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.
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.
Non-Marvel
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