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DOCTOR DREER

Real Name: Maxim Dreer

Identity/Class: Human cyborg (1940s era)

Occupation: Scientist/surgeon

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Grettle (first name unrevealed)

Enemies: Vision (Aarkus)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His mansion, New England area, United States

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4 (December, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: The megalomaniac Dreer was a gifted (but insane) genius in the fields of surgery and robotics.  He specialized in cross-species xenograft transplants.  He also built a mechanical surgeon and the robotic body that would later become his own.  Following his "death," his head was removed and grafted onto the metallic mechanical body, which gave him increased strength (possibly lifting 2 tons) and durability. 

Height: (as human) 5'10" (by approximation); (as cyborg) 6' (by approximation)
Weight: (as human) 165 lbs. (by approximation); (as cyborg) 500 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Black

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History: (Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4 (fb) - BTS) - Nothing is known of the past of Doctor Maxim Dreer, but at some point, he and his assistant Grettle set up a laboratory in a castle-like mansion overlooking a sleepy New England town; it was there that they conducted their nightmarish transplant experiments on human vagrants and stolen animals.

(Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4) - Dreer had successfully completed his latest experiment--fusing the head of a lamb to the body of a man--and he felt the honored heads of science would soon change their minds about dismissing his great ideas.  But some of the townsmen learned of his atrocities, and the enraged mob stormed Dreer's home.  As punishment, they dragged the doctor to a cliff and threw him off, seemingly killing Dreer. 

   But Grettle came out of hiding, recovered Dreer's broken body, and returned with it to the lab.  Grettle severed Dreer's head and attached it to an already constructed metal body (see comments).  Dynamos were activated to supply power to the mechanical form, and Dreer arose, reborn with a new body.  Upon seeing that he was no longer a man, but instead a "living robot," Dreer became enraged and strangled his loyal assistant.  He next turned his attention to seeking revenge on those who were responsible for killing him.

main image    On the outskirts of town, Dreer smashed into a house and murdered two of the townsmen, then set the house afire.  As the psychotic cyborg walked on to continue his rampage, the extradimensional Vision appeared from the smoke.  The Vision tackled the mad doctor, and Dreer followed by punching him in the face with his steel fist, knocking the hero out.  But instead of killing the Vision, Dreer carried him back to his lab and bound him to an operating table, for now Dreer had found a body suitable enough to house his superior intelligence, and he planned to exchange heads with the Vision.  As Dreer prepared his mechanical surgeon to perform the operation, the Vision revived and broke free of the bonds.  Dreer punched the Vision again, but the hero tore an electrical cable loose from a dynamo and touched the ends to Dreer's mechanical body.  As teeming volts of electricity fused the mechanical body and melted it to slag, into the molten mass fell Dreer's head, screaming to the last.  The fiery liquid reached the chemicals in the lab, causing an explosion that reduced the remains of the mansion into dust.

The townsfolk, attracted by the noise of the blast, watched in wonder as the Vision disappeared into the smoke, returning to his own dimension.

     

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Syd Shores (artist)

Pretty convenient that Dreer just happened to have an already-built robot body handy.  Maybe he was originally planning to use it as an upgrade for his mechanical surgeon.

As to why the flesh of Dreer's human head was the same color as his mechanical body: Maybe his skin turned gray after his "death"; or maybe Grettle added metal implants to his head to better protect it; or maybe it's just "artistic license" employed by the colorist to remind the readers that Dreer was a "robotman".  Dreer's teeth also seemed to be more fang-like after the transplant, so maybe Grettle tried to do a bit of dentistry while he was at it.

The crimelord Silvermane would later undergo a similar transplant surgical procedure to become a cyborg (@ Spectacular Spider-Man II#70 (September, 1982)).

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Doctor Dreer have no known connections to:

Grettle has no known connections to:

The mechanical surgeon has no known connections to:

Grettle

The assistant of the insane Doctor Dreer, Grettle was more than a bit insane himself.  He took care of procuring the test subjects for the doctor's hideous surgical transplant experiments (which Grettle found "amusing").  A mob of townsmen learned of Dreer's sinister surgeries, and they stormed his home and threw him off a cliff, but Grettle came out of hiding and recovered Dreer's body, then transplanted the doctor's head onto a robot body.  When Dreer revived and saw what Grettle had done to him, he "rewarded" his loyal assistant by strangling him to death.

--Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4











Mechanical surgeon

A robotic device built by Doctor Dreer, it had metallic articulated human-like hands and could be programmed to perform surgical procedures.  Dreer was about to use it to transplant his head onto the Vision's body.  It was presumably destroyed when Dreer's laboratory exploded.

--Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4










images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p4, pan1 (Main image, Dreer's head transplanted to robotic body)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p2, pan2 (Headshot, Dreer before his "death")
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p1, pan1 (Dreer fighting Vision)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p2, pan2 (Grettle)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p4, pan5 (Grettle strangled by Dreer)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4, p6, pan4 (Mechanical surgeon)

Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics I#38/4 - unidentified writer, Syd Shores (artist)

First Posted: 08/10/2015
Last updated: 08/10/2015

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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