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DRAGON OF WALL STREET

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Dragon

Occupation: Financier

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Rosemary (his secretary)

Enemies: Charlie Boatner & Bala Nenon, Malekith the Dark Elf

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Malcolm Drake

Base of Operations: Wall Street, New York City

First Appearance: Heroes For Hire I#14 (August, 1998)

Powers/Abilities: The Dragon of Wall Street exhibited most of the abilities and behavior attributed to dragons. Superhumanly strong (at least class 10, possibly higher) and able to breathe fire, the dragon could fly using his wings and use his prehensile tail as a weapon or a battering ram. Highly intelligent, the dragon also possessed magical abilities, most notably a glamour spell that made him appear human and a magic shield that allowed him to deflect bullets.

Height: 26"25' (in dragon form) 5'6" (as Drake) (by approximation)
Weight: 1495 lbs. (in dragon form) 165 lbs. (as Drake) (by approximation)
Eyes: Yellow and red (in dragon form), green (as Drake)
Hair: Black

History:

(Heroes For Hire I#14 - (fb) BTS) - Hungry for gold like all dragons, the Dragon of Wall Street decided to use his considerable intellect to get his hands on the valuable commodity through trade. Using a charm spell to appear human, the dragon set himself up as Wall Street financier Malcolm Drake and quickly cornered the gold market.

   Unbeknownst to Drake, his principal Wall Street rival was Malekith the Dark Elf who, as business man Malcolm Keith, also tried to get his hands on gold bullion in order to access the metal's inherent magical qualities. Malekith figured the best way to deal with Drake was to get one of his enemies to rid him of the dragon. Learning that Heroes for Hire member Black Knight (Dane Whitman) had recently become the Pendragon, Avalon's chosen champion, Malekith decided to pit them against each other.

   Malekith used his magic to disguise two of his troll servants as FBI agent Bala Nenon and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) employee Charlie Boatner and ordered them to reveal Malcolm Drake was actually a dragon.

(Heroes For Hire I#14 - BTS) - Boatner and Nenon visited the Heroes for Hire offices to inform its CEO Jim Hammond of the situation with Drake, claiming they had received evidence the dragon was using his magic to manipulate the market in his favor. Furthermore, they expressly requested that the Black Knight paid Drake a visit to see if he was indeed engaged in illegal activity. When Hammond agreed to take the case and send the Black Knight, the duo left most pleased.

(Heroes For Hire I#14) - Drake welcomed the Black Knight to his offices. After his secretary Rosemary left, he quickly came to business and revealed his identity as a dragon. However, Drake vehemently denied he had been abusing his magics to get his way. Using his Pendragon powers to see through lies and concealments, the Black Knight became convinced Drake was speaking the truth. Thinking that resolved the case, they parted amicably. Hoping to spark a lethal conflict,  Malekith however cast a powerful illusion that made both Drake and the Black Knight believe the other one was attacking them, while also increasing their violent tendencies. Just as Drake had used his magic to deflect the bullets the fake Black Knight fired at him before vanishing, he was attacked by the genuine Knight who was fighting mad after the Drake copy had fired magical bolts at him. Dropping his glamour spell, the Dragon of Wall Street took to the sky and engaged the Black Knight. After a few minutes of fierce aerial combat over Wall Street, the Black Knight realized there was something wrong and lured Drake away to the Brooklyn Bridge where they managed to shake off the effects of the spell.

(Heroes For Hire I#14 - BTS) - Comparing notes and learning that Boatner and Nenon were responsible for their confrontation, the two decided to pay them a visit. Drake used his glamour magic to make himself appear as his own severed head, making it seem like the Black Knight had killed him.

(Heroes For Hire I#14) - Carrying Drake's severed head into the local IRS offices, the Black Knight demanded to see Boatner and Nenon to tell them of his victory over the fraudulent dragon. Once he met them, he used his Pendragon powers to see through their human guises, revealing their true troll nature. Drake dropped his illusion as well and threatened to eat the plump trolls if they wouldn't reveal who they were working for. Drake and the Black Knight then proceeded to confront Malcolm Keith, who in turn revealed he was actually Malekith. No match for his two opponents, the Dark Elf quickly fled, leaving his computer records behind. Drake learned that Malekith had been his main business rival on Wall Street all this time. Conferring with the Black Knight, Drake confirmed the Knight's suspicion that Malekith was working for a greater evil, possibly related to the crisis the Lady of the Lake predicted would befall Avalon in the near future (see comments). In order to be ready for whatever was coming, Drake and the Black Knight agreed to stand together as allies. The new allies took to the skies to celebrate their alliance.

Comments: Created by John Ostrander (writer), Mary Mitchell (pencils), Keith Aken (inks).

Don't you just hate it when a series gets cancelled mid storyline? Heroes For Hire was arguably the best proper superhero teambook of the late 90s with a truly unique hook and feel to it. It really was a little gem that gleefully played in the Marvel sandbox, using ideas, places, concepts and characters that touched on the very heart of the shared universe. However, all that didn't save it from getting the axe with #19, well before the storyline involving Malekith, Drake and this mysterious threat to Avalon could play itself out. A shame, especially after all of Ostrander's work to set up the Dragon of Wall Street.

Drake didn't actually turn into a human being, his glamour spell just gave him that appearance. That must have been some spell if it was able to cover up the fact the relatively small Drake always left a gigantic, dragon shaped hole in the wall whenever he entered or left a room.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Dragon of Wall Street should not be confused with


images: (without ads)
Heroes For Hire I#14, p19, pan2 (main image)
Heroes For Hire I#14, p11, pan4 (in human form)
Heroes For Hire I#14, p11, pan1 (dropped disguise)


Appearances:
Heroes For Hire I#14 (August, 1998) - John Ostrander (writer), Mary
Mitchell (pencils), Keith Aken (inks), Mark Bernardo (editor)


Last updated: 02/07/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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