KURT DAGMAR (impostor?)
KURT DAGMAR
(impostor?)
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial ("Martian") advanced technology user
Occupation: Arms dealer, terrorist
Group Membership: "Martians" (counterparts of Reality-691's "Martian Masters," extraterrestrials who had colonized Mars);
leader of own organization, which he at least once had pretend to be A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics)
formerly the head of Stasi, the East German secret police
Affiliations: Bekker, Hydra, the Maggia, "all of the major terror groups"; unidentified Roxxon employee(s), robot and cyborg warriors;
his Multiversal Deathlok army were forced to serve his will
Enemies: A.I.M., Deathlok the Demolisher
(Luther Manning) of Earth-7484, Invaders (Captain America/Steve Rogers,
Human Torch/Jim Hammond, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Winter Soldier/James
Barnes), Iron Cross (Clare Gruler), S.H.I.E.L.D., Toro (Thomas Raymond);
his Multiversal Deathlok army were forced to serve his will
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
apparently perished in his base in Germany's Black Forest, Earth-616;
formerly Madripoor;
formerly an unspecified location in East Germany prior to 1989 A.D.
First Appearance: (Mentioned)
All-New
Invaders#8 (September, 2014);
(seen) All-New
Invaders#9 (October, 2014)
Powers/Abilities:
Dagmar's true form was somewhat of a red cephalopod, with a central maw
(with three radially spaced beak-like components), multiple tentacles
and possibly four eyes on short stalks.
As his form was somewhat different from those seen
in Reality-691's Martian Masters, it is unrevealed how many/much of
their abilities he shared.
He may have been a shapeshifter, or he may have used technology to project an illusory self.
Dagmar may have had some degree of telepathy and/or mind control powers (although he apparently used some sort of nanovirus to control the Deathloks).
He possessed a device that allowed
him to open portals to various alternate realties and/or time periods
and summon beings from those realities to Earth-616. The device also
prevented these beings from being drawn back to their native realities.
He had the means to dampen Iron Cross
He had numerous operatives as well as robots and cyborgs serving as defense in his base.
He had a particular interest in androids, robots and cyborgs.
History:
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - Kurt Dagmar was
apparently an East German terrorist who was at some point either
replaced or created as an identity by a Martian (a counterpart of the
"Martian Masters" who were opposed by Killraven in Earth-691's early 21st century).
As we don't know when the replacement took place (or even that Dagmar
was an actual person as opposed to an identity created by the Martian, I'm going to refer
to him as Dagmar from this point on; putting quotation marks around
his name or calling him the Dagmar impostor throughout is somewhat
tedious and painful to read)
(All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) - Dagmar was the head of Stasi, the East German secret police.
(All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) <1989> - When the Berlin Wall fell, Dagmar lost his position in the Stasi.
(All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) - Dagmar arrived as a refugee in Madripoor.
He eventually established himself as an arms dealer on the island, achieving some measure of wealth.
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - Dagmar traded ultra-tech to the major terror groups, including Hydra and the Maggia.
(All-New
Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) <Years before the main story> - Dagmar somehow learned of various
multiversal incarnations of Deathlok (Luther Manning) of Earth-7484, with whom he became fascinated.
Dagmar acquired his first Deathlok by bribing a Roxxon employee.
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Dagmar established a base in Germany's Black Forest.
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Dagmar acquired a number of robots and cyborgs to function as defense for his base(s).
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - At some
point, Dagmar traded some weaponry to obtain a device that functioned
as a doorway to the timestream and alternate realities.
(All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) - Via
this device, Dagmar transported multiple such Deathloks to Earth-616
and placed them under his control (possibly via Iron Cross (Clare
Gruler, whom he had also captured and controlled). Dagmar dampened
Gruler's abilities and stopped her from accessing computers to send
messages.
The device also prevented the Deathloks from returning to their own realities/times.
At some point, Dagmar summoned Deathlok (Luther Manning) of Earth-7484 to Earth-616 where he put Manning under his control as part of an army of alternate reality Deathloks he had assembled.
(All-New
Invaders#11: title/intro page (fb) - BTS) - The Deathlok army was nanovirus-controlled.
(All-New Invaders#1 (fb) - BTS / All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Winter Soldier was dealing with Dagmar when the Invaders were attacked by the Kree.
Barnes thought
that he had put an end to Dagmar's operations, but he later appreciated
that the job was half done.
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS / All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS / All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to take control of the android Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Dagmar had his agents assault the S.H.I.E.L.D. base holding the cocoon
containing Toro (Thomas Raymond, whose Inhuman nature had been recently
discovered), framing A.I.M. for the theft in order to buy him some time. Many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents perished during this operation.
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - During the same operation, Dagmar's forces obtained the Iron Cross (Clare Gruler, who was both an Inhuman and a human-machine hybrid, as she had merged with her armor).
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - Dagmar's lackeys apparently did not realize that he was not human.
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - Although Dagmar had dampened Iron Cross' abilities and prevented her from accessing computers, she managed to access a weak signal and send out a message.
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Winter Soldier
received the Iron Cross' message (although he did not know who had sent
it).
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - At the time believed to be dead and wishing to avoid encountering S.H.I.E.L.D., the Winter Soldier covertly sent information on Toro's location -- at a secret, alleged A.I.M. base in Germany's Black Forest -- to the Torch, telling him he would reveal his identity when he arrived there. Barnes requested the Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Captain America; Captain America was at the time dealing with Avengers business.
(All-New Invaders#8 - BTS) - The Torch was joined by Namor, and they met up with the Winter Soldier, who shared what information he knew at the time, notably that Dagmar's forces were specifically expecting the Torch. Having a plan, Barnes sent Namor and the Torch in to create a distraction.
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Winter Soldier told the Torch and Namor that Dagmar had a Deathlok.
(All-New Invaders#8 - BTS) - Invading Dagmar's base, Namor and the Torch fought their way past multiple cyborgs and/or robots, after which they were ambushed by an army of Deathloks.
(All-New Invaders#9 (fb) - BTS) - Deathlok-7484 remained by Dagmar's side.
(All-New Invaders#9 - BTS) - As the alternate reality
Deathloks engaged Namor and the Torch, Captain America -- who was
approaching by jet -- communicated with the Winter Soldier, learning of
the situation; Barnes told Rogers that he appreciated that the whole
maneuver was about artificial humanity and an attempt to bring in the
Torch.
Captain America was subsequently approached by a Captain America-like Deathlok with some sort of jetpack, and he ejected from his jet to engage this Deathlok.
(All-New Invaders#9) - Meanwhile, Dagmar had his aide
Bekker
attempt to take control of the Torch. Dagmar noted how the Torch had
truly immersed himself in the speech and cadence of a human and that he
truly was a synthetic man.
Deathlok-7484, still possessing
control of his mind but not his body, warned Dagmar that he would kill
him for what he was doing. Dagmar mocked Manning as tiresome, but when
Bekker suggested that he could increase the mental restraint on Manning
to shut him up, Dagmar declined, noting that he actually enjoyed
Manning's idle threats. Dagmar continued, noting that it reminded him
of how powerful he had become since acquiring Deathlok and his brothers
and sisters.
Dagmar further taunted Manning with his various
alternate reality counterparts serving under him.
Deathlok-7484 warned Dagmar that
he would not let him play with time, reality or his life, but Dagmar
corrected Manning, noting that by the virtue of being a Deathlok, he was
already dead.
When Bekker informed Dagmar that
the Winter Soldier had breached the central storage hub (implying that
he had encountered Iron Cross), Dagmar asked how long they had
estimated for him to have accomplished this, and Bekker reported that
they had estimated five minutes and 17 seconds from his point of entry
into the facility but that Barnes had done it in four minutes and 38
seconds. Unconcerned, Dagmar replied, "If that isn't an endorsement of Soviet conditioning, I don't know what is."
Dagmar further advised Bekker that
he would be ever-so grateful if he flipped the on-switch and slew the
Winter Soldier. Bekker complied, at which point an army of robotic
organisms dropped down to slay him.
Dagmar then had Bekker take control of and incapacitate the Torch, after which Dagmar mockingly told Namor that Hammond would be fine -- admittedly in a vegetated state -- but better than the Sub-Mariner would soon be.
Dagmar subsequently stated that
while this would normally be the time that similar opponents would
spend swapping quips and witticisms, but he noted that he detested that
sort of thing and that Namor was too dangerous to be left alive.
Dagmar then ordered Deathlok-7484
to
use a weapon -- an improved version of a weapon used by the Kree
Tanalth the Pursuer -- to slay Namor. Namor expressed curiosity about
how Dagmar would have known about Tanalth and how the device had come
into Dagmar's possession so quickly and so rapidly improved, but Dagmar
replied that Namor would die with his questions unanswered. Dagmar then
instructed Deathlok-7484 to carry out his order, and he fired the
weapon.
However, the blast was deflected
by the shield of the arriving Captain America (who had incapacitated the Captain America Deathlok) and
instead fatally struck Dagmar, who in death was apparently revealed as
a Martian Master.
(All-New Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - With Dagmar's death, Deathlok-7484 regained his free will and also took command of the other Deathloks, halting the conflict.
(All-New Invaders#10) - The Invaders, Iron Cross and the various Deathloks started at Dagmar's corpse.
(All-New Invaders#10 - BTS) - Iron Cross
incapacitated Dagmar's robots and cyborgs, and she confirmed that
Toro's cocoon was safely within a containment area and that Toro had
been bait to lure Jim Hammond there.
(All-New
Invaders#10 (fb) - BTS) - Namor and Iron Cross, at least, concluded
that Dagmar and his associates did not actually care about Inhumans,
and that his interest was in cybernetics and A.I.'s of varying types.
Comments: Created by James Robinson and Steve Pugh.
Kurt Dagmar was allegedly an East
German terrorist, and I at least initially assumed that a Martian slew
and replaced the original Dagmar at some point, but that was not
confirmed in-story. It may be that the Martian simply created the
identity of Dagmar long ago and that there never was a human Kurt
Dagmar.
Or the Martian could have replaced him at almost any point in the above history.
On a somewhat related note, I
don't think the Berlin Wall date has to be topical. Even Dagmar was
supposed to be human, his access to advanced technology certain could
have retarded his age.
It's difficult to piece together
the chronology in these stories, as information was revealed in
piecemeal fashion. I'm not sure how Dagmar controlled the Deathloks,
but I thought his control of the Iron Cross was part of that, and he
obtained control of the Iron Cross in the same operation that his
agents obtained Toro's cocoon...however, he also notes that he obtained
his first Deathlok "years ago," which would not fit with Marvel's
sliding timescale...
As Martian Masters had some degree of mind control
powers, that would eliminate the need for Dagmar having acquired the
Iron Cross before the army of Deathloks...that make the most sense for
the story to me...
The intro page in All-New Invaders said that the
Deathloks were controlled via a nanovirus; however, these pages are not
necessarily always accurate, as they are often written by assistant or
junior editors without the writer's input. But, there's nothing to
contradict it as far as I know.
James Robinson totally appreciated the history and characterization of the Invaders members, and he touched on details of continuity stretching back forty-some years before this series. It's really tragic that series like this get cancelled...we need a follow-up to where James was going with the Martian Masters...
In All-New Invaders#10, the Destroyer
(Roger Aubrey), Spitfire (Jaqueline Falsworth, Lady Crichton), Union
Jack (Joey Chapman) encountered a Martian tripod in London. The story
of their battle was told in ANI#11.
In All-New Invaders#12 recounts the 1917 A.D. story of Freedom's Five (Crimson Cavalier/Jean-Luc Batroc, Phantom Eagle/Karl Kaufmann, Sir Steel/Ned Chapel, Union Jack/Montgomery Falsworth/Lord Falsworth, plus temporary member Iron Fist/Orson Randall) were joined by Eben Stafford and his Men on the Wall
in battling Martian tripods and Martian Masters in London. Some history
of the Martian Masters on Earth-616 is discussed in the comments in
Stafford's profile.
Those stories also feature Killraven, apparently brought to Earth-616, whom the Martians wished to capture.
In All-New Invaders#13, a group of Martian Masters
who were also shape-shifters took the forms of the statues at what had
been a playboard for a race of space titans. Defeated by Tanalth the
Accuser and Makkari of the Eternals, they reverted to their true forms
before self-immolating. Another group, likely also Martians Masters,
had earlier impersonated Tanalth's elite guard and also self-immolated,
apparently to escape detection.
This latter group was presumably
somehow involved with Dagmar gaining the improved version of Tanalth's
weapon.
Toward the end of All-New Invaders#15, the
then-depowered and aged Steve Rogers noted how the Winter Soldier and
the British Invaders were working with Killraven...and then the series
ended, and the plot has remained cold ever since, as far as I know.
However, as far as I could tell, Dagmar was not mentioned again.
All-New Invaders#14 mentions Dagmar a few times, but it is all references to material previously revealed or shown. There was nothing new.
I am unsure if Derek Malloy was connected to Kurt Dagmar...I will profile Malloy in the near future...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kurt Dagmar should be distinguished from:
|
(All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Dagmar established a base in Germany's Black Forest. (All-New Invaders#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Dagmar acquired a number of robots and cyborgs to function as defense for his base(s). (All-New Invaders#8 - BTS) - Invading Dagmar's base, Namor and the Torch fought their way past multiple cyborgs and/or robots, after which they were ambushed by an army of Deathloks. --All-New Invaders#8These beings presumably had some degree of superhuman strength and durability and possibly other offensive capabilities, but they were no challenge for Namor or the Torch. |
Appearances:
All-New
Invaders#8-11 (September-December, 2014) - James Robinson (writer),
Steve Pugh (artist), Emily Shaw (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia
(editor)
First posted: 08/19/2024
Last updated: 08/19/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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