View source for Destroyer (Marvel Comics)

{{short description|Marvel Comics superhero}}
{{for|the Marvel character associated with Thor|Destroyer (Thor)}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox comics character| <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
image=Image:Mystic Comics 8.jpg
|caption=[[Al Gabriele]]'s cover to<br>''[[Mystic Comics]]'' #8 (March 1942)
|character_name= The Destroyer
|alter_ego={{ubl|Kevin "Keen" Marlow|Brian Falsworth|Roger Aubrey}}
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|debut={{ubl|Marlow:<br>''[[Mystic Comics]]'' #6 (October 1941)|Falsworth:<br>''[[Invaders (comics)|The Invaders]]'' #18 (July 1977)|Aubrey:<br>''The Invaders'' #14 (March 1977)}}
|creators={{ubl|Marlow:<br>[[Stan Lee]] (writer)<br>[[Jack Binder (artist)|Jack Binder]]<br>[[Alex Schomburg]]|Falsworth & Aubrey:<br>[[Roy Thomas]] (writer)<br>[[Frank Robbins]] (artist)}}
|aliases=
|powers={{ubl|Peak human physical condition|Skilled fighter and marksman|Aubrey:<br>Size reduction|Super-Soldier Formula enhanced physical abilities<ref>''Thunderbolts'' #40–41</ref>}}
}}
The '''Destroyer''' is the name of three fictional [[superhero]]es appearing in [[American comic book]]s published by [[Marvel Comics]]. The original incarnation was created by writer [[Stan Lee]] and artist [[Jack Binder (artist)|Jack Binder]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=Sean |title=Marvel Comics: The Untold Story |date=2013 |publisher=Harper Perennial |isbn=978-0061992117 |chapter=Chapter 1}}</ref> and first appeared in ''[[Mystic Comics]]'' #6 (October 1941), being one of Lee's earliest creations during the [[Golden Age of Comic Books]].

Subsequent incarnations created by [[Roy Thomas]] and [[Frank Robbins]] appeared in ''[[Invaders (comics)|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.<ref>''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z vol. 3''</ref>

==Publication history==
===Golden Age publications===
The Destroyer [[first appearance|first appeared]] as the cover subject and in a story in ''[[Mystic Comics]]'' #6 (Oct. 1941), from [[Marvel Comics]]' predecessor [[Timely Comics]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=The Destroyer |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/destroyr.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> One of the [[World War II]]-era heroes of what fans and historians call the [[Golden Age of Comic Books]], the character was one of the first co-created by Marvel writer-editor [[Stan Lee]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brevoort |first1=Tom |last2=DeFalco |first2=Tom |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=Sanderson |first4=Peter |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |title=Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History |date=2017 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1465455505 |page=19}}</ref> The artist co-creator is uncertain: the story [[penciler]]-[[inker]] was [[Jack Binder (comics)|Jack Binder]], but the cover artist, who may have drawn the character first, was [[Alex Schomburg]].<ref>[http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=1711 ''Mystic Comics'' #6] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Roy |title=The Golden Age of Marvel Comics |date=1997 |publisher=Marvel Comics |isbn=0-7851-0564-6 |page=3 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> However, a 2019 book by Thomas and Kurt Mitchell described the Destroyer as "a Stan Lee-written mash-up of [[Captain America|Captain America's]] origin and [[Blazing Skull|Blazing Skull's]] setting notable largely for its hero's eerie grey-and-red costume."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940–1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=67}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=78}}</ref>

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]], the [[Human Torch (android)|Human Torch]], 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 (Thomas Halloway)|Angel]].

The Destroyer stood out from other wartime heroes in that he operated solely within [[occupied Europe]].<ref>{{cite journal|last= Thomas|first= Roy|date= August 2011|title= Destroy All Nazis!|journal= [[Alter Ego (magazine)|Alter Ego]]|issue= #104| page= 24}}</ref> Artists associated with the feature include pencilers [[Al Gabriele]] and [[Mike Sekowsky]], and inkers [[Vince Alascia]] and [[Allen Bellman]]. Comic-book giant [[Jack Kirby]] contributed the Destroyer cover of ''Mystic Comics'' #7 (Dec. 1941).<ref>[http://comics.org/details.lasso?id=1843 ''Mystic Comics'' #7] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref><ref>[http://www.kirbymuseum.org/catalogue/view.jkm?pp=3797 Destroyer cover, ''Mystic Comics'' #7]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at the [[Jack Kirby]] Museum</ref> The cover was inked by either [[Syd Shores]] or [[Joe Simon]] (sources differ).

The character's Golden Age appearances included:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/174 |access-date=8 April 2020 |page=174}}</ref>

* ''[[Mystic Comics]]'' #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)
* ''[[Mystic Comics]]'' 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]]'' #6, 10 (1945–1946)

===1970s publications===
[[Roy Thomas]] and [[Frank Robbins]] first featured Roger Aubrey as the diminutive [[Dyna-Mite]] in ''[[Invaders (comics)|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 [[Union Jack (comics)|Lord Falsworth]] and [[Spitfire (comics)|Spitfire]] 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 [[retroactive continuity|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 (comics)|Union Jack]] 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 (comics)|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 (comics)|John Byrne]] mentioned Falsworth in the backstory for ''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]'' #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 ''[[V-Battalion|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 (comics)|Allan Jacobsen]] and C.P. Smith used Aubrey as a supporting character in a number of issues of ''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.

In ''[[Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty]]'' (Vol 2) #10 (May 2023), by writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and artist [[Carmen Carnero]], Aubrey's lifetime experiences of overcoming adversity enable him to play a central role in breaking M.O.D.O.C.'s control over the minds of the Invaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/comics/news/new-comic-reviews-dc-marvel-image-march-1-2023/#1|author=Magnett, Chase|title=Comic Book Reviews for This Week: 3/1/2023|publisher=ComicBook.com|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=July 5, 2023|access-date=July 6, 2023|archive-date=July 6, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230706143143/https://comicbook.com/comics/news/new-comic-reviews-dc-marvel-image-march-1-2023/}}</ref> He ultimately sacrifices his life to save [[Sharon Carter]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aiptcomics.com/2023/03/01/captain-america-sentinel-of-liberty-10-review/|author=Williamson, Lia|title=In 'Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty' #10, the Invaders fight their demons|publisher=AIPT|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=March 1, 2023|access-date=July 6, 2023|archive-date=July 6, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230706144135/https://aiptcomics.com/2023/03/01/captain-america-sentinel-of-liberty-10-review/}}</ref> when he takes the brunt of the villain's [[directed energy weapon]], a beam from which had been intended for Carter.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=Lanzing, Jackson; Kelly, Collin|artist=Carnero, Carmen|story=The Invader: Part 4: Only For Control|title=[[Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty]]|volume=2|issue=10|date=May 2023|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]}}</ref>

In "Nothing but a Fight", a follow-up story by the same creators that appears in the anthology issue ''[[Captain America]]'' #750 (September 2023), Aubrey's peers eulogize him at his funeral. He is laid to rest beside Falsworth beneath a headstone whose epitaph reads, "Roger Aubrey: A Man of Love and Destroyer of Hate".<ref>{{cite comic|writer=Lanzing, Jackson; Kelly, Collin|artist=Silva, R.B.; Carnero, Carmen|story=Nothing but a Fight|title=[[Captain America]]|issue=750|date=September 2023|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/comics/news/captain-america-750-review-marvel-comics/|title=Captain America #750 Review: Why Two Captains Are Better Than One|author=Adams, Timothy|publisher=ComicBook.com|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=July 5, 2023|access-date=July 6, 2023|archive-date=July 6, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230706142718/https://comicbook.com/comics/news/captain-america-750-review-marvel-comics/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/05/captain-america-750-review/|publisher=AIPT|title='Captain America' #750 deals with the fallout from 'Cold War' and the star-spangled Avengers' legacy|author=Jennings, Collier|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=July 5, 2023|access-date=July 6, 2023|archive-date=July 6, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230706142820/https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/05/captain-america-750-review/}}</ref>

==Fictional character biographies==
===Keen Marlow===
[[People of the United States|American]] [[journalist]] Keen Marlow is captured for spying while reporting behind-the-lines in [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Germany]]. While imprisoned in a [[Internment|concentration camp]], Marlow is given a super-soldier serum, similar to that given to [[Captain America]], by fellow prisoner Professor Eric Schmitt, a German anti-Nazi scientist. 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.<ref name=War>{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Paul |title=Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media |date=2017 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476666723 |page=54}}</ref> He was occasionally abetted by an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] agent named Florence von Banger. Antagonists included the Scar, Herr Sin and Von Maus.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

===Brian Falsworth===
{{main article|Union Jack (Marvel Comics)}}
In the Destroyer's [[retcon]]ned appearances in the 1970s, his origin is attributed to '''Brian Falsworth''', brother of [[Invaders (comics)|Invaders]] member [[Spitfire (comics)|Spitfire]] and son of James Montgomery Falsworth / Union Jack.

===Roger Aubrey===
Brian Falsworth gave up the Destroyer identity to become the new [[Union Jack (comics)|Union Jack]], and his friend [[Destroyer (Roger Aubrey)|Roger Aubrey]] (initially introduced as the superhero Dyna-Mite, a member of the team the [[Crusaders (Marvel Comics)|Crusaders]]<ref>''The Invaders'' #14</ref>) 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.<ref>''The Marvels Project'' #7</ref> 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.<ref>''The Invaders'' #19</ref> It was later revealed that Brian and Roger were lovers.<ref>''Citizen V and the V Battalion'' vol. 2 #1 (March 2002)</ref>

==Other versions==
Versions of the Destroyer, both in continuity and out, have appeared in various Marvel comics. ''The Age of the [[Sentry (Robert Reynolds)|Sentry]]'' #5 (March 2009) depicts the character as a member of the [[Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team)|Guardians of the Galaxy]]. The character also made a guest appearance in a 2000s issue of ''[[New Invaders]]''.{{issue|date=July 2023}}

===MAX imprint===
Marvel's [[MAX (comics)|MAX]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]] published the five-issue [[miniseries]] ''The Destroyer'' vol. 4 (June–Oct. 2009).<ref>Per ''The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators'', [http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/seldn.htm#G216 volumes one to three] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808211255/http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/seldn.htm |date=2009-08-08 }} star an unrelated, non-Marvel character adapted from ''[[The Destroyer (novel series)|The Destroyer]]'' &nbsp;series of crime novels: ''The Destroyer'' (1989–1990), ''The Destroyer'' vol. 2 (1991) and ''The Destroyer'' vol. 3 (1991–1992)</ref> 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' ..."<ref>Rogers, Vaneta. [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=154261 NYCC '08: Robert Kirkman on Destroyer MAX], ''[[Newsarama]]'', April 19, 2008. [https://archive.today/20091126034834/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=154261 WebCite archive] 2009-11-26</ref> 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 people|black]] and has a [[Bionics|bionic arm]], or their grown daughter Felecia.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20125 "Destroyer Will Punch a Hole in Your Head"], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', February 20, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090423004252/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20125 WebCite archive] 2009-11-26</ref>

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 [[Captain America]] (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.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

==In other media==
===Television===
The Keen Marlow incarnation of the Destroyer, renamed '''Keene Marlowe''', appears in the ''[[Spider-Man (1994 TV series)|Spider-Man]]'' five-part episode "Six Forgotten Warriors", voiced by [[Roy Dotrice]]. This version is an old colleague of [[Captain America]] and friend of [[Uncle Ben|Ben Parker]] who, along with the [[Whizzer (Robert Frank)|Whizzer]], [[Miss America (Madeline Joyce)|Miss America]], the [[Black Marvel]], and the [[Thunderer (Marvel Comics)|Thunderer]], obtained his powers from a flawed attempt at recreating the process that empowered Captain America during World War II and has to regulate them with a special ring.

===Video games===
* The Roger Aubrey incarnation of the Destroyer appears in ''[[Lego Marvel Super Heroes]]''.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
* The Roger Aubrey incarnation of the Destroyer appears in ''[[Lego Marvel's Avengers]]'', voiced by [[Wally Wingert]].{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020619015009/http://www.geocities.com/jjnevins/destroyer.html A Guide To Marvel's Golden Age Characters: Destroyer]
* [http://timely_goldenage.tripod.com/the_destroyer.html The Heroes of Timely Comics: The Destroyer]
* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/destroyer.htm International Hero: The Destroyer]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20220126080918/http://www.geocities.com/mailittomarvell/destroyer.htm The Mighty Destroyer – Appearances in Publication Order]

{{GoldenAge}}
{{Avengers characters}}
{{Stan Lee}}

[[Category:British superheroes]]
[[Category:Characters created by Frank Robbins]]
[[Category:Characters created by Jack Binder]]
[[Category:Characters created by Roy Thomas]]
[[Category:Characters created by Stan Lee]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1977]]
[[Category:Fictional gay men]]
[[Category:Fictional reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:Fictional World War II veterans]]
[[Category:Golden Age superheroes]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics American superheroes]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics LGBTQ superheroes]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics male superheroes]]
[[Category:Timely Comics characters]]