Tom Radford earned the Guinness World Record for the most Marvel Comics characters tattooed on the body: 63. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records
April 17 (UPI) — A Marvel Comics superfan from Britain paid tribute to his favorite heroes and villains by getting 63 characters tattooed on his body.
Tom Radford, 40, earned the Guinness World Record for the most Marvel Comics characters tattooed on the body, taking the title that was previously co-held by Ryan Logsdon and Rick Scolamiero, who each have 34 Marvel tattoos.
Radford, who has been getting tattoos for decades, got his first piece of Marvel ink in 2016, when he had the villain Thanos tattooed on his thigh.
“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,” he told Guinness World Records.
He planned to have one leg covered in Marvel villains and another covered in heroes, but he quickly ran out of space and the tattoos started spreading to his back and other areas of his body.
Radford said he eventually learned of the Guinness World Records title and set his sights on breaking it by his 40th birthday.
“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,” he said.
Radford said his Thanos tattoo is now embellished with an autograph he got from Josh Brolin, who played the villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was able to do the same with Elizabeth Olsen, who played Scarlet Witch, and he is hoping to add more signatures after attending San Diego Comic-Con later this year.