Thanos is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (February 1973). His name is partly a pun on the Greek word Θάνατος (Thánatos, "death"), but is mostly a corruption of the name of the god of non-violent death, Thanatos. He is the son of Mentor and brother of Starfox. He is one of the most powerful villains in the entire Marvel Universe with a rather evil temperament and has faced many heroes, including the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and others. He becomes the leader of the villain lair, along with Megatron and Afton.