Drax the Destroyer, now a household name thanks to the Guardians of the Galaxy films but he was at once a very different and yet very familiar character in the comics. So who was Drax before he became the Destroyer? Where did he come from? Let’s find out!
Arthur Douglas was just a family man and real estate agent, taking his wife, Yvette, and daughter, Heather, home to Los Angeles from a trip to Las Vegas when they saw some sort of UFO overhead. Unfortunately, this was the deadly space tyrant Thanos who did not wish to be seen and decided to blast the car and family to smithereens. Unbeknownst to Thanos, his father, Mentor had been in pursuit of him and saw what he did. Arthur’s daughter Heather was still grasping to life and Mentor would take care of her to raise her as his own disciple named Moondragon. Arthur and Yvette were dead but Mentor saw Arthur’s soul lingering and took it to power a new body he’d made. The identity of Arthur Douglas the human real estate agent was forgotten, born was Drax the Destroyer, the green-skinned super being with the power and need to kill Thanos.
Given a burning desire to destroy Thanos, Drax would spend years stopping Thanos’ evil plots but failing to finish off the dread tyrant. He’d eventually find his way back to Earth and team up with many of its heroes who had the desire to stop Thanos as well. When he’d learn that one of them, Captain Marvel, had killed Thanos, it would throw him into a blind rage, having lost all purpose in life until he was informed Thanos was resurrected once more. Thanos would be defeated once more and Drax still resented that Captain Marvel had stolen his purpose and it would take adventuring with Mar-Vell many times before he’d finally come to accept the hero. Drax would try to find new meaning outside of Thanos and travel the stars for the sake of travel, to find it.
He’d eventually find Moondragon, neither knew that their former connections before cosmic intervention, but they’d become good allies. Traveling the galaxy together going on adventures helping planets as they came across troubles. It was when Drax saw Moondragon rescue a planet from war with her psychic powers but then use those same powers to become their new god. Unnerved by this behavior, he’d send a distress signal to the Avengers before he’d become overpowered by her psychic powers as well. Once freed by the Avengers, Drax would attempt to kill Moondragon who would disrupt his his soul’s connection to his body so he was effectively dead.
Thanos would be resurrected and so would Drax to counter him, the problem was that this time Drax returned with a more childlike mentality but greater physical strength. He was put on the Infinity Watch, the team meant to protect the Infinity Gems from Thanos. Drax was entrusted with the Power Gem and would often live with his teammates on Monster Isle. Just as they’d deal with Thanos, they’d also have to handle many of Adam Warlock’s side personalities wanting the Infinity Gems. He’d become friends with Moondragon again, she’d even go and help him regain intelligence by losing some of his power so he’d be back to the old Drax.
New troubles would find Drax like being framed for murder or ending up trapped in other dimensions. He’d make his way out thanks to his friends and his own tenacity. He’d eventually train Nova Corps member, Richard Ryder, how to master his concentration and power over the entire Nova Force now that he was the last Nova. This was during the dangerous Annihilus Invasion and join the Guardians of the Galaxy. The team would be forced to team up with Thanos to stop the spreading of the Cancerverse, an inverted dimension where death is gone so life is overwhelming and corrupting all life forms. Drax won’t stand for this and tries to kill Thanos but is himself murdered in the Cancerverse.
Since nothing can truly die, Drax was resurrected soon after and now trapped in the Cancerverse with Star Lord, Thanos, and Nova. While they’d fight a nearly eternal battle against Thanos, Nova would use the Cosmic Cube along with his Nova Force to shunt them back to their home dimension. Now back, Drax would join Star Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot for a new, smaller Guardians of the Galaxy team. They’d gone on many strange adventures while gaining and losing new members as they went on.
There you have it! Drax the Destroyer has had quite the wild ride over the years. Now he’s best known as an alien being who takes things literally and enjoys brutal honesty. He’s a giant hit on the big screen and has been animated in the Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon. Where will Drax go in the future? Time will tell! See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Iron Man #55
Captain Marvel
Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch
Guardians of the Galaxy
Drax the Destroyer
Dr Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
