Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan debuted in May, 1963, in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1, a mere 18 months after the modern Marvel Universe started with Fantastic Four #1. His character has had a long and complex history since then, with the latest development being the revelation that the original Dum Dum died some 50 years ago and was replaced by a LMD. Hey, if you don't care to believe that virtually every appearance of Dum Dum Dugan outside of WWII was really an android, I can't really blame you. We'll just forget that last bit.

Dum Dum debuted as a Brit, but was changed to a Boston-born American fairly quickly. Portrayed as a loyal, brave, and bare-knuckled friend, Dum Dum has long been a very human anchor within fantastic stories filled with mutants, high science, and magic.

Dum Dum was originally a circus strongman. As I looked through reference art for him, I realized that I have always thought of him as the largest and strongest of the Howling Commandos. However, he and Fury were drawn by Kirby as the same size and build. This worked out well, since I wanted to use the same SHIELD agent body for this custom. But I wanted him to be "burlier" somehow, so I added the body armor to give that impression.

body - SHIELD agent
head - custom cast from Glassman
armor - from XMO Wolverine Maverick, repainted to match
grenades and gun from GI Joe fodder

I have loved Dum Dum since the old Godzilla series, and I am thrilled to have him on my shelf! I plan to do a WWII version at some point as well.