Drax the Destroyer (Arthur Sampson Douglas) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (February 1973).

The character's origin story relates that 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 has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, action figures, and video games. Dave Bautista portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (both 2022) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Drax also appears in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021).

Creation

Starlin commented on the character's creation stating "In the beginning, Drax was versatile, because I didn't know what the hell to do with him," Starlin confessed. "He was an element; he was supposed to be Thanos' Kryptonite. I sort of drifted away from that idea, and when I came back to using him, I made a big change in him. I brain-damaged him and made him into the Hulk, because Marvel didn't have a dumb green thing at the time, and I thought they should. And so I sort of made him like that. Later on they wanted to change his visuals, which I had no problem with because I was never crazy about that costume. It didn't make a lot of sense. I wasn't invested enough in the character to go back and do anything more with it."

Starlin later commented in an interview that "I ripped off my own costume, I redesigned Dr. Weird's costume at Texas Trio and pretty much just used it as Drax's costume, Drax was going to be Thanos's kryptonite that's why he was green."

Publication history

Drax first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (February 1973), and was created by Jim Starlin with the help of writer Mike Friedrich. He had a recurring role in Captain Marvel, 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 The 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 then starred in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch.

Fictional character biography

Creation and early life

While driving through a desert with his wife and daughter, Arthur Douglas' car is attacked by a spaceship piloted by Thanos, who thinks the humans have seen him. With Iron Man, Drax battles Thanos and the Blood Brothers, one of Thanos' assistants. having used it to engage Thanos in a psychic battle and stalemating him mind to mind.

After his resurrection, his physical capabilities are greatly enhanced beyond their original levels but he suffered severe mental disability in his new incarnation. root out a Skrull in disguise, and detect when energy weapons were about to go off.

In other media

Television

  • Drax appears in the Silver Surfer episode "Learning Curve", voiced by Norm Spencer. This version is a cyborg with a mechanical body and organic brain, and companion of Mentor.
  • Drax the Destroyer appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by David Sobolov. Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Additionally, Bautista reprises his role in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) while an alternate timeline version of Drax appears in the Disney+ animated series What If...?, voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
  • Drax the Destroyer appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced again by David Sobolov.
  • Drax appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions.
  • Drax appears as a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.
  • Drax appears as a playable character in Disney Infinity 3.0, voiced again by David Sobolov.
  • Drax appears in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced again by David Sobolov.
  • Drax appears as a playable character in Marvel Strike Force, voiced by Dave Bautista.
  • Drax appears in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Jason Cavalier.

Collected editions

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!Title

!Material Collected

!Publication Date

!ISBN

|-

|Drax: Guardian of the Galaxy

|Iron Man (vol. 1) #55; Captain Marvel (vol. 2) #27-33, #43-44, #58-62; Warlock (vol. 1) #15; Marvel Spotlight (vol. 2) #1-2; Avengers (vol. 1) #219-220; material from Logan's Run #6; Thor (vol. 1) #314 and Marvel Graphic Novel #1

|August 2016

|

|-

|Drax the Destroyer: Earthfall

|Drax: The Destroyer #1-4

|March 2006

|

|-

|Drax Vol. 1: Galaxy's Best Detective

|Drax #1-5

|May 2016

|

|-

|Drax Vol. 2: The Children's Crusade

|Drax #6-11

|November 2016

|

|}

References

  • Drax at the Marvel Universe