Iron Man #55
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIron Man #55 (cover date February 1973) is one of the most consequential single issues of the Bronze Age — a fill-in comic that quietly detonated a decades-long cosmological mythology inside the Marvel Universe. Its pages introduce Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, the Blood Brothers, Mentor, Eros (later Starfox), ISAAC the living computer of Titan, and the moon of Titan itself, making it one of the densest first-appearance issues Marvel ever published in a single story. That seed grew into the 'First Thanos War' arc across Captain Marvel and related titles, the Infinity Gauntlet event (1991), and eventually the centerpiece villain of the MCU's Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Without this book, the entire architecture of Marvel's cosmic storytelling tradition — from Adam Warlock to the Guardians of the Galaxy — would look fundamentally different.
In "Beware the... Blood Brothers!", Iron Man faces a chilling new menace as the enigmatic Blood Brothers emerge, testing Tony Stark’s resolve and ingenuity. Guest-starring Drax the Destroyer, this 1973 Marvel classic blends sci-fi intrigue and cosmic menace, with Jim Starlin’s writing and art bringing a bold, early-70s edge to the arc. The cover by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott captures the intensity of the confrontation in striking detail.
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The issue was a fill-in assignment given to a young Jim Starlin by editor Roy Thomas, and Starlin seized it with deliberate urgency: in his own words, he feared his comics career might last only a few weeks, so he inserted Thanos and Drax — characters he had originally conceived during a college psychology class, drawing on Freudian concepts of Eros and Thanatos — into the story to guarantee they would reach print. Starlin's earliest sketches modeled Thanos on Jack Kirby's New Gods character Metron, a lean, chair-bound observer, but Thomas pointedly told him to bulk the design up toward Darkseid instead, resulting in the massive, craggy-faced figure that debuted here. The story was plotted and penciled by Starlin, co-scripted by Mike Friedrich, inked by Mike Esposito, and lettered by John Costanza, with Roy Thomas serving as editor-in-chief; the issue went on sale in late October 1972 with a February 1973 cover date.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Thanos (the Mad Titan), created by writer-artist Jim Starlin; cover date February 1973, on sale October 31, 1972.
- First appearance of Drax the Destroyer (Arthur Douglas), co-created by Starlin with writer Mike Friedrich; in his debut Drax is an Earth-man transformed into a powerful warrior whose sole purpose is to destroy Thanos.
- Also debuts: the Blood Brothers (twin cosmic enforcers serving Thanos), Mentor (A'Lars, ruler of Titan and father of Thanos), Eros (later the Avenger Starfox, Thanos's brother), ISAAC (the Integral Synaptic Anti-Anionic Computer, Titan's moon-sized living computer), and the Titanian people.
- Starlin's original Thanos design was based on Kirby's New Gods character Metron; editor Roy Thomas pushed him to bulk the character up toward Darkseid — Thanos's final look reflects that editorial intervention.
- The issue originally depicted all Titanians as purple-skinned like Thanos; later reprints altered their coloring after Captain Marvel #27 established that only Thanos bore that distinctive appearance among his people.
- Titled 'Beware the… Blood Brothers!', the story was plotted and penciled by Starlin, co-scripted by Mike Friedrich, inked by Mike Esposito, lettered by John Costanza, and edited by Roy Thomas.
- The issue launched what came to be called the 'First Thanos War,' a crossover saga that continued through Captain Marvel #25–33, Marvel Feature #12, Daredevil #107, and Avengers #125.
- The issue has been reprinted in multiple collected editions including Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 3, the Avengers vs. Thanos TPB, Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection, the Invincible Iron Man Omnibus Vol. 3, and the Thanos Wars: Infinity Origin Omnibus, among others.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Strange #51 (1974), Άιρον Μαν [Iron Man] #3 (1978), Σπάιντερ Μαν [Spider-Man] #150 (1984), The Life of Captain Marvel #1 (1985), Strange Spécial Origines #229 hors série (1989), The Life of Captain Marvel #[nn] (1990), A Saga de Thanos #1 (1992), Marvel Milestone Edition: Iron Man #55 #[nn] (1992), Strange Spécial Origines #304 (1995), The Life and Death of Captain Marvel #[nn] (2002), Marvel Méga Hors Série #22 (2004), Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel #3 (2008), Essential Iron Man #4 (2010), Avengers vs. Thanos #[nn] (2013), Essential Captain Marvel #2 (2013), Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude #[nn] (2014), Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #9 (2015), Die offizielle Marvel-Comic-Sammlung #24 (2015), Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus #[nn] (2015), Iron Man : L'intégrale #1973 (2016), Drax: Guardian of the Galaxy #[nn] (2016), Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection #[nn] (2016), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #100 (2017), Marvel Gold. La Saga de Thanos #[nn] (2018) + 10 more
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