For a character who has died several times and has spent a significant portion of his life in comic limbo, Drax is an exceptionally popular guy lately. He’s been lucky enough to have a 4-inch figure and two 6-inch figures made in a relatively small amount of time. But despite this, I still feel like there are two very important incarnations that were skipped over and deserve their time in the action figure spotlight.
Drax was born Arthur Douglas, fated to die by the hand of Thanos, only to be resurrected by Kronos to avenge his own death by killing the demigod that killed him. He never quite got to fulfill his destiny, but he did some heroic stuff here and there before finally getting killed off by his own daughter, Moondragon. Of course, he was resurrected later… and you get the point. Wile E Coyote has had fewer near death experiences than this guy.
Back in the ’70s, a guy in jeans wouldn’t cut it in terms of fashionable superdude-wear, so he wore a spiffy purple number complete with cape and pirate boots, which were quite popular at the time. And, boy, was he snazzy. The purple of his clothes played off the green of his skin (a constant throughout his resurrections) and made him a striking-looking character that immediately grabbed my attention the first time I saw him. In lieu of the knives he totes around nowadays, he was capable of tossing off energy bursts like most other cosmic guys.
After his death at his crazy daughter’s hands (or mind, as the case was), he spent much of the ’80s dead before getting resurrected in preparation for the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, where a newly restored Thanos gathered together six gems that offered ultimate power. Returned to life, Drax was… well, Drax was dumber. On the plus side, he was stronger than ever, and damn near Hulk-sized, but he wasn’t the brightest kumquat in the field. His death at his daughter’s hands had done some damage to his brain, and now, though he was much larger, he was pretty childlike in intelligence. And not a smart child, but the one who keeps tasting the red crayon because he thinks it should taste like strawberry jam.
Consistency being what it was, he was still essentially wearing the same clothes, just stretched out a bit.
I’ve noticed on the boards that what people consider “classic Drax” tends to be a shifting concept depending on when people started reading comics. I’ve heard the Hulk-sized Drax called “classic” Drax, and that’s right in terms of “not modern,” but I always think of them in terms of classic — meaning the more regular-sized first appearance version — and ’90s Drax.
Regardless, I need them both.
I love the original version of Drax. I love his ’70s-era vibe with oversized gold belt and that stark purple and green color combo that would never be designed so simply and elegantly nowadays.
And I’m a big fan of the Infinity Gauntlet storyline and the beginnings of the Infinity Watch, so I need big, dumb Drax also. The Infinity Watch was created when each member was given one Infinity gem to watch over. Drax, of course, was given the power gem, which amplified his already staggering strength to infinite levels. But he was too stupid to really realize that, so he tapped into it on an unconscious level, which was appropriate since the first thing he did when receiving the gem was eat it as if it were a jellybean. But that was OK, because Adam Warlock explained (not in so many words) that Drax doesn’t poop, so it would stay with him.
Aren’t you glad you have that little nugget of information? I know I am!
Bigger Drax was actually made back in the 5-inch days, which was fantastic. If it could happen then, why not now?
We don’t live in a perfect toy world, but if we did, my perfect method of getting both big and little Drax would be in some type of “Generations” box set that contained both of them. That’s how I’d like to get a number of characters with very unique costumes or versions, like a two pack of Wonder Man costumes. It’ll never happen, but it’s a dream. Regardless, we’re living in an age where Drax has never been more popular, and I’d love it if this extended retroactively to the earlier iconic versions of this character.