bloch, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #10 , and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko...
of the Enforcers
Enforcers (comics)
The Enforcers are a fictional team of villains in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko, the team's first appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man #10 .-Publication history:...
and the Eel
Eel (comics)
The Eel is an alias used by two fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first character to take up the identity was Leopold Stryke who first appeared in Strange Tales #112, while his successor, Edward Lavell, first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #92 .-Publication...
. Naming his triumvirate the Fellowship of Fear, Drago ran afoul of, and was soundly defeated by Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
and imprisoned. He was later killed by Starr Saxon in New York City.
Starr Saxon
Criminal engineer Samuel "Starr" Saxon temporarily assumed the guise of Mister Fear. Daredevil had defeated Saxon's robotic assassins, and desiring the means to confront Daredevil directly, Saxon gunned down Drago and stole his gear. As the second Mister Fear, Saxon humiliated Daredevil in televised battles, casting himself as the hero in a series of charity-funding battles against the superhero. In the final battle with Daredevil, Saxon was unmasked, and plunged to his death. Saxon's robots would use his mind as the template for the Machinesmith's central consciousness.Larry Cranston
Lawrence "Larry" Cranston was a law school classmate of Matt Murdock who also became his employer for a while. Cranston happened to overhear Saxon killing Drago, and after learning that Saxon himself had died, he decided to take on the guise of Mister Fear.Cranston went mad during his first effort against Daredevil in San Francisco, jumping off a building, assuming that he was wearing a rocket pack which he had previously worn in battle with the hero, and seemingly died due to injuries sustained in a fall.
Cranston survived the fall and returned years later. He masterminded a series of campaigns meant to discredit Daredevil with the aid of the current Enforcers, the Eel, and a sleepless woman named Insomnia. Daredevil defeated them and Cranston abandoned the Mister Fear identity.
Cranston later resurfaced, along with the Enforcers
Enforcers (comics)
The Enforcers are a fictional team of villains in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko, the team's first appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man #10 .-Publication history:...
at his side, providing the criminals of Hell's Kitchen a drug that causes the user to become psychotic and completely unafraid of death. In an attempt to make Daredevil's life miserable, Cranston also gave the drug to Milla Donovan
Milla Donovan
Milla Donovan is a supporting character in the Marvel Comics comic-book series Daredevil. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev and first appeared in Daredevil vol. 2 #41...
, the Daredevil's wife. This ultimately lead to a decisive battle between him and an enraged Murdock, where Cranston was quickly overpowered. However, with Milla seemingly in a permanent state of psychosis, his ultimate goal was complete. And, knowing Daredevil would not kill him, he surrendered to the police, confessed all his wrongdoings and was sent to Ryker's Island. Immediately after his imprisonment, however, he became the "King" of the prison, due to his ability to unknowingly instill fear into anyone he met. This made him able to control anyone. His last appearance had him surrounded by bodyguards, saluted by prison guards, and entering a lavish cell with a female officer waiting to greet him. Cranston also came into conflict with The Hood
Hood (comics)
The Hood is a fictional character, a supervillain, and a crime boss in the . Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the character first appeared in The Hood #1 .-Publication history:...
and his crime empire during his attacks on Daredevil and his wife.
Alan Fagan
Alan Fagan was born in Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
. He was the nephew of the third Mister Fear, Larry Cranston. When Larry seemingly died, Alan came into possession of the fear gas and other equipment. Unlike the other Mister Fears, Fagan's primary adversary was Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, not Daredevil.
Fagan attempted to use his fear-gas in blackmail schemes which were stymied by Spider-Man, with the aid of Hawkeye
Hawkeye (comics)
Hawkeye , also known as Goliath and Ronin, is a fictional character that appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck. Hawkeye joined the Avengers in Avengers Vol. 1 #16 Hawkeye...
. Fagan was brutally attacked in prison, much of the skin carved from his face by men in the employ of his daughter, who used the skin to draw out fear-gas residue she used to turn herself into the villain Shock.
Fagan recovered from these injuries and received improved weaponry from the interim ruler of Latveria
Latveria
Latveria is a nation in the . It is an isolated European country ruled by the supervillain Doctor Doom, supposedly located in the Banat region. It is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, and also borders the Symkaria to the south. Its capital is Doomstadt.-Publication history:Latveria first...
, Lucia Von Bardas
Lucia von Bardas
Lucia von Bardas is a fictional character, a supervillain in comic books published by Marvel Comics.- Fictional character biography :Lucia von Bardas is a Latverian woman who used to teach at the University of North Carolina in the United States. After Victor von Doom was deposed as the leader of...
. The weaponry, including a suit of body armor resembling a metallic version of the traditional Mister Fear costume, was destroyed at the climax of the Secret War
Secret War (comics)
Secret War is a five-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. The series is written by Brian Michael Bendis and painted by Gabriele Dell'Otto...
miniseries.
Fagan was one of the many criminals to escape from the Raft
The Raft (comics)
The Raft is a fictional island prison facility in New York City for psychopathic superhuman criminals appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
prison facility, becoming a thrall of the villain Crossfire
Crossfire (comics)
Crossfire is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer Steven Grant and artist Jim Craig in Marvel Two-in-One #52...
. During his efforts in service to Crossfire, Fagan was again defeated by Spider-Man.
As opposed to Cranston, Fagan has been hired by the Hood
Hood (comics)
The Hood is a fictional character, a supervillain, and a crime boss in the . Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the character first appeared in The Hood #1 .-Publication history:...
to take advantage of the split in the superhero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act.
During the Fear Itself
Fear Itself (comics)
"Fear Itself" is a 2011 crossover comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a seven-issue, eponymous miniseries written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, a prologue book by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Scott Eaton, and...
storyline, Mister Fear discovers that the Serpent and the Worthy are outdoing his talents of inducing fear in people.
Powers and abilities
Mister Fear employs a compound based on the flight scent pheromonePheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
—chemicals produced by most animals, used to communicate a variety of simple messages over distances. This flight-scent pheromone stimulates fear reactions in herd animals. The drug is tailored for human beings, whose reactions to pheromones are not completely understood. It induces severe anxiety, fear, and panic, and sometimes nightmarish hallucinations in his victims, rendering them incapable of fighting or resisting his will. The drug is most commonly used in the form of gas pellets shot from a gun. The pellets rupture on contact, releasing the flight scent, which is inhaled by the victim. The dosage contained in one pellet is enough to incapacitate a normal adult male for about 15 minutes, or an exceptionally fit male, such as Daredevil, for about five minutes. The side effects of anxiety, edginess, and mild nausea can persist for several days.
Zoltan Drago had a gifted intellect and was an accomplished sculptor of wax figures. He was also a talented amateur chemist, and invented the fear pellets that he and the others used as Mister Fear.
Larry Cranston had a law degree, and a fair amount of legal expertise. He sometimes employed one-man jet devices, as Mister Fear. When Larry came after Matt Murdock in an attempt to ruin his life, he displayed the ability to influence the minds of other people into doing whatever he wanted them to do. Using a drug he created, he also made himself fearless. He also trained extensively in hand to hand combat for his confrontation with Daredevil.
Alan Fagan discovered that the flight scent can be administered in other ways: Fagan has used a miniature hypodermic needle mounted on his ring to inject a large dose of the liquid directly into his victim's bloodstream. He has also used a hand-held weapon that fires capsules of the fear gas. Small but effective doses of the flight scent can be absorbed through the pores in the skin within an enclosed space, but the length of time it takes limits its usefulness. Working with an unidentified chemist, Fagan has also adapted other pheromones to his use, including one that makes a man sexually irresistible to women.
Alan Fagan is a highly adept businessman. He briefly wore a suit of armor, which presumably at least provided protection from injury. Chronic exposure to his various chemicals has resulted in accumulation of his fear drug within Fagan' skin. Though he has not proven able to utilize this himself, samples of his skin were used by Ariel Tremmore to gain superhuman powers as Shock.