September 18, 2022 7 min read
Drax The Destroyer is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Jim Starlin and first appeared in Iron Man #55(February 1973).
Arthur Douglas was a human whose family was attacked and killed by the supervillain Thanos. Needing a champion to combat Thanos, the being known as Kronos took Arthur's spirit and placed it in a powerful new body, and Drax the Destroyer was born. Drax's powers included enhanced strength and resilience, flight, and the ability to project energy blasts from his hands. The character often battled Thanos, and on occasion the superheroes Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock. He was also a member of the group known as the Infinity Watch.
In 2004, the character lost his flight and energy blasts, and a portion of his strength and resilience. This version of the character played a role in the crossover comic book storylines "Annihilation" and "Annihilation: Conquest", and became a member of the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy.
Drax first appeared in Iron Man #55 (February 1973), and was created by Jim Starlin. He had a recurring role in Captain Marvel vol. 1 beginning with issue #27 (July 1973). He also appeared in Warlock #10 (December 1975), Iron Man #88 (July 1976), Warlock #15 (November 1976), Logan's Run #6 (June 1977), Thor #314 (December 1981), and Avengers #219 (May 1982), before being killed by Moondragon in Avengers #220 (June 1982).
Starlin resurrected Drax in Silver Surfer vol 3 #35 (1990), and he had a recurring role until issue 50. After appearing in The Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 (1991), he was featured in Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1-42 (1992–1995) as a member of the titular team, the Infinity Watch. The character reappeared in Warlock vol. 3 #1-4 (1998-1999) and Captain Marvel vol. 4 #4-6 (2001).
Drax received an eponymous 4 issue miniseries in 2004, and was a starring character in Annihilation: Nova #1-4 (2005) and Annihilation #1-6 (2006). After a follow up appearance in Nova vol 4 #4-7 (2007) and the 2008 "Annihilation: Conquest" storyline, he was featured as a team member in the 2008 relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy, and appeared in the 25 issue series of the same name. The character had a small role in The Thanos Imperative #1-3 (2010), in which he was killed.
The character reappeared in Avengers Assemble issues #4-8 (June–October 2012), with no reference to his death. He will star in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch.
former saxophonist, Arthur Sampson "Art" Douglas and his family were killed by the Titanian Eternal Thanos while driving across the Mojave Desert. Kronos recovered Douglas' astral form and used it to create a superhuman warrior for the purpose of defeating Thanos. After Thanos was defeated, Drax was eventually killed by a psychic attack from Moondragon.
Years later, Drax was resurrected to once again battle Thanos (also recently resurrected). Drax's resurrection was not perfect, however; his brain remained damaged from his previous death. After Thanos was defeated a second time, Drax became a member of the Infinity Watch and guardian of the Power Gem.
Adam Warlock, leader of the Watch, shut off Drax's hunger to kill Thanos when he had the Infinity Gauntlet. However Moondragon accidentally caused some of his memories to resurface, and returned to him his insane hunger to kill Thanos.
Drax partially regained his intelligence when he and his daughter Moondragon petitioned Kronos, the being who had resurrected Arthur Douglas as Drax, to restore his mind and heal the severe injuries Moondragon had suffered. Moondragon gave up some of her mental prowess and Drax gave up some of his bulk to heal one another. The recovery took time, and Drax was for a while still dim-witted (but nowhere near as badly as he was before), undergoing tutoring by his daughter. Drax was taken to the Microverse where he was mistaken for the Hulk and helped the Microns overthrow the Psycho-Man and Fredd, an evil clone of Captain Marvel. Drax decided to remain there and help the Microns rebuild the Microverse's government.
Drax battled the Champion for control of a planet that Champion had taken over. Drax lost the battle, but the Champion was later defeated by She-Hulk.
Recently, as a detainee aboard a galactic prison transport, Drax crashed on Earth and escaped imprisonment, along with the other inmates. He regained his intelligence and fought the other inmates when they threatened the local townsfolk and the 10 year old girl named Cammi, who befriended him. Drax and Cammi were then taken to an intergalactic prison known as the Kyln
After an unknown amount of time the being known as Annihilus attacked Kyln. Having survived, Drax and Cammi team-up with Nova. During their time together Drax teaches Nova how to better harness the Nova Force and how to kill. Eventually Drax and Cammi join Nova's United Front and oppose Annihilus. During a crucial battle Drax is once more confronted by Thanos, who is trying to save Galactus. However, before Thanos could free Galactus, Drax managed to punch a hole through the Mad Titan's chest, killing him. Realizing his mistake he uses the power of the Silver Surfer to save Galactus. Once freed Galactus teleported both Drax and Moondragon to an undisclosed location. From there Drax vanished.
Sometime after the war with Annihilus, the Phalanx managed to take over Kree Space and infect many worlds. Now trapped within Kree Space, Drax was hunted by a Phalanx infected Nova and Gamora. During the chase Nova was able to capture Drax and he was then infected with the techno-organic virus, becoming a Phalanx Select. Now working for the Phalanx he was recently given the assignment to hunt down and capture or kill Nova, who escaped from the Phalanx's grasp. Following Nova into a wormhole, Nova, Gamora, and Drax are now stranded in an unknown quadrant of space.
After the events of the Annihilation Conquest, Drax agreed to join a group of cosmic heroes to form a proactive line of defense against potential treats to the Universe. The group was led by Jason of Spartoi’s son Peter Quill, also known as the Star-Lord. After many failed attempts of coming up with a name, Rocket Raccoon suggested that they take the name of Guardians of the Galaxy. The team used Knowhere as their base of operation. Knowhere is located inside the decapitated head of an unidentified Celestial that was floating on the very edge of the universe.
While on Knowhere, Drax would come into conflict with the Luminals who were the protectors of this peaceful place. Drax and the Guardians first mission pitted them against the Universal Church of Truth which was a group of very powerful religious fanatics. Later during the Skrull infiltration that destroyed the Continuum Cortex, Cynosure sent her team after the missing Drax, when it was suspected he could be a Skrull. Three of her finest, Massdriver, Impact and Brightstorm, were left defeated and in intensive care following a furious battle with the Destroyer. When questioned about his mysterious disappearances by Quasar, Drax revealed that he had been using the Continuum Cortex to search for Cammi.
Drax's powers initially included superhuman strength, stamina and resistance to physical injury as well the ability to project concussive blasts of cosmic energy from his hands. He can also travel at high speeds in outer space and hyperspace without air, food, or water. Drax also possessed the ability to sense the presence of Thanos across vast distances.
After his resurrection, his physical capabilities are greatly enhanced beyond their original levels but he suffered severe mental disability in his new incarnation. Instead of his ability to sense Thanos across vast distances, he now possessed the ability to sense when beings have been in recent contact with Thanos, and a precognitive ability to sense when beings will be in contact with Thanos in the near future. For a time, Drax possessed the Power Gem that had the potential to grant him superhuman physical powers with no feasible limit. However, because of his severely reduced intellect, he lacked the mental capacity and imagination to use the gem for anything other than bolstering his physical strength. While possessing the gem, Drax's strength has been compared with that of the merged incarnation of the Hulk, but lacking the latter's rage-fueled potential.
Just prior to the 2006 "Annihilation" mini-series and continuing through the present, Drax undergoes a physical change resulting in a much smaller physical form, his superhuman physical powers greatly reduced to a level comparable to those of his original form and the loss of his energy projection and flight capabilities. However, his intellect has returned to its original level, and he has taken a liking to using knives in battle. At least temporarily, he had the ability to pass through Thanos' force field; his power levels seem to increase the closer he is to Thanos.
Drax has a number of allies including Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon,Groot, The Avengers, Adam Warlock, Ant-Man, Kronos and many more.
The movie was directed by James Gunn. The movie featured Chris Pratt as Peter Quill(Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, Groot voiced by Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Micheal Rooker as Yondu and Josh Brolin as Thanos. The movie performed very well both critically and financially and was the summer blockbuster of 2014.
You can check out the trailer below
Comics | Writer(s) | Artist(s) |
Iron Man #55(1973) | Jim Starlin, Mike Friedrich | Jim Starlin, Mike Esposito |
Captain Marvel Vol.1 #27(July 1973) | Jim Starlin, Mike Friedrich | Jim Starlin, Pablo Marcos |
Avengers #220 | James Shooter | Bob Hall, Dan Green, Christie Scheele |
Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #35 | Jim Starlin | Ron Lim, Tom Christopher, Tom Vincent |
Warlock and The Infinity Watch #1-42(1992-1995) | Jim Starlin | Angel Medina, Terry Austin, Ian Laughlin |
1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drax_the_Destroyer#Publication_history
2.http://marvel.com/universe/Drax
3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drax_the_Destroyer#Powers_and_abilities