Thanos is a big whiny crybaby!

Despite Thanos achieving omnipotence by collecting the six Infinity gems of time, space, mind, soul, reality, and power he is distraught that Lady Death does not love him back. Desperate to impress her, and egged on by Mephisto, Thanos kills half of humanity including many of the Avenger and X-Men heroes.

A seemingly random group of heroes remain: Captain America, Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Hulk, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Spider Man and a few others. They band under the direction of Adam Warlock, who is mysteriously alive again, to defeat Thanos. There were some confusing interactions with some cosmic deities,  and eventually his own self doubt leads to his undoing. But what of the huge swath of death that Thanos cut across the universe? You will just have to read this classic series to find out how!

I admired Jim Starlin’s story, as it didn’t become too convoluted and he gave Thanos a real pathos. The art work by George Pérez and Ron Lim is outstanding, of course.  I like how people are drawn realistically and proportionally, none of this bulked out men and sex kitten females that some artists feel they need to draw. I laughed out loud when in the background of a panel depicting a giant wave, a Trump tower was seen collapsing. Written in 1991, who knew what that picture would symbolize years later.

Depending on when you come into a fandom, there will be certain characters that you know better than others. As I was an X-Men & ElfQuest fan originally, and did not read many Avenger titles, Thanos is a new character to me. And although this book is due for some attention because of the upcoming Avengers Infinity War movie, I actually picked this up because I am on a Pérez kick (thanks to Kathleen!). Two other characters that I have recently come to know better in this book and last week’s JLA/Avengers are Galatcus and Nebula. While I vaguely remembered Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy (I have not seen part 2 yet), I find it funny that my first connection to Galatcus came from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!

I enjoyed reading throw back stories these two weeks, for they give me a better understanding of past adventures and spotlighted characters I didn’t know that well. This was an epic story, one that newer Marvel stories pale next to.

-Nancy

Starlin, Jim, George Perez & Ron Lim. The Infinity Gauntlet. 1991.