DREXEL CORD
Real Name: Drexel Cord
Identity/Class: Human technology user (mad scientist type)
Occupation: Munitions manufacturer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Demolisher (former servant)
Enemies: Demolisher, Tony Stark/Iron Man, SHIELD I (Jasper Sitwell)
Known Relatives: Janice Cord (daughter);
see comments
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A castle on the east coast of the USA, somewhere near Stark Industries
First Appearance: Iron Man I#2 (June, 1968)
Powers/Abilities: A genius inventor, Cord was skilled at robotics and weapons design.
Height: Unrevealed (5'10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (170 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Gray
History:
(Iron Man I#2 (fb) - BTS) - His past largely unrevealed,
Drexel Cord became a wealthy munitions manufacturer, with his chief
rival being Stark Industries.
(Iron Man I#12 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, Cord's lawyer Vincent Sandhurst used his influence with Cord to get his brother Basil a position on Cord's scientific research staff--Basil's unorthodox practices got him barred from other employers (Basil Sandhurst eventually became the Controller).
(Iron Man I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Cord long harbored a resentment for Tony Stark and Stark Industries, who outdid his own accomplishments and his own company. In an effort to outdo Stark, Cord paid to have a castle shipped to America brick by brick and then had it rebuilt in its original form, which he used as his laboratory.
Because of his insane envy of Stark, Cord eventually had a nervous breakdown (actually a series of breakdowns), but he returned to work; however, he began to suffer the same frustrations, which eventually developed into an obsessive need to surpass Stark--in an effort to do so, Cord designed and built the Demolisher robot to destroy Iron Man, the crowning accomplishment of Stark Industries (Cord had no idea that Stark and Iron Man were one and the same). Cord had studied Iron Man's fighting style "for days on end" to provide his robot with data to counter any of Iron Man's tactics.
(Iron Man I#2) - Despite the desperate pleas of his daughter Janice, Cord unleashed the Demolisher, sending it against Iron Man. In the initial confrontation, the robot seemed to be more powerful than the armored Avenger, who eventually feigned complete defeat in hopes that the Demolisher would take him back to its master. Wishing to personally witness Iron Man's destruction, Cord directed the Demolisher to bring the golden Avenger back to his castle.
However, Janice had seen the madness in her father's behavior and contacted Jasper Sitwell of SHIELD for aid, and she led him back to her father. Upon seeing the SHIELD agent in his base, Cord destroyed the robot's control mechanism, so that its original programming would remain in place and it could not be stopped from its mission to destroy Iron Man.
The Demolisher arrived seconds later with the seemingly defeated Iron Man, and continued its assault on him. Janice rushed to the armored Avenger's side, and into the path of the Demolisher. Cord soon realized that the Demolisher would kill Janice if she was in its way, so he ran up to the robot and ordered it to stop, but the Demolisher swatted him aside.
The Demolisher blasted Iron Man as he shielded Janice from the robot's energy beam. In an attempt to save his daughter, Cord grabbed a metal pipe from the wreckage and hit the Demolisher from behind, momentarily distracting his berserk creation. The Demolisher then turned its attention to its creator and blasted Cord with its beam, mortally wounding him. While the robot had its back turned, Iron Man rammed his armored fist into the Demolisher's exposed control panel, then followed up with a blast of his repulsor rays, which incapacitated the robot.
With his dying breath, Drexel Cord had returned to his senses and realized that his mad obsession to outdo Tony Stark had nearly killed his daughter, then he passed away.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and Johnny Craig.
I was certain that the relationship between Drexel and Edwin Cord (@ Daredevil I#167, etc.) of Cordco had been detailed somewhere, but I can't find it. I'd guess Edwin is perhaps a nephew...or they're not actually related.
Carycomix adds: If Edwin is Drexel's nephew, I think the brother's name was Joseph (a.k.a. "Joey") Cord. There is an early issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP, where the Chameleon impersonated Rick Jones to enlist the Hulk's aid in liberating Joey from the police--the motive was repayment for the latter saving the former's life. Now, in that same issue, the life-saving was supposed to have occurred when both were kids. In light of recent ret-cons, however, Marvel could do a sequel where Joey Cord was an ex-partner of the Chameleon's! Drexel hired the latter for industrial espionage, with Joey as a go-between. And, in time, the two became good friends, starting with Joey saving Cham's life during some get-away. Then came the fateful misadventure where Spidey and the Hulk were inadvertently brought together by Cham. One of the arresting officers half-seriously joked about shooting him "trying to escape;" Joey took it too literally; and the cop instinctively shot-and-killed Joey in self-defense. Edwin Cord might one day (in between his own attempts to avenge the deaths of his Uncle Drexel and Cousin Janice) be willing to hide Chameleon from the authorities... and, of course, Spidey, too.
Janice Cord became one of Tony Stark's earlier love interests.
New images and more by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Drexel Cord should not be confused with:
The Demolisher has no known connection to:
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Standing about 7 feet tall and weighing 1000 lbs., the Demolisher was a robot with superhuman strength (Class 25) and durability. Its armor proved resistant to conventional firearms, explosives, and even the full strength and energy attacks of Iron Man. It could fly and operate underwater, as well as project a powerful disintegrator beam from its head. It contained a complex computer (complete with a control panel on its back as its Achilles Heel) which was programmed with Iron Man's fighting style and general attack instructions; it could also receive specific commands from a remote control mechanism. (Iron Man I#2) - Constructed by Drexel Cord to destroy Iron Man, the Demolisher proved to be able to resist all of Iron Man's attacks. It had an initial program in place, but it could also receive specific instructions from Cord's control mechanism. Under Cord's direction, it brought Iron Man back to Cord's castle so its creator could witness his enemy's defeat. However, Cord then destroyed the control mechanism to prevent SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell from altering its programming. As a result, the robot was locked on its goal of destroying Iron Man and everything that got in its way. When Janice Cord rushed to Iron Man's side, Drexel realized that the Demolisher would destroy his daughter as well. Drexel succeeded in briefly distracting the Demolisher from Janice by attacking it himself, but was killed for his effort. Attacks from Iron Man, Drexel, and Jasper Sitwell had exposed the control panel on the Demolisher's back, and Iron Man's repulsor blasts managed to destroy the robot's inner circuitry. |
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(Iron Man VI#3) - Apparently repaired/rebuilt by unspecified individual(s), the Demolisher was sent to an art gallery; but Iron Man broke the robot in half across his knee. --Iron Man I#2 (Iron Man I#2, Iron Man VI#3 |
images:
Iron Man I#2, p2, pan5 (main image - Drexel Cord)
Iron Man I#2, p18, pan1 (headshot - Drexel Cord)
Iron Man I#2, p17, pan3 (Drexel Cord attacks Demolisher with metal pipe)
Iron Man I#2, p20, pan2 (mortally wounded Drexel Cord, surrounded by Janice Cord, Jasper Sitwell, and Iron Man)
Iron Man I#2, cover (Demolisher approaches Janice Cord and Iron Man)
Iron Man I#2, p4, pan2 (Demolisher [rear view] with back access panel open; Drexel Cord, Janice Cord)
Iron Man I#2, p4, pan5 (Demolisher flying from Cord's castle)
Iron Man VI#3, p3, pan1 (Demolisher gets broken in half by Iron Man)
Appearances:
Iron Man I#2 (June, 1968) - Archie Goodwin (writer), Johnny Craig (artist), L.P. Gregory (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#12 (April, 1969) - Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Art Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor) [Drexel Cord, one-panel flashback]
Iron Man VI#3 (January, 2021) - Christopher Cantwell (writer), Cafu (artist), Frank D'Armata (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 10/18/2003
Last updated: 11/13/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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