The Destroyer is the name of three fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

. One of the earliest creations of major comics-industry figure

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

, the original incarnation

first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader intere ...

in the 1940s during what historians and fans call the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known cha ...

. Modern incarnations created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins appeared in '' The Invaders'' #18 (July 1977), and ''The Invaders'' #26 (March 1978). The '' Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' clarifies that all three versions of the character are considered canon.

Publication history

Golden Age publications

The Destroyer

as the cover subject and in a story in ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans ...

'' #6 (Oct. 1941), from

' predecessor Timely Comics. One of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era heroes of what fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known cha ...

, the character was one of the first co-created by Marvel writer-editor

. The artist co-creator is uncertain: the story penciler-

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a penc ...

was Jack Binder, but the cover artist, who may have drawn the character first, was Alex Schomburg. In 1997, comics historian and former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wrote that "Stan's most popular superhero creation before the Fantastic Four was the Destroyer." However, a 2019 book by Thomas and Kurt Mitchell described the Destroyer as "a Stan Lee-written mash-up of Captain America's origin and Blazing Skull's setting notable largely for its hero's eerie grey-and-red costume." According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "He fights a variety of villains, from ordinary Axis agents to Dr. Dragon to Satan and Madam Satan to the Japanese villain the Face." The Destroyer ran as the cover feature of ''Mystic'' #6 and of the remaining four issues of that 10-issue superhero anthology, and while less popular than the company's

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1 ( cover dated March 1941) from T ...

, the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a ...

, and the Sub-Mariner, he went on to star in issues of nearly every Timely superhero comic-book series — becoming the company's most-published character outside of those three stars and the

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...

. The Destroyer stood out from other wartime heroes in that he operated solely within

occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

. Artists associated with the feature include pencilers Al Gabriele and

Mike Sekowsky Michael Sekowsky (; November 19, 1923 – March 30, 1989) was an American comics artist known as the penciler for DC Comics' ''Justice League of America'' during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on ''Wonder Woman'' during ...

, and inkers Vince Alascia and Allen Bellman. Comic-book giant

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

contributed the Destroyer cover of ''Mystic Comics'' #7 (Dec. 1941). The cover was inked by either Syd Shores or Joe Simon (sources differ). The character's Golden Age appearances included: * ''

'' #6-10 (1941-1942) * '' All Winners Comics'' #2-12 (1941-1944) * '' USA Comics'' #6, 8–14, 16-17 (1942-1945) * ''Amazing Comics'' #1 (1944) * ''Complete Comics'' #2 (1944) * ''

'' vol. 2 #1–4 (1944–1945) * ''Kid Comics'' #4–6, 9–10 (1944–1946) * ''Daring Mystery Comics'' #11 (1945) * ''Daring Comics'' #12 (1945) * ''

All Select Comics ''All Select Comics'' is a 1943-1945 American comic book series published by Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. An omnibus series with several different ...

'' #6, 10 (1945–1946)

1970s publications

Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins first featured Roger Aubrey as the diminutive Dyna-Mite in '' The Invaders'' #14–15 (March–April 1977); in the story he is part of the predominantly British superhero group the Crusaders, who are being manipulated by the Nazis into killing the British King. He returns in Thomas and Robbins' ''Invaders'' #18–21 (July–Oct. 1977); in the story he parachutes into Nazi Germany with Lord Falsworth and

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

on a mission to restore his memory; a flashback reveals that he and his best friend Brian Falsworth had gone to Berlin on a peace mission which ended with them in a Nazi prison where he was experimented on. Thomas and Robbins also featured the Falsworth incarnation of the Destroyer in ''The Invaders'' #18–19 (July–Aug. 1977); in the story he explains how he received a variation of the super-soldier formula from a fellow inmate of a Nazi prison; the previous incarnation as Marlow is retconed as a mistaken FBI theory popularized in comic books. Thomas and Robbins concluded the plot-line in ''The Invaders'' #20–21 (Sept.–Oct. 1977); in the story he abandons his role as the Destroyer and takes over his father's role of

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

to rescue his sister and the rest of the team while Aubrey helps to steal a plane to get them home, and in ''The Invaders'' #22 (Nov. 1977); in which they are both safely returned to England. Thomas and Robbins also featured Falsworth as Union Jack in '' What If?'' #4 (Aug. 1977); in the story he and Spitfire save Winston Churchill from a Nazi assassination attempt. Thomas and Robbins continued to feature Falsworth and Aubrey in the series, with the former becoming a semi-permanent member of the team in his new role as Union Jack with issues #23 (Dec. 1977) & #25 (Feb. 1978); in which he joins them on his first mission, while the latter appeared in a supporting role as Dyna-Mite in issue #23 (December 1977); in which he searches for a cure for the Nazi experimentation that has reduced his size, and #26 (March 1978); in which a restored Aubrey is introduced in his role as the new Destroyer. This incarnation was also featured by Thomas, Donald Glut and Alan Kupperberg in ''The Invaders'' #34 (Nov. 1978) and by Glut, Kupperberg and Charles Eber Stone in ''The Invaders'' #41 (Sept. 1979).

1980s publications

Roger Stern and John Byrne mentioned Falsworth in the backstory for ''

'' #253–254 (January–February 1981); the story reveals in a flashback that he died in a car crash in 1953.

1990s publications

Dan Slott and James W. Fry III featured Aubrey in the World War II-era story ''Enis Nacht'' for ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #156 (June 1994); in the story he guides a British bomber to its Nazi target. Slott and Fry featured him in another World War II-era story for '' Midnight Sons Unlimited'' #9 (May 1995); in the story he helps the Blazing Skull to infiltrate a Nazi base.

2000s publications

Aubrey appears as a supporting character in Fabian Nicieza and Lewis LaRosa's '' Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting'' #1 (March 2002); the story begins with a flashback showing him at Falsworth's funeral in 1953. Allan Jacobsen and C.P. Smith used Aubrey as a supporting character in a number of volumes ''New Invaders'', including, #2 (Nov. 2004), in which he is claimed to be one of the new team's first recruits, #4–5 (January–February 2005), which sees him battling the vampiric Baroness Blood alongside Union Jack; and #9 (June 2005), which sees him resuming command of V-Battalion following the death of the original Human Torch.

Fictional character biographies

Keen Marlow

American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Keen Marlow is captured for spying while reporting behind-the-lines in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. While imprisoned in a concentration camp—that specific phrase being used before its association with the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

—Marlow is given a super-soldier serum, similar to that given to

, by fellow prisoner Professor Eric Schmitt, an anti-Nazi German

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

. Responding to the chemical (and without the beneficial "Vita-Rays" used to chemically stabilize Captain America's serum), Marlow becomes a prime human specimen who escapes, dons a sleek, dark costume with a skull motif and a skintight blue mask that made him appear inhuman, and adopts a fearsome identity with which he fights the Nazis on their own turf. He was occasionally abetted by an Allied agent named Florence von Banger. Antagonists included the Scar, Herr Sin and Von Maus.

Brian Falsworth

In the Destroyer's

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

appearances in the 1970s, the same origin is recounted except for his identity. Now he is Brian Falsworth, brother of

(a member of the

superhero group The Invaders) and son of James Montgomery Falsworth, Lord Falsworth, who had been the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

hero

. In this storyline, when Captain America asked if the Destroyer is or is not "an American named Keen Marlow", Falsworth declined to respond.

Roger Aubrey

Brian Falsworth gave up the Destroyer identity in order to become the new

, and his friend Roger Aubrey (initially introduced as the superhero Dyna-Mite, a member of the team the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

) became the new Destroyer. Falsworth's story is recounted in passing in Ed Brubaker's 2009–2010 miniseries '' The Marvels Project'' as part of the Angel's diary of the war. This retelling claims that "Keen Marlow" was an alias used by Falsworth to enter Germany to spy; he was betrayed and captured, and then empowered well after Captain America. However, prior established continuity showed that Falsworth entered Germany under his real name pre-war to promote appeasement, that he was captured trying to leave Germany shortly after Poland was invaded, and empowered only days later, more than a year before Steve Rogers became Captain America. It was later revealed that Brian and Roger were lovers.

Other versions

Versions of the Destroyer, both in continuity and out, have appeared in various Marvel comics. ''The Age of the Sentry'' #5 (March 2009) depicts the character as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The character also made a guest appearance in a 2000s issue of '' New Invaders''.

MAX imprint

Marvel's

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

imprint published the five-issue miniseries ''The Destroyer'' vol. 4 (June–Oct. 2009). Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Cory Walker, it starred a version of the character Keene Marlow depicted, according to Kirkman, under "the assumption that he's had an ongoing series since the '40s, so I'm basically writing 'issues #701-#705' ..." In this series, a still-active but elderly Marlowe discovers he has a limited amount of time before he will suffer a fatal heart attack, and sets out to kill his old enemies and anyone else who might threaten his wife Harriet, who is

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and has a bionic arm, or their grown daughter Felecia."Destroyer Will Punch a Hole in Your Head"
''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom ...

'', February 20, 2009
WebCite archive
2009-11-26 Keene Marlow (his first name slightly different from the earlier comics' "Keen") is enhanced by a super-soldier serum variant, similar to the one used to create

(Steve Rogers), but lacking the Vita-Ray treatment. His former sidekick Turret (Darius Mitchell) is married to Felecia and takes over the role of the Destroyer when Marlow retires.

In other media

Television

The Keen Marlow incarnation of the Destroyer, renamed Keene Marlowe, appears in the 1990s '' Spider-Man'' animated series five-part episode "Six Forgotten Warriors", voiced by Roy Dotrice. This version is an old colleague of

and an old friend of Ben Parker who gained his powers after taking part in an experiment meant to duplicate the serum that gave the former his powers alongside the Whizzer,

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

, the Black Marvel, and the Thunderer during World War II.

Video games

* The Roger Aubrey incarnation of the Destroyer appears in '' Lego Marvel Super Heroes''. * The Roger Aubrey incarnation of the Destroyer appears in '' Lego Marvel's Avengers'', voiced by Wally Wingert.

References

External links

A Guide To Marvel's Golden Age Characters: Destroyer

{{Stan Lee British superheroes Characters created by Frank Robbins Characters created by Jack Binder Characters created by Roy Thomas Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1941 Comics characters introduced in 1977 Fictional gay males Fictional reporters Fictional World War II veterans Golden Age superheroes Marvel Comics American superheroes Marvel Comics LGBT superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Timely Comics characters