DONALD DUGANDONALD DUGAN
Real Name: Donald Dugan
Identity/Class: Human werewolf;
active circa 1952 (at least)
Occupation: Predator;
presumably, at least formerly, student;
any other occupation is unrevealed
Group Membership: Werewolves of Earth
Affiliations: None beyond his family
Enemies: Claude Dugan
Known Relatives: Betty Dugan (mother), Michael Dugan (father), Claude Dugan (paternal uncle, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: His parents home in an unrevealed location (presumably the USA)
First Appearance: Suspense I#16 (March, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: Donald turned into a werewolf after the stroke of midnight.
It is unrevealed whether he turned into a werewolf every night or only on nights of the full moon.
As werewolf, he presumably had enlarged canine teeth and sharp claws. He presumably possessed low-level superhuman ("enhanced human") strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, stamina, and senses.
He presumably had enhanced olfactory senses and night vision.
Like most werewolves, he was
likely resistant to injury steel, but could certainly be injured or
slain by silver. He may have been vulnerable other magical assaults, and possibly to wolfsbane, etc.
When in human form, at least as a 10-year-old, Donald was afraid of the dark (and his uncle, Claude)
History:
(Suspense I#16 (fb) - BTS / Vampires: The Marvel Undead) - Donald, the son of the vampires Betty and Michael Dugan, was born a werewolf to his parents disappointment.
Betty and Michael plotted to eventually feed on Michael's brother, Claude, and Claude apparently realized this. Although he either could not or would not do anything to Betty and Michael, Claude instead plotted against his nephew, Donald.
Donald was afraid of the dark.
(Suspense I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Claude told Donald stories in which the heroic figures died horribly.
(Suspense I#16 (fb)) <Months before the main story> - When his parents were planning to go out for the night, the 10-year-old Donald begged his father not to leave him alone, but his father assured him that he was old enough for them to go out occasionally and that his uncle Claude would stay with him.
As Michael and Betty headed out,
Claude -- despite Donald's begging him not to -- told him more scary
stories, with Hansel and Gretl being burned in the oven by the witch,
the giant from the beanstalk crushed Jack, the 40 Thieves poured hot
oil on a trapped Ali Baba. Claude was about to tell a story about
William Tell shooting a kid in the head with an arrow, but Donald cried
out for him to stop and not make him listen to any more stories. Claude
agreed and bade him good night and pleasant dreams. 
Unable to sleep, Donald sneaked out of his room, after which he saw the shadowy figure of Claude enter his room again and then depart, cackling gleefully. Slipping back into his room, Donald saw a large knife stuck into his bed where he had been lying minutes before.
(Suspense I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling that his parents would not believe it if he told them that Claude had tried to kill him, Donald for some reason hid the knife and prayed that his parents would never leave him alone with uncle Claude again (see comments).
(Suspense I#16 (fb)) - Whether
aware of what had happened or for some other reason, Donald's parents
did not leave him alone with Claude. And whenever they did leave, they
locked Donald in his room, for which Claude had no key.
(Suspense I#16 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#13: Werewolves)
- On the night of a full moon, Michael and Betty went out to a movie,
and they apparently left Donald locked in his room but forgot to lock
his door from the outside.
(Suspense I#16) - Alone in the
dark in this room (presumably locked in) during a lightning storm, the
frightened Donald initially pounded on the door to be let out. Hearing
footsteps, he realized they were not his parents', and was frightened
when his uncle Claude came in (see comments).
After Claude told him his parents
were out at the movies, Donald tried to run out the door, but Claude
caught him, telling him he had waited too long for this chance to let
him run away. 
Donald asked his uncle why he
wanted to hurt him and why he wouldn't let him go, but Claude told that
he would not understand but that he hated the boy's parents so much
that he had sworn to kill their only son.
Apparently enjoying Donald's terror, Claude told him that they would wait until the final stroke of midnight, at which point Donald would die.
Seeing that it was 5 minutes until
midnight and watching as Claude pulled a blade out of his pocket, the
frightened Donald asked Claude why he hated his parents so, and Claude
told him that it was because they were always trying to eat him up. 
Remembering the horrible stories Claude used to read to him, Donald figured that Claude was just trying to scare him.
As the clock began to strike the
first midnight chime, Claude grabbed Donald and raised his knife, and
progressively lowered it as the chimes continued.
(Suspense I#16 (fb) - BTS) - After the final stroke of midnight, however, Donald turned into a werewolf and slew Claude, who screamed in agony before dying.
(Suspense I#16 - BTS) - Arriving home at that time and hearing the cry of agony, Donald's parents rushed to his room and broke down the door.
(Suspense I#16) - Donald's parents were disappointed that Donald had beat them to Claude, and his mother told him that they had been saving Claude for themselves.
Donald apologized, but reminded them how hungry he got after the stroke of midnight.
Michael told Betty to leave Donald
alone, as he could not help it that he was ONLY a werewolf, instead of
a vampire like they were.
Comments: Created by unidentified writer and artist.
Obviously the fact that Donald was a werewolf and his parents were vampires was the surprise ending revealed in the last panel. Claude does mention to Donald that his parents were trying to eat him up, but it seemed like he was just trying to scare Donald.
It's a little odd that the
parents would have gone out without telling Donald, or that they left
Donald at home with Claude when they knew they had to lock Donald's
door to protect him from Claude.
Maybe they hated him for being a
werewolf and were secretly leaving him in a dangerous situation in
hopes of getting rid of him?
Perhaps Claude knew that his brother and sister-in-law were out, and he entered their house to slay Donald.
I'm also not sure why it would
have been hard for Donald to convince his parents that Claude had tried
to kill him when there was a knife hole in his bed.
Additionally, I wonder if
Donald was not aware of his werewolf nature when in human form, or if
he was just afraid that Claude was going to kill him before he turned
into a werewolf at the final stroke of midnight.
Ah, what's the difference, it was fun anyway!
Donald received a headshot in
the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#13:
Werewolves entry, although his hair was blond, rather than brown as in
the rest of the images I have. 
I don't have the original story, but the scans I and others have seen all have Donald with brown hair.
The story was reprinted in Dead of Night#8 (1975). I have a number of those issues, but not #8 apparently.
However, scans I and others have found all seem to have Donald with blond hair for some reason. 
And his werewolf form is also significantly lighter
Apparently when we did the OHotMU Werewolves
profile, the reference source was Dead of Night#8, and so Donald has
blond hair.
Is it an error in the original story, corrected in the reprinting?
Or was the reprint in error, and the OHotMU followed suit?
Thanks to Loki and Grendel Prime for providing additional scans to back this up.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Donald Dugan should be distinguished from:
Vampires: The Marvel Undead (December, 2011) - Jeff Christiansen, Mike O'Sullivan, and Stuart Vandal (head writers/coordinators); Markus Raymond & Mike Fichera (assistant coordinators); Markus Raymond, Patrick Duke, Ronald Byrd, Roger Ott, Patrick Ryall, Sean McQuaid, Madison Carter, Kevin Garcia, Eduardo Freyre, & Seth Johnson (writers), James Emmett & Joe Hochstein (editorial assistants), Alex Starbuck & Nelson Ribeiro (assistant editors), Jennifer Grunwald & Mark D. Beazley (editors, special projects), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
First posted: 10/30/2024
Last updated: 10/30/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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