Drax the Destroyer (October 31, 1972) This Day In Comics
While driving through a desert with his wife and daughter, Arthur Douglas’ car is attacked by a spaceship piloted by Thanos, who thinks the humans have seen him. His daughter, Heather, survives the crash and is adopted by Thanos’ father, Mentor, and raised on Titan. She later becomes Moondragon.
Needing a champion to combat the threat from Thanos, Mentor and the Titan god Kronos capture Douglas’ spirit and place it in a powerful new body. He is rechristened “Drax the Destroyer”, and his sole purpose is to kill Thanos. With Iron Man, Drax battles Thanos and the Blood Brothers, but Thanos escapes. While trying to prevent Thanos from getting the Cosmic Cube, Drax’s memories are restored to him. After seeing Captain Marvel defeat Thanos, Drax attacks Captain Marvel, for robbing him of his purpose. Drax wanders space in grim contemplation, searching for a resurrected Thanos. By the time he learns that Thanos had managed to rematerialize himself, Thanos has once again been destroyed in battle with Captain Marvel, the Avengers, and Adam Warlock. Alongside Captain Marvel, Drax battles ISAAC, Stellarax, Lord Gaea, Elysius, and Chaos.
Drax first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (October 31, 1972).