Mister Fear

Zoltan Drago was the proprietor of a financially ailing wax museum who attempted to use his knowledge of chemistry to create an elixir which would turn his wax statues into living creatures, with which he would create a private army. The chemical failed to create life in wax, but Drago discovered the brew he had created could evoke fear in those who inhaled said chemical. He designed a frightening costume for himself as the Mister Fear persona.

As the original Mister Fear, Drago used his fear-gas to make terrified slaves of the brutish Ox of the Enforcers and the Eel. Naming his triumvirate as the Fellowship of Fear, he ran afoul in New York City and was soundly defeated by Daredevil and imprisoned.[2] Drago was later killed by Starr Saxon for his Mister Fear equipment,[3] and later Larry Cranston decided to take on the Mister Fear gear.[4]

Criminal engineer Samuel "Starr" Saxon desired the means to confront Daredevil directly. Despite his knowledge with robots, he gunned down Zolton Drago and stole the Mister Fear gear. As the second Mister Fear, Saxon humiliated Daredevil in televised battles, casting himself as the hero in a series of charity-funding battles against the superhero. In the final battle with Daredevil, Saxon was unmasked, and plunged to his death. Saxon's robots would use his mind as the template for the Machinesmith's central consciousness.[5]

Mister Fear
Larry Cranston as Mister Fear. Art by Michael Lark.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Daredevil I #89 (July 1972) Daredevil I #91 (September 1972; as Mister Fear)
Created by	Gerry Conway Gene Colan
In-story information
Alter ego	Lawrence "Larry" Cranston
Partnerships	Lucia von Bardas
Abilities	Skilled lawyer Extensively trained hand to hand combatant Fear pheromone administered primarily by gas pellets, occasionally by syringe, most recently by an aerosol sprayer Use of a perfume that made him able to influence other people

Lawrence "Larry" Cranston was a law school classmate of Matt Murdock who also became an employer for a while.[6] Cranston was staying in a hotel room across the hall from Zoltan Drago. He happened to overhear Starr Saxon killing Drago. And after learning that Saxon himself had died, Cranston decided to take on the Mister Fear guise himself.[7]

As the third Mister Fear, Cranston went mad during his first effort against Daredevil in San Francisco, jumping off a building, assuming that he was wearing a rocket pack which he had previously worn in battle with the hero, and seemingly died due to injuries sustained in a fall.[8]

Cranston survived the fall and returned years later.[9] He masterminded a series of campaigns meant to discredit Daredevil with the aid of the Enforcers, the Eel, and the sleepless woman Insomnia. Daredevil defeated them and Cranston abandoned the Mister Fear identity.[10]

Cranston later resurfaced, along with the Enforcers at his side, providing the criminals of Hell's Kitchen a drug that causes the user to become psychotic and completely unafraid of death, in the "Without Fear" storyline. He also made an attempt to overthrow the Hood, as New York's main crime boss. In an attempt to make Daredevil's life miserable, Cranston also secretly gave an overdose of the drug to Milla Donovan (Daredevil's wife); the result led to an innocent man's murder by Milla. The two fought but Cranston, having murdered the drug's creator and destroyed all of the antidote's known samples, forced Daredevil to spare his life due to the fact that he was the only one whose testimony could save Milla from being sentenced to death for the murder committed earlier. But before he was sent to prison, Cranston had one of his henchmen provide him with a new chemical compound he had created: one that made everyone worship him. With this new power, Cranston entered jail as a prison "king", surrounded by bodyguards, saluted by prison guards, and entering a lavish cell with a female officer waiting to greet him.[11]

During the "King in Black" storyline, Mister Fear is among the villains recruited by Mayor Wilson Fisk to be part of the Thunderbolts at the time of Knull's invasion.[12]

Alan Fagan was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He is Larry Cranston's nephew and Ariel Tremmore's father. When Larry seemingly died, he came into possession of the fear gas and other equipment.[13] Unlike the other versions, Fagan's primary adversary was Spider-Man not Daredevil.[14][15]

As the fourth Mister Fear, Fagan attempted to use his fear-gas in blackmail schemes which were stymied by Spider-Man, with the aid of Hawkeye.[16] Fagan was brutally attacked in prison, much of the skin carved from his face by men in the employ of Ariel who used the skin to draw out fear-gas residue his daughter used to turn herself into the villain Shock.[17]

Fagan recovered from these injuries and received improved weaponry from Latveria's interim ruler Lucia von Bardas, including a suit of armor resembling a metallic version of the traditional Mister Fear costume. The weaponry was destroyed at the climax of the Secret War miniseries.[18]

Fagan was one of the many criminals to escape from the Raft prison facility, being a thrall of the villain Crossfire. During his efforts in Crossfire's service, Fagan was again defeated by Spider-Man.[19]

As opposed to Cranston, Fagan has been hired by the Hood to take advantage of the superhero community split caused by the Superhuman Registration Act.[20]

During the Fear Itself storyline, Fagan discovers that the Serpent and the Worthy are outdoing his talents of inducing fear in people.[21]