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Drax the Destroyer
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Drax the Destroyer

223 appearances · Bronze Age · 1974–2025 · 6 key issues
Who is Drax the Destroyer?

Arthur Douglas was an ordinary human whose family was attacked by Thanos. Resurrected by Kronos in a powerful new body, he was reborn as Drax the Destroyer — a being engineered with one singular purpose: to hunt and kill Thanos.

Few characters embody the cosmic ambition of Marvel's Bronze Age quite like Drax the Destroyer, who burst onto the scene in Jim Starlin's Captain Marvel #30 in 1974 — part of that visionary creator's sweeping reimagining of the Marvel cosmos. Over more than five decades of publication, Drax has proven himself one of the great enduring figures of Marvel's outer-space mythology, racking up 217 catalog appearances and six collector-significant key issues along the way. He's a character who keeps extraordinary company — sharing pages with Thanos, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, and Groot across titles like Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer, and Captain Marvel — placing him at the very heart of Marvel's cosmic storytelling for generations. If you love big, bold, universe-spanning adventures with a character who has genuine history and weight behind him, Drax is absolutely worth your time.

Identity

Real name. Arthur Sampson Douglas

Powers. Drax is a more than proficient combatant; this was especially true in his original and more powerful incarnation. Drax has said to have mastered the alien martial art form called "Dwi Theet." He uses this to defeat Impact, a Dwi Theet master in six different martial disciplines, with ease.Guardians of the Galaxy

Affiliations. Formerly: ; ally of Eve Bakian; Infinity Watch ; Secret Defenders ; United Front ; Selects of the Phalanx ; Microns ; Guardians of the Galaxy ; Nova Corps

★ First appearance
Iron Man #55
Feb 1973

Trivia

  • In the late 1970s, Drax's origin was retroactively rewritten so he had once been an Earth man, a change that made his backstory unusually convoluted even by Marvel standards.writeups.org
  • Marvel's official character history says Drax once received the Power Gem, making him one of the few comic characters explicitly tied to the Infinity Gems long before the MCU made them famous.writeups.org
  • Jim Starlin has written more of Drax the Destroyer's comics than any other writer in our catalog — 26 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years — 1974–2022

Captain Marvel #30 1974
Captain Marvel #30
Thor #314 1981
Thor #314
Marvel Super-Heroes #8 1992
Marvel Super-Heroes #8
Marvel Swimsuit Special #2 1993
Marvel Swimsuit Special #2
She-Hulk #8 2004
She-Hulk #8
Nova #1 2007
Nova #1
Marvel Now! Omnibus #[nn] 2013
Marvel Now! Omnibus #[nn]
Legendary Star-Lord #5 2015
Legendary Star-Lord #5
Guardians of the Galaxy #149 2018
Guardians of the Galaxy #149
Silver Surfer Rebirth #2 2022
Silver Surfer Rebirth #2

Appearances (1–150 of 223, oldest first)

Captain Marvel (1968)
The Avengers Annual (1967)
#7
Thor (1966)
Marvel Graphic Novel (1982)
The Defenders (1972)
The Life of Captain Marvel (1990)
The Infinity Gauntlet (1991)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988)
Silver Surfer Annual (1988)
#5
Marvel Super-Heroes (1990)
#8
Marvel Comics Presents (1988)
Quasar (1989)
#38
Infinity Gauntlet (1992)
Marvel Swimsuit Special (1992)
#2
Warlock Chronicles (1993)
#2
Warlock and the Infinity Watch (1992)
#34
Rune / Silver Surfer (1995)
#1
Comics Scene (1987)
Essential Super-Villain Team-Up (2004)
#1
She-Hulk (2004)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005 (2005)
Drax the Destroyer (2005)
All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (2006)
#3
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006)
#1
Annihilation: Nova (2006)
Annihilation (2006)
Nova (2007)
What If? Annihilation (2008)
#1
Annihilation: Conquest (2008)
#6
Realm of Kings (2010)
#1
Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (2010)
The Thanos Imperative (2010)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z (2011)
#3
Avengers Assemble (2012)
Avengers vs. Thanos (2013)
Essential Captain Marvel (2008)
#2
Avengers Assemble by Brian Michael Bendis (2013)
Marvel Now! Omnibus (2013)
X-Men: Legacy (2013)
#2
Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers (2013)
#1
Infinity Gauntlet Aftermath (2013)
Marvel Universe Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Team-Up (2014)
Infinity (2014)
All-New X-Men (2013)
Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians of the Galaxy) (2014)
#1
She-Hulk by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection (2014)
#2
Guardians of the Galaxy / All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Deadpool (2013)
#27
Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus (2014)
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Galaxy's Most Wanted (2014)
#1
100th Anniversary Special: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
#1
Fantastic Four (2014)
#2
Avengers (2013)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration (2014)
#1
Legendary Star-Lord (2014)
Rocket Raccoon (2015)
#1
Avengers: No More Bullying (2015)
#1
Nova Annual (2015)
#1
Guardians Team-Up (2015)
#2
Uncanny Avengers (2014)
#4
Howard the Duck (2015)
#2
Cyclops (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Story Ever (2015)