Avengers #220
War Against the Gods!
The Avengers have been brought to the alien world of Bi-Bani to help Moondragon to crush a rebellion after she used her mental powers to bring peace to the planet. However, things aren’t adding up and most of the team has begun to realize that Moondragon is keeping the entire world under her control against their will. Iron Man tries to get Drax the Destroyer to see the truth, but his mind has been tampered with by his own daughter. When Iron Man reminds Drax of his past and purpose — originally created to destroy Thanos — this causes Drax to break free from Moondragon’s control.[1] Finally free, Drax vows to get revenge against Moondragon, making Iron Man wonder if he did the right thing.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the planet, Captain America and the Wasp have discovered that the rebels they fought the day before are now helping with the clean-up effort. They begin to remember that they were originally drawn to this world by a distress call from Drax himself and begin realizing that Moondragon had been manipulating them. That’s when Drax and Iron Man arrive and confirm their concerns and they all agree to stop Moondragon and free the Bi-Bani from her mental control.
Unfortunately, this is not going to be an easy task as Moondragon has used her power to seduce Thor and make him loyal to her. Using subtle manipulations she has Thor to apply pressure to a lump of coal and form a diamond and uses this task a metaphore for the good she has done on Bi-Bani and what she hopes to accomplish across the universe. This is all an illusion since turning coal into a diamond in such a way is impossible, but it serves to cement Thor’s loyalty.[2]
Soon, Drax and the other Avengers arrive and begin attacking Moondragon’s temple. Seeking to stop them, she then unleashes Thor. While the thunder god is much more powerful than the individual Avengers, they are able to hold their own through teamwork and the added strength provided by Drax. Still, Thor refuses to stand down and when the Wasp flies too close he manages to snatch her tiny body out of the air. However, when he tries to crush the life out of her, he can’t bring himself to do it because deep down, Thor won’t indiscriminately kill a foe. This allows Thor to finally break free from Moondragon’s mental control long enough to change back into his mortal guise of Dr. Donald Blake, severing her control completely. Learning of Thor’s secret identity comes as a surprise to the Wasp, who had not previously known it.[3]
With Thor no longer a threat, the Avengers and Drax storm Moondragon’s throne room. There, Drax tries a frontal assault but is taken down by Moondragon’s mental powers. However, she is so distracted that the Wasp manages to get close enough and ambushes her from behind. Returning to normal size, Janet knocks out Moondragon with a single punch. As they leave the planet in Moondragon’s ship, the Avengers can hear the sound of gunfire as the Bi-Bani — now free from Moondragon’s influence — resume their violent ways. This leaves the team wondering if they did the right thing. On the way back to Earth they also discover that Drax was mortally wounded and he soon dies from his injuries.[4] This leaves the Avengers to wonder what to do about Moondragon, since they don’t have any terrestrial authorities they can turn her over to for her crimes.
Don Blake comes up with a solution and changes back into Thor. He tells the team that since Moondragon has proclaimed herself a god then a punishment from the gods will be suitable. Thor then takes Moondragon to Asgard where she is handed over to Odin for punishment.[4] When the rest of the team return to Earth, they set Moondragon’s ship to self destruct and sent it back out into space with Drax’s body still on board. It explodes in space, giving Drax a funeral fitting of a warrior of his statue.[5]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp), Moondragon, Drax the Destroyer, Odin, Ba-Bani
Continuity Notes
The history of Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer is explained in some detail here. The facts:
Previously known as Arthur and Heather Douglas, the father and daughter were on a family trip when they witnessed the arrival of Thanos on Earth as part of an early scouting mission. To keep his arrival a secret, Thanos blew up the Douglas car, seemingly killing everyone on board. While Arthur was resurrected by Chronos into Drax, Mentor found that Heather survived the accident and brought her back to Titan where she was raised as a potential candidate to become the Celestial Madonna. See Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #32, and Avengers #135.
Drax’s mission was to destroy Thanos, but he was turned into stone thanks to the efforts of the Avengers, Adam Warlock, Spider-Man and the Thing, as seen in Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2.
This is not the end of Thanos as he will be restored to life in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #34.
The whole “crush coal into diamond” is a dig at DC Comics, which frequently wrote stories in the Silver Age where Superman pulled off this very feat. Superman first pulled this stunt in Action Comics #115. It’s not really possible to create diamonds this way, btw.
Here, Captain America states that Thor revealed his secret identity to him in Avengers #216. However, Iron Man has known his alter-ego much longer, dating back to Avengers #113.
Moondragon’s punishment is not detailed until Defenders #123, which reveals that Odin placed a metal ring around her head to dampen her mental powers.
This is not the end of Drax, who will be resurrected to deal with the return of Thanos, as seen in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #35.
