Iron Man #55
Beware the… Blood Brothers!
Now
Restrained in an energy field, an alien being calling himself Drax the Destroyer tries to warn Iron Man of a coming attack by two creatures calling themselves the Blood Brothers. Unfortunately, this warning has come too late and the two aliens manage to overpower the hero and take him prisoner. They then return to their master’s hideout hidden beneath the deserts of the Southwest.
The Blood Brother’s master is a powerful being known as Thanos, who boasts over his capture of Drax. As the Destroyer struggles to get free he thinks back to the events that led to his capture.
Earlier
Tony Stark was in the middle of a meeting with his staff to discuss the company’s recent change in direction when he was telepathically contacted by Drax for aid.[1] Cutting the meeting short, Tony then retreated to his office to change into Iron Man as Drax tells Iron Man his story and the threat posed by Thanos.
Drax explains that he needs Iron Man’s help against a terrible evil. He explains that there is a colony of beings that live below the surface of the Saturian moon of Titan. Their environment was contained by a super computer called ISAAC and they were ruled by the beneficent Mentor. Mentor had two children, the popular Eros and the evil Thanos. Exiled from Titan for his past crimes, Thanos began forming an army of mercenaries from across the universe that were loyal only to him.
Seeing Thanos as a threat to his people, Mentor sought advice from Kronos, a disembodied entity worshiped by the people of Titan. Kronos used his power to create a champion for Mentor for the sole purpose of destroying Thanos. Rising from the very ground, this entity became known as Drax the Destroyer. After losing his first bout with Thanos, Drax was taken prisoner as the Mad Titan had retreated to Earth. From ISAAC, Drax learned that Earth was home to many super-beings and sought to recruit them in his war with Thanos, starting with Iron Man.[2]
Unfortunately, Iron Man was ambushed by the Blood Brothers before he could rescue Drax from captivity….
Now
Back on Titan, ISAAC informs Mentor of what is transpiring on Earth. Hearing that Iron Man is now involved, he tells ISAAC to continue monitoring as he has faith the battle will be won.
Mentor’s faith plays out as Iron Man was only playing possum and once inside the fortress of Thanos he knocks out the Blood Brothers. He then heads into the containment facility to free Drax from his energy prison. However, Iron Man is blasted from behind by Thanos and restrained by the recovered Blood Brothers. Drax believes all is lost until he begins receiving a telepathic probe from ISAAC confirming their position.
With these coordinates, Mentor has his people fire a powerful cannon that sends a blast of energy across the solar system to Earth. It is nothing more than an spark when it arrives and hits the uni-beam on Iron Man’s chest. However, the armor re-channels this energy and fires a blast with enough force to free Drax from his restraints. Both Iron Man and Drax then make short work of the Blood Brothers. With his plans falling apart, Thanos attempts to blow up their hideout. When Iron Man and Drax attack the Mad Titan, they discover that this was nothing more than a robotic decoy left behind to distract them while the real Thanos made his escape. They then barely manage to escape before the hideout explodes.
In the aftermath of the battle, Drax thanks Iron Man for his help and asks how the Titans can repay him. The Avenger says that saving the world was reward enough and wishes Drax the best of luck with hunting Thanos down from here.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Drax the Destroyer, Blood Brothers, (in flashback) Thanos, Mentor, Kronos, Eros, ISAAC
Continuity Notes
Tony Stark had decided to shift Stark Industries focus away from munitions to other scientific endeavors in Iron Man #48.
Drax’s recounting of events don’t tell the whole story about the Titans or his origins. The facts:
The beings on Titan are later revealed to be an offshoot of the Eternals that left Earth millions of years ago when there was a division of loyalty between Kronas and Uranos as seen in What If? #25.
Kronos began experimenting with the cosmic life force, causing an explosion that turned him into the disembodied form worshiped by the Eternals of Titan, as detailed in Captain Marvel #29.
Drax the Destroyer wasn’t created from nothing. He was actually once Arthur Douglas, an Earthling that was killed by Thanos on an early scouting mission of the planet. Kronos resurrected Douglas as Drax to be their weapon against Thanos. Drax was made to forget his own past until the truth was revealed to him later by Thanos himself in Captain Marvel #32.
Publication Notes
It’s interesting to note that all of the Eternals of Titan are all depicted as having purple skin much like Thanos himself. Later appearances had them all appear as natural human skin tones except for Thanos who continued to have purple skin consistently over the years.
