Marvel obsessive breaks record by covering body in over 60 tattoos of iconic characters

A Marvel obsessive has more tattoo tributes to his favourite comic book characters than anyone else in the world after covering almost his entire body in them.

Tom Radford (UK) has officially broken the record for most Marvel comic book characters tattooed on the body with an incredible total of 63.

Before Tom, two men shared the record title. Ryan Logsdon (USA) and Rick Scolamiero (Canada) both had 34 Marvel tattoos.

40-year-old Tom, who even named his dog Stanlee in tribute to late Marvel creator Stan Lee, said: “Technically my first Marvel tattoo was the words ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ which I got in 2007 across my chest.”

That wasn’t his first-ever tattoo though, with him explaining his skin is covered in a “random” mixture of Marvel characters, tribal designs – “that was all the rage back then” – and images that he’d pick on the spot from a tattoo artist’s '£40 board' hanging on the walls of the shop.

“Tattooing was very different when I first started getting them,” he said.

But things got really serious in 2016 when Tom had an image of supervillain Thanos tattooed on his thigh.

Tom laughed: “It was never meant to be a what it turned into, and I honestly never thought I  would cover my entire body with tattoos, think I might be addicted.”

He added: “I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to Marvel, so I always wanted characters tattooed on me but the level of detail didn't exist and if it wasn't perfect I didn't want it.

“Over the years this improved to a level where I felt I could get one and luckily for me after months of researching the best tattoo studio to go to I found one local to me, one which I have now been a customer of for the last 10 years and become close friends with my artist Andy Walker, who I highly consider the best in the game.

“When I got Thanos tattooed I wanted it placed at the top of my thigh because if it wasn't perfect I could always hide it. Needless to say it was better than perfect and the urge for more began.”

Tom continued to praise Andy’s work, saying he couldn’t believe he had something so good on his skin after getting that Thanos tattoo.

The Thanos tattoo that started it all

Even then, he admits he never imagined he’d go on to get so many tattoos of Marvel characters. Seeing his legs as “blank canvasses”, he figured he’d maybe get a leg sleeve of all his favourite villains and all his favourite heroes on the other leg.

But prone to collecting “anything and everything Marvel-related” he could find since his school days, those leg sleeves proved to not quite be enough.

And before Tom knew it, his collection of tattoo tributes began spreading all over his body.

Tom reckons he’s spent around 350 hours – over two full weeks – getting his Marvel tattoos done, and he estimates they’ve cost him around £18,000 ($13,370).

“[That] begs the question, how much I have spent in total on my body as half of it is covered in non-Marvel tattoos,” he quipped.

Tom found out about this record title when he was about halfway through having his hero leg sleeve completed.

He was at a total of 15 at the time and the record stood at 31, so Tom set out to beat it.

He said: “I'm a very determined individual when I set my sights on something and I believe anything is possible, I guess I can thank Marvel for that.

“I still had space to achieve the record but it would involve me getting places on my body tattooed that I never wanted to get tattooed, I’ve endured pain in places very few will understand for tattoos no one will ever see, all for the sake of this record.

“The record was beaten a further two times in the time I started chasing it which made me rethink my strategy. I was always going to just beat it, my original target was 32 but with how often it got broken I decided I should beat it by a lot to give me time to enjoy it.

“I planned to beat it around my 40th birthday, I loved the sound of turning 40 and being a world record holder, which I did. I don't plan on having the record forever, records are meant to be broken, I know it will get beaten one day but I also plan on beating it myself next year as I still have room for more characters, all in the worse places possible.”

Ouch!

Find more stories about people with record-breaking tattoos in our Human Body section.

Tom’s favourite tattoo in his collection is that Thanos one that started it all, and he even got to meet actor Josh Brolin at New York Comic-Con in 2024 – he’s since had the autograph Brolin gave him added to his tattoo. He did the same after meeting Scarlett Witch actress Elizabeth Olsen.

With him heading to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time ever this year, he’s hoping to add even more signatures to his body art.

For anyone wondering, Tom’s favourite character is Thor although he says Spider-Man will always be his ultimate hero.

Thanos is his favourite villain, followed by Dr Doom.

But asking him to pick his favourite movie in the MCU is posing a much more difficult question.

Thor is Tom’s favourite character

But Spider-Man is his personal hero

“Needless to say I have watched these films countless times,” he told us.

We can’t say we’re surprised.

Every time a new movie is released, Tom goes to see it in the cinema around 10 times over the course of the opening weekend.

He added: “I recently started a Marvel rewatch which includes everything in the run up to Doomsday which could quite easily become my new favourite but until then it's Infinity War which I'm not ashamed to say I must have seen over 250 times and every time I watch it is like the first time.

“I always get asked ‘Why do you sit and watch them so many times?’ and the answer is simple - I love it.

“I describe it as when a small child watches something they like and they want to watch it again straight after it's finished, that's what is alive and well inside of me. It's the child in me that watches these films, when I see them on the big screen it makes me so happy. If you had told a young me that one day I would get to watch these on the big screen just like they are in the comics, I’d have never believed you, seeing my comics come alive on the big screen is my happy place.”

As a life-long Marvel fan, Tom says he’s “proud” to hold his record. We’re proud of you too, Tom.