[2] Captain America writer Mark Gruenwald explained his decision to make Demolition-Man (or D-Man, as he was usually referred as at the time) Captain America's newest partner: "All of Cap's past partners - Bucky, Rick Jones, the Falcon and Nomad - have been less powerful than he is, so he was naturally the dominant figure in the partnership.

But this new guy can lift ten tons, so he's no slouch in the power department and he's half a head taller than C.A., so there's a different kind of relationship with D-Man, as he's called.

Dennis becomes an aspiring athlete who receives the strength augmentation treatments offered by Power Broker, Inc. Finding himself too strong now for normal sports, he becomes a professional wrestler and member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation (UCWF) along with other superheroes and supervillains such as the Beyonder, the Thing, and Screaming Mimi.

[volume & issue needed] Soon after this, Steve Rogers is stripped of his Captain America costume by the Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA) and goes missing.

The Captain asks Demolition Man to join the Avengers and they immediately leave on a mission at the request of Battlestar.

Battlestar's partner is John Walker, Captain America's replacement, who was captured by Flag-Smasher and his group ULTIMATUM.

[15] In a later adventure with Jack Frost, Captain America sees what he believes to be Dunphy's body in suspended animation near the North Magnetic Pole in the Arctic.

[16] Demolition Man survived the explosion, but suffered wounds that rendered him mute and in a stupor, and is discovered living among the Inuit.

[19] His intentions remain pure, but he had begun to believe that a "Cosmic Gamemaster" had asked him to retrieve the Infinity Gems, which D-Man carried out by stealing jewelry.

[20] During the Dark Reign storyline, D-Man is shown to be serving in the U.S. military in his civilian identity and covertly in his Demolition Man costume.

For a while, he inspires several of his fellow soldiers to operate covertly in costumes as well, but he puts a stop to it out of concern for their military careers.

[22] D-Man made an appearance in The New Avengers #7, while various heroes are being interviewed to be a nanny for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.

[27] During the Secret Wars storyline, Dennis is accidentally resurrected by a young sorcerer who mistakes the name "D-Man" for "demon".

[28] After the eight month ellipsis following Secret Wars, Demolition Man is seen as one of the partners of Sam Wilson (now the new Captain America).

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Dennis started working for Captain America as a pilot, mechanic, technician, and field backup.

[29] He later returns to the UCWF for a special charity match against Battlestar, and the two men end up foiling an attempt to steal the money raised by the event.

Newsarama ranked Demolition Man as the ninth worst Avengers member, describing him as having "the power of pretty strong strength, constantly being confused for Wolverine and Daredevil, and as demonstrated in the first issue of Kurt Busiek and George Pérez's Avengers run smelling so awful that no one wants to get within 30 feet of him.