Demolition Man (comics)

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Demolition Man

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(as Dennis Dunphy) The Thing #28 (October, 1985) (as Demolition-Man) Captain America #328
Created by	Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson

Characteristics
Alter ego	Dennis Dunphy
Affiliations	Captain America Avengers Night People Queen's Vengeance Inuit tribe Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation
Notable aliases	D-Man, Demolition Dunphy
Abilities	Superhuman strength, endurance and resistance to injury

Demolition Man is the superhero alias of Dennis Dunphy, a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is also known as D-Man.

[edit] Character biography

Dennis Dunphy is an aspiring athlete who receives the strength augmentation treatments offered by Power Broker, Inc. Finding himself too strong now for normal sports, he becomes a member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation (UCWF) along with other superheroes and supervillains such as the Beyonder, the Thing, and Screaming Mimi.

After the fall of the UCWF, Dunphy teams up with Captain America to investigate Power Broker, Inc. His costume is intentionally designed so the body of it is a duplicate of Daredevil's first costume, and the hood is a knock-off of Wolverine's. Although he is successful in helping Cap catch Karl Malus, Dunphy is captured by the Power Broker and subjected to further treatments which damage his heart. Dunphy suffers a heart attack, so he takes a step back from super-heroing to take over Captain America's hotline.

Soon after this, Steve Rogers is stripped of his Captain America costume by the Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA). Steve Rogers renames himself simply "The Captain", and forms a short-lived informal team composed of himself, Demolition Man, Nomad and Vagabond. After a few adventures, Dunphy is arrested by the CSA and held for questioning about the Captain's activities.

When Dennis is finally released by the CSA, he seeks out Captain America, discovering that not only has his team disbanded, but that the Avengers have also just dissolved and that the Captain is seeking new members. Captain unofficially inducts Demolition Man as the first of his new Avengers, and they almost immediately leave on a mission at the request of Battlestar. Battlestar's partner is John Walker, Captain America's replacement, who has been captured by Flag-Smasher and his group ULTIMATUM. While Battlestar and the Captain investigated ULTIMATUM's Arctic base, Demolition Man is left with their plane.

During the fight, the Captain discovers that Flag-Smasher's base contains a doomsday weapon, and he orders Dunphy to set the plane on course to crash into the base and then bail out. Dennis sets course, but then sees an enemy agent land on the plane. Dunphy elects to stay on the plane to ensure that it connects. The plane explodes with Dunphy in it, and Captain America is unable to find any trace of him.

In a later adventure with Jack Frost, Cap sees what he believes to be Dunphy's body frozen in suspended animation. However, he is unable to free him at that time. Demolition Man had survived the explosion, but suffered wounds that rendered him mute and stupored. In time he is rescued by Captain America and the Falcon and recovers under Avengers' care. In time he becomes a hero of a subterranean group of homeless people called the Zero People, and on occasion even declines assisting the Avengers on occasion in order to stay with them.

Jarvis has assisted Dennis by donating supplies to his people.

Dennis appears when the Avengers are attacked by Morgan LeFay's forces. His inattention to hygiene cause many to sit far away from him.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In The Pulse #13, it is established that Dunphy has become delusional and mentally unstable. His intentions remain pure, but he has begun to believe that a "Cosmic Gamemaster" has asked him to retrieve the seven Infinity Gems, which D-Man carries out by stealing common jewelry. At Ben Urich's request, D-Man's hero Daredevil comes into the sewers and persuaded Dennis to get some help.

In Civil War: War Crimes, an unnamed newspaper carries the headline "D-Parted: D-Man On The Run After Whereabouts Revealed By Anonymous Tip."

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Alternate versions

When Morgan le Fay usurps the Scarlet Witch's powers and remakes the world in Avengers vol. 3, all of the Avengers members are remade into medieval versions possessing the same powers. In this reality, Demolition Man is renamed Serf.