| Title | : | Infinity Gauntlet |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785123490 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785123491 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published July 10, 1991 |
Infinity Gauntlet Reviews
-
This was a loaner from my neighbor and not something that I would have normally picked out for myself. 'Cause it's...old. And the art looks...old. It even smelled...old.
As I read over the blurb on the back, I was like, Hey, Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet? Isn't that the theme for that cartoon that my kids like so much? Superhero Squad!
...and then my son snatched it. Honestly, I didn't fight him for it either. I mean, it looked so...old.
But a few days later, when I heard him telling his brother about how Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer helped Adam Warlock save the universe, I decided that I should probably make sure this was suitable reading material for children. Um, you know, just to be a responsible parent...and all that.
Considering the fact that there are actually people who ask me for advice because I'm old and therefore wise, I should know better than to judge a book by its ancient cover. But I'm shallow. And I was shocked when I realized that this was good. Surprisingly good. It opened with Dr. Strange, so how could it not be?
Don't answer that.
So, yes. This is one of those stories that stand the test of time. It's not required reading, but it is fun.
Do you have to get past the overblown grandiose dialogue that was par for the course when this was written? Yes.
Personally, when I read something like this, the little narrator in my head sounds like William Shatner. I've found it makes the reading experience a bit more fun.
Is the art slick eye-candy? No. It still looks...old. It's the kind of old that grows on you, though. Kinda like that crazy uncle who won't stop chain-smoking and talking about his Days in 'Nam...even though everyone in the family knows he actually spent that time in Canada. Just roll with it.
Anyway, check this out when you get in the mood for wacky/fun space opera set in the Marvel universe!
-
I read this back when it was originally published in 1991, and I remember thinking, “Wow! This is a comic that combines the best of Marvel’s more grounded heroes with its cosmic elements to create an epic story of a threat to the entire universe. Someday, maybe in about 20 or 25 years when motion picture technology advances to the point where they can make superhero movies that look really cool, Marvel could start their own movie studio and release a series of films based on some of these characters. Then they could use the Infinity Stones as the primary connective tissue that links all those films together.
After capitalizing on that for movie after movie and making piles of money, the whole thing can climax with a version of this story. Like maybe it could be an Avengers movie called The Infinity War or something like that. That’s a pretty big story for just one film. Maybe two movies tied together? Yeah, that sounds better. And I’m thinking they'd be ready to do that in…let’s say 2018 or so.”
Yep. I totally saw it coming… -
Not a comic to be missed if you loved Avengers Infinity War!
The recent Avengers film is excellent. It’s one of my favourite films in the marvel cinematic universe (despite the tears I may have shed) so I wanted to read its source material, and it really didn’t disappoint.
Sure the artwork’s a little dated, and the film capitalises on the action and makes it more dramatic and flashy, though the story is so strong here. The success of it resides in its ability to blend so many elements into one. There are so many crossovers, so many characters all transported into one story to resist the will of a Titan whose motives are benevolent though his actions are terrible.
As such, he is a brilliantly compelling villain because he thinks he is a hero. He does bad to serve good. He kills to save. He murders to restore life and energy. He knows that he sacrifices his own morals, his soul, in order to serve a greater purpose. I love him and I hate him. He is a fantastic character.
Unlike the recent movie, this begins with Thanos at full power: he has all the stones and is about to decimate half of all life. The heroes then deal with the aftermath. It will be interesting to see how the end of Avengers Infinity War II compares with this.
Exciting, intense and superbly gripping! -
Thanos as you want to see him!!!
This TPB edition collects “The Infinity Gauntlet” #1-6.
Creative Team:
Writer: Jim Starlin
Illustrator: George Perez
IF THE GLOVE FITS…
Thanos begins here already in full power, no waiting, no hunt for gems, oh no siree!
Thanos is in possession already of the Infinity Gauntlet with all the six gems: Soul, Mind, Power, Time, Reality, Space.
Therefore, controlling all those six aspects of existence, basically he became a god (curiously, enough his first act is probing his calligraphy writing “god” in English!), with enough power to do anything he would want, but…
…not enough to gain the love of Death (literally the Death (of course, in Marvel terms, do not confuse with the other Death from the Distinguished Competition)).
Death wants balance in the universe, but too bad that the imbalance that she found is that there are more alive beings in the universe than those who already are dead, so…
…she asked Thanos to kill half of the universe’s population.
Easy, peachy!
Thanos agreed with pleasure.
Of, course, Thanos agrees since he want to gain the favor of Death (birds of a feather flock together, it seems), but it doesn’t mean that Thanos won’t get something good out of the deal, so he gets precisely the Infinity Gauntlet with all the six gems, supposedly to have enough power to do Death’s bidding (of course, if she is Death, literally Death, I don’t know why she’d need a herald instead of she does it herself, quite lazy that Marvel’s Death!).
And Thanos with a snap of fingers, in a second,…
…he kills (and conveniently desintegrated them too) half the universe’s population!
Just for starters in this story, folks!
ADAM’S HEROES
As you may guess, with half the universe’s population no more, well, it couldn’t be logical that several super-heroes wouldn’t be between those unlucky fellows, so the whole Fantastic Four, Black Panther, The Wasp, Hawkeye, Luke Cage, Jean Grey, Daredevil, Black Cat, Dagger, Mary Jane Watson and many others aren’t around anymore, and those lucky heroes that remained alive are stunned due that sudden disappearing of people.
Nobody knows what to do, but…
…Adam Warlock.
Oh, yes, he already died like ten years ago (Marvel time) but that little inconvenient isn’t a trouble for Adam’s plans to gather his army to deal Thanos’ menace.
So, Adam Warlock soon enough is recruiting several heroes (and even some villains): Captain America, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, She-Hulk, Drax the Destroyer, Wolverine, Cyclops, Spider-Man, Cloak, Scarlet Witch, Nova, Quasar, Dr. Doom, Namor and Fire-Lord.
And if you’re wondering how the heck that team (not matter how powerful are several of them) will be able to beat Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet…
…well, let’s say that Adam Warlock have one heck of wild cards waiting for the right time!
But don’t think that you already know all that you need to know how this will ends…
…since this story has several twists and surprises! -
Sure, it’s all kinda bonkers, but what do you expect when Thanos, the Mad Titan, becomes the most powerful being in the universe? By the beginning of issue #2, he has already murdered a quarter of the universe’s populace just to impress his queen of hearts, Mistress Death – not your run-of-the-mill romance. And then the space-time continuum starts to shift, entire solar systems are ravaged, Planet Earth is derailed from its orbit, falling into another ice age…
I found the book’s unreserved commitment to its cosmic agenda quite enjoyable. Everything from the story’s immense scope to its overblown wording and spectacular (for its time) artwork feels larger-than-life, and it’s all presented in a refreshingly irony-free, wide-eyed, Kirby-esque no-nonsense style. When Thanos says “My every moment is spent in either dealing out death or worshiping it,” I’m afraid he means every word of it, and it takes the combined efforts of almost every hero on the Marvel roster to pacify him. -
In order to impress his paramour, Death, Thanos kills half of the universe using the Infinity Gauntlet. The remaining half of the universe, guided by Adam Warlock, is pissed off and means to stop Thanos at any cost...
As part of justifying my Marvel Unlimited subscription, I decided to finally read The Infinity Gaunlet. Hell, I'm only seventeen years late. On the heels of reading Warlock: The Complete Collection, I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, this one was a lot easier to digest.
The Infinity Gauntlet was probably the most ambitious crossover to date when it was published in the dawn of the 1990s. Starlin resurrected his pet project, Adam Warlock and wove a tale of epic destruction. Basically, the remaining heroes of Earth team up with Warlock and the Silver Surfer to try to strip Thanos of his godhood. It doesn't go well.
For a 90s book, The Infinity Gauntlet is surprisingly readable and the art stands up well. Hell, it's George Perez being George Perez for most of the issues. Ron Lim is no slouch either.
The interplay between Warlock, The Silver Surfer, and Doctor Strange is my favorite part of the piece. I also like that some of the heroes know they're way out of their element. Thanos swatting the heroes down like gnats was pretty satisfying. One of my favorite character elements was Doctor Doom trying to swipe the Infinity Gauntlet for himself, like everyone knew he was going to do.
I don't actually have any big gripes with this, surprising for a comic from 1991. I thought Quasar went out like a chump and most of the heroes could have been left out. Wolverine survived a little too long. Other than that, no complaints.
The Infinity Gauntlet is an interesting piece of comic book history that holds up surprisingly well today. Four out of five stars. -
Which word do you think best describes the Goodreads Recommendation Engine?
A. Mystical
B. Insightful
C. Imaginative
D. Speculative
E. Random
F. Inevitable
G. Buggy
H. Dishonest
I. Insane -
Back when I was a kid, I followed my favorite superheroes whenever I could afford it. Thor and Karate Kid were two at the top of that list. It probably wasn't so much the colorful costume as it was what they could do. Thor's mighty hammer could smash things, and he looked like a Viking, while Karate Kid could chop things up with his hands at a time when the only ones who did martial arts were the experts who's adds in the comic books said they would share their secrets for a dollar in cash, check, or stamps. Yes, you heard right. Postage stamps were a form of currency back then.
Fast forward to June of 2018 and I am entering the comic book store with son and grandkids. "It's a girl!" announces our arrival. Immediately I think of the TV show "Big Bang Theory." Son is busy checking out the War Hammer figures while Sunday Eve is matching wits with our comic book store guy. Little did he suspect that she has studied, no memorized, those Dr. Who trivia cards we bought her and she tells him what's what. Gideon searches the comic book bins and selects "The Infinity Gauntlet." My old comics were 25 cents each. This one cost Grandpa $24.99.
In all honesty, "The Infinity Gauntlet" is actually about five or six comics put together in a 255 page booklet. That still breaks down to about is about $5 a comic, but you do get your money's worth in color illustrations. The story lines are typical of comics. Use few words as necessary as to not intrude too much into the pictures of bulging muscles in colorful outfits and hurled fireballs. The individual comics if sold separately would each end in a similar cliffhanger to keep the story rolling. Now I don't like such obvious cliffhangers, so that bothered me. It has been a while since I followed the comics so maybe that is why it appeared that nothing was happening. Sure, galaxies exploded, but I think you need to be of a particular mindset or frame of mind to really get the maximum enjoyment out of this type of book. Both my son and grandson really loved this and I feel like I would be letting them down if I didn't enjoy it too.
In the story the villain Thanos steals these magic gems which give him god-like power when combined. All the Marvel superheroes band together, including the evil Dr. Doom, to battle him. Just about everyone gets killed, but then brought back to life. Naturally, least Stan Lee receive no more future royalties.
Part of my problem was failing to be able to really concentrate on this type of book with a house full of guests. Maybe if I were a kid again, or at least read it through a child's eyes, and used my imagination, I would have liked it a lot more. That said, I am going to do something out of the ordinary. I am going to ask my grandson to rate it. And if you read it, just maybe the kid in you will enjoy it too. -
Having seen the Avengers movie, I wondered who that odd looking fellow with the menacing grin was in the post-credits scene and did some googling when I got back home. His name is Thanos and the info I read pointed toward a book that does the character the best justice - "The Infinity Gauntlet" - and luckily my local library had a copy so I grabbed it and sat down this afternoon to read it.
While the book is 20 years old at this point, I loved it. But what's it about? It's about Thanos and his love for Mistress Death (yup Death is a chick but readers of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series already knew this), he's trying to win her over and he decides to do this by getting unlimited power via something called the Infinity Gauntlet and destroying the universe. Really, this is the weirdest romance story you'll ever read.
And that's the premise of the book. Thanos must be stopped but how do you stop a being with infinite power, who is in essence God? The Marvel superheroes decide to give it a go and things inevitably don't work, so a strange entity called Adam Warlock gathers together the ultimate beings of the universe in a final battle to end all battles. The results are pretty impressive.
The scale is gargantuan with a being called Eternity weighing into the fight, along with other beings called Chronos, Master Chaos and even manifestations of Love and Hate. Things get very abstract when planets become weapons to be hurled at Thanos and something called the Soul Realm comes into play. I won't spoil how it ends but it's all pretty epic and sensational.
Jim Starlin writes a vast and fascinating story about love and power amidst new gods. He keeps the action up and the mysticism and cosmic weirdness going throughout while still maintaining a sense of plot, character, and story so the reader is never fully lost in what's happening. George Perez's artwork, while clearly dated, serves the story perfectly and does a fine job of depicting a near impossible task of unimaginable proportions.
I wonder how Thanos' introduction in the Avengers movie sequel will affect the tone of the flick - if Whedon and co. go down this path, the next movie is going to be supremely weird and cosmic really quickly, a huge leap from where the Marvel movies have been so far. But maybe they won't pick up the "Infinity Gauntlet" storyline and go another direction. Meanwhile, any comics readers who are looking for a mind-bending read in the Marvel Universe would do well to pick up this book - even if the movies won't go there, the comics will and it's definitely worth the trip. -
Thanos has gained control of the infinity gauntlet, a glove armed with the six infinity gems. With the gauntlet the mad titan is the strongest being in the universe, but the universe's heroes still choose to fight.
I try not to judge older works of art as critically as newer ones because the great ones especially are often borrowed and improved upon over time. This is no exception in the massive crossover Infinity Gauntlet. The story is good and it's easy to see how it influenced many future comics.
After reading this I can't help but wonder how the Marvel MCU will depict Thanos with the infinity gauntlet. He can't possibly be as strong in the films as he is in this comic because his power is basically unstoppable and the film won't have the added strength of many of the comics characters.
All in all it was cool to read such a foundational piece of Marvel that is the Infinity Gauntlet. -
Got a healthy hankering for purple prose?
Crave a continuing cast of character constantly referring to themselves in the third person?
Looking for a collection of cosmic cataclysms colossal enough to leave Michael Bay lost in pyrotechnic longing?
Well, have I got a book for you. -
I found this at the top of a list of the best Marvel Events offered on Goodreads. The Infinity Gauntlet formed the plot of the latest two "Avenger" movies. Great news: if you liked the movies you will love these comics (I read them on Marvel Unlimited). The story has little similarity, and the cast of characters expands beyond the Cinematic Universe.
The "movie-Thanos," if you will, manifests a clear, sound, intelligent mind. He masks his corruption under the guise of humility, a villain with little to no flaws. The "comic-book-Thanos" (from thirty years ago) manifests many weaknesses. His personality connects more with a human-like mind. He shows evidence of psychosis and mental and emotional imbalance. He has love needs. He gathered the stones to please Lady Death, to win her heart. She refuses him, so he makes a series of mistakes. He still has ultimate power, and even Thanos confesses in the last pages that any idiot (speaking about his daughter, Nebula) could dominate with the Gauntlet.
I highly recommend this series. I consider this a new hit on my favorites list. -
2023 Review - Better reading it now but still unbalanced. Where's I think everyone gathering and the big fight is great, and Thanos being a Mad Titan that fits his name so well, is great, the last two issues feel too zanny and far out there without the grounded feel of first 4 issues. Saying that I enjoyed it overall and bumped it to a 3.
Original Review: Well I just had to finally sit down and read this before Infinity War. Thoughts? It's not bad.
Basically Thanos wants to prove to death his worth. So what does he do? Well he kills a lot of motherfuckers. There's a huge moment where basically every avenger ever plus some all go to fight the big badass but he simply swats and beats them away. Killing a ton shit. Of course they'll come back but before that he stomps out most of them.
Good: Liked watching Thanos beat the fuck out of everyone. I also thought the start was pretty good set up and gave us a lot to worry about.
Bad: Didn't love the art. Sorry, old art is hard for me to enjoy. Looks too goofy. I also thought the ending was exposition out of the ass and I was bored last two issues for sure.
Overall this was okay. Fun, but not as epic as I had hope. I'd probably say worth checking out before the movie but honestly the newer Thanos stories are far better IMO. A 2.5 out of 5. -
I admit, I read this because of that scene in Avengers. As good of a reason as any, I think. And I'm glad that I did, because it's really enormous fun.
Yes, the exact dialog and the exact character designs are a bit dated. But George Perez is an artist I don't think I could ever get tired of, and the plot and pacing are exciting and absorbing. Thanos is a very intimidating opponent under any circumstances, and now with almost unlimited power, nobody can truly beat him but himself. So the strategy is to throw literally everything at him and hope he screws up somehow. And then things get more interesting. No, it's not high art, but if this is a preview of Avengers 2, it'll be a fabulous movie. -
This was honestly brilliant!
The story was so well constructed and I loved to see if develop, taking some surprising twists and turns a long the way!
It was nice to see so many different marvel characters involved and I'm excited to see how they use this concept for the infinity war movies.
Admittedly, the cosmic characters and scenes were not my favourite but the art work and story made them enjoyable and entertaining to read. -
This was pretty good. Finally reading it after all this time and I kinda enjoyed it.
The premise is simple. Thanos gets his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet and decides to wipe out half the life from the universe and we see the aftermath of it and the assemblage of Avengers and other team heroes with Warlock at the helm and they take the fight to the cosmic behemoth and well its an insane fight the way Thanos takes down the Avengers and there is that moment with Cap which was crazy and finally the big thing with Nebula and the insane fight with cosmic entities.
Its one of those books thats a lot to take in and has so many insane and great moment and iconic panels by Perez and Lim and is epic in every sense of the word and is enjoyable. Plus the characterization of Thanos is on golden display here and his definitive story and I liked the ending they gave him and a great place to launch the spin offs events and all that so yeah a high recommendation! -
With Infinity War Part I coming out soon I decided to give this a try. I gotta say, I had lots of fun with this!
What’s it about?
Thanos has this glove with a bunch of shiny stones in it called the infinity gauntlet (you may have heard of it) and those stones contain extreme power. Thanos, being an evil madman uses that power to do a lot of insane and wicked things, so heroes and villains of the Marvel universe team up to stop him.
Pros:
The story is crazy, exciting and interesting! It’s surprisingly deep too, not just good guy beats up bad guy.
The art is super cool, there’s a lot of great panels throughout this book! It’s also very colorful to make this book very visually appealing.
I was pleasantly surprised by how suspenseful and plot-twisty this book is. I often complain that Marvel comics are too predictable but this one does things well and is very unpredictable.
There’s some fantastic action in this book. This is an exciting comic that is sure to please with the fun superhero action.
Starlin writes all of these characters very well. The superheroes have some great interactions, so do the villains that they find themselves having to team up with. Thanos is a pretty awesome villain too.
The narrative is great.
Cons:
This book can be a little confusing at times.
The ending is kinda disappointing.
Towards the beginning there’s a kind of needless subplot that’s just there and doesn’t have much to do with the story unless I somehow missed something. It was pretty much just “these 3 people exist in this world and some weird things happened to them.” and that was pretty much it.
Overall:
Despite a few minor problems this is a really fun book that has me even more hyped for the upcoming movie. Thanos is a great villain in this well written, suspenseful story with great characters and storytelling. It may be a bit hard to follow at times (which is something I am pretty surprised to say about a superhero book) but it’s super good and something I would highly recommend to fans of Marvel!
4/5 -
Considering the big event spectacles and crossovers that have over-saturated superhero comics since it's publication (surely that's just a coincidence) The Infinity Gauntlet holds up better than it has any right to. The melodramatic aplomb from Jim Starlin still charms and the cosmic spectacle created by George Perez, Ron Lim, Joe Rubinstein, Max Scheele, Ian Laughlin, Tom Christopher, Bruce Solotoff, and Evelyn Stein is surprisingly dazzlingly. It's like a summer blockbuster by Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay (or Zack Snyder, hey-yo!) except The Infinity Gauntlet consumes less of your time, the writing isn't nearly as embarrassing, and the color palette isn't drab nor does it overuse the blue/orange contrast. I wish the width for Goodreads's images could go beyond 400 because I'm not kidding when I say the artwork is dazzling, and any one of the numerous double-splashes would demonstrate that precisely (instead I'm afraid I must tide you over with Thanos posing and/or grinning psychotically)
While I got a campy enjoyment from Starlin's narration and dialogue (but you don't need to say the Gauntlet makes the user omnipotent so many damn times, Jim!) I was more impressed by all the plotting and the scripting that surely had to be done to fully showcase the talents of the artists, and he did a decent job juggling this giant cast of characters. Thanos, Adam Warlock, Dr. Strange, and the Silver Surfer consist of our central cast (Warlock is the weak link there. He just comes across as so bland) but almost every player in this apocalyptic struggle at least get a moment to shine.
And I've briefly bitched and moaned before about how many of the fights in comic books fail at being remotely exhilarating, exciting, or fun. I've even speculated that the inherent difficulty of making a good fight scene using the comic book format may be the reason why over-the-top feats and superpowers abound in comics. Well, even though there's no doubt that Thanos will kick their asses, the assault the assorted superheroes and cosmic entities launch on him in issue #4 and #5 was exhilarating, exciting, and fun even though over-the-top feats and superpowers come heavily into play because Starlin managed the impressive task of actually creating a rhythm and flow in these battles.
The Infinity Gauntlet still packs a pretty nice punch after all these years, and the fact that it does makes most of the big event spectacles and crossovers that have followed in its footsteps since 1991 look like bigger jabronis than they already seemed like (that includes Starlin's own follow-ups to his miniseries, if the reviews are anything to go by).
4 1/4 stars -
For those readers interested at a potential glimpse of the content of the Avengers (Assembled) sequel this is your choice of graphic novel. Infinity Gauntlet focuses on the proposed villain for this future movie, a villain known for meddling with the power of the Tesseract (or Cosmic Cube), and who runs by the name of Thanos. For the most part this graphic novel keeps a nice balance between message, story and visual elements, that is when the story doesn't become cosmically imbalanced by the battle between the various powerful entities.
The Marvel Universe, during its formative era, created a mixture of various entities to represent the different immortal concepts of the world. For instance Love, Hate, Eternity, Time, Death etc. The story in this particular collected tale focuses on these entities, particularly Death, and looks at how even the all-powerful Marvel heroes are powerless compared to the might of the gods. It is only the weakness of those gods which prevent the heroes from being completely destroyed.
The plot of the tale focuses around a resurrected Thanos, brought back by the feminine incarnation of Death. Thanos (whose name hints at Thanatos - the Greek personification of death) has a romantic desire towards Mistress Death and (before the story begins) has set out to perform her desire of destroying half the known universe, thus balancing the amount of dead beings with the amount of living beings. Yet to accomplish this deed Thanos persuades Death that he needs the all powerful Infinity Gauntlet, a device to make the wearer the most powerful being in existence. Of course, once he has this device, Thanos decides to use it for less noble purposes. Which causes Death to spurn him and leads to Thanos attempting various feats to win her favour. It is the abuse of power by Thanos that creates the battle filled storyline and leads to an interesting resolution.
The simple, yet more subtle message, in this volume is that of ordered control versus random control of power. At the end of the story the heroes seem to fear who is in control of the Infinity Gauntlet. Yet as Adam Warlock points out, "You fear a cosmic despot? Surely you must realise that even before Thanos you lived under such tyranny." Yet, when such tyranny seems to become reasoning and calculating, even if benign, fear exists because an intelligence is in command of such power. All of which prompts interesting questions.
An entertaining tale and one worth reading if you follow the Marvel Universe at all. Also recommended if, as mentioned, you are looking to gain insight into the ideas that may show up in the next anticipated Avengers movie. -
I don't really feel at home in the world Marvel has created, yet with all that The Avengers: Infinity War hype (that I have fallen for as well, there is no denying), I was intrigued to find out how the Cinematic Universe compares to its prototype.
The Infinity Gauntlet is big and ambitious in its scale. We meet Thanos, who is in possession of all six stones that give him ultimate power of soul, mind, power, time, reality and space.
What he hasn't won yet (and what makes him very different - and in my opinion less interesting to the cinematic Thanos) is the heart of Lady Death, whom he wants to impress. So Thanos, on his mission to make a woman fall in love with him, is willing to wipe out the world's entire population, if he has to. And he is annoyingly childish and immature in his approach.
I think for my personal preference this just wasn't quite enough of a reason, especially since I didn't quite see why it was so urgent to get that approval of Death. But nonetheless, now basically every super hero there ever has been has to drop their own story lines and characters and come together for one long, desperate, epic fight.
I was genuinely excited to see how this one would end, as the case seemed so hopeless with Thanos being able to fight the multitude of superheroes without even dropping his smile. There are a few twists that I wasn't too happy with, as it took a lot of urgency away for me personally and made me wonder what exactly is being fought here, but at the same time I have to give credit for this still being so readable over twenty years after its original publication. I'm still feeling quite indifferent towards what I have just read and don't feel like I'm taking much away from it. -
Reading this Jim Starlin opus has been a long time coming. I've been looking for a nice collected edition for a while, either as a trade paperback in the early 21st Century or a nice hardcover when Marvel released a premiere edition a while back. It took a sale on ComiXology for me to finally pull the trigger on this classic story-line.
I gave this 5 stars because I really enjoyed reading this. There were several mindblowing moments that one could appreciate the intensity of the conflict in this book. The true rating would be much closer to 4.51 stars, hence the round off to the nearest whole number. This works actually has many weaknesses that could easily merit a lower grade from another reviewer. Let me list some that I remember post-reading.
1. The art. The George Perez art was probably this story's main strength, but he only did half of it. Not to knock Ron Lim's talent, who is pretty good himself, Perez was just on a different level. Still, Lim filled in admirably for Perez for the last three chapters.
2. Adam Warlock. I really have no idea about the capabilities of this Starlin creation. He isn't exactly a "name" lead. I guess I need to read more about him.
3. There isn't any permanent change despite the cataclysmic conflict in these pages. If I mention more, it would be quite spoiler-ful.
I really enjoyed the story though, so don't let my observations daunt or discourage you if you haven't read it yet. As I have said earlier, this is a classic Marvel story. Plus, Marvel Studios has been teasing in their films a post credit appearance of Thanos in the billion dollar grossing The Avengers movie and two of the Infinity "stones" as well in recent movies. I am almost certain the movie writers would be dipping from this well when Thanos will finally make his full screen appearance. So read it before the movie. -
When the first Avengers movie came out in 2012, I saw it in a packed screening, including a group of individuals who were obviously Marvel zombies and when the post-credit scenes revealed the smiling face of Thanos, there was a positive uproar in the room that even I knew the significance of the Mad Titan, who I was introduced to when playing Capcom's fighting game Marvel Super Heroes. As we are getting closer to the cinematic Infinity War, where Thanos really is the final boss of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was time to read what many would consider the character's finest hour, known as The Infinity Gauntlet.
Written by Jim Starlin, who co-created the Mad Titan alongside Mike Friedrich, this six-issue limited series opens with Thanos in possession of the six Infinity Gems, making him the most powerful being in the universe. In order to impress Mistress Death, Thanos is determined to bring enslavement and destruction across the universe, something that Earth's Mightiest Heroes is not going to allow that to happen.
When it comes to event comics, most of them aren’t that good, especially Marvel, who often do lazy storylines about heroes versus heroes, with Civil War being a prime example. What we get with The Infinity Gauntlet is a story that does throw many Marvel characters in the cosmic sink (some of which I don’t recognise), but really showcases figures from the far-ends of the universe, most notably Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer. Brief they may be, but there are some great character beats whether it is the big ego that is Doctor Doom who reluctantly joins forces with the heroes, or the brief conversation between Wolverine and the Hulk, who often butt heads with each other.
However, the main character is actually the very villain himself as Thanos is determined to win the heart of Mistress Death, much to the dismay of his servant Mephisto. Given that Thanos was influenced by Jack Kirby's Darkseid from DC, Starlin isn’t writing some carbon copy as despite his maniacal motivations, Starlin wants to show vulnerability towards the most powerful figure in the universe and even the final outcome may not be what you expect when stopping the ultimate evil.
Although my favourite Marvel stories are the street-based intimacy of characters like Spider-Man and Daredevil, there's still plenty of room for the spectacular and as this comic that is mostly drawn by George Pérez really delivers on the spectacle. Throughout the first four issues that Pérez drew, it always feels like you're getting something new with every page as the panel layouts are always changing whilst splash pages are simply breathtaking with multiple characters from Earth-bound heroes to cosmic gods battling the singular Thanos in his large shrine in space. However, for the remaining two issues, Ron Lim takes control of artistic duties and although his art is impressive, especially when we see the aforementioned cosmic gods, the transition from one artist to the next is glaring.
As often with these kind of comics, there is filler in terms of the amount of characters they are shoehorned and yet when you strip that away, Jim Stalin is telling a story about desire and power, with a compelling villain at the centre of it all. -
Perfect set-up for thanos as a character and for the progression of the story.
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THIS is how you do a cosmic-event comic so that it still feels approachable. THIS is how you band together heroes, without necessitating that the audience know the backstory of them all. THIS is good old-fashioned comic book excellence.
This feels very much like a continuation of The Thanos Quest. The dialogue is grandiose and dramatic, but it is so cool to read. There's stupid undertakings here and there, but it's fun to facepalm at them. The stakes are higher than Burj Khalifa and the action is louder than your mom, and the takeaway: power is not easy to handle. I genuinely got chills at a point. So sit back, grab some beer, and read this comic to become a wide-eyed kid. -
Buddy read with The Cavalier Nerd. Check out our discussion here:
https://thecavaliernerd.com/2020/01/2... -
2015 Review:
Following the
Rebirth of Thanos. Thanos, in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, wants to impress the female personification of Death. He removes (kills?) half the life in the universe, but she is not swayed. He psychically lashes out in disappointment, and the resulting wave causes cities to be destroyed on Earth. A group of heroes led by the resurrected Adam Warlock teleport to Thanos in an attempt to stop him.
In some ways this feels like what
Secret Wars should have been: a battle in an exotic location in space with a clear antagonist with well defined goals who causes a lot of damage before . Thanos is a great villain and Adam Warlock is a quiet but dominating presence; they match each other well and the other heroes and villains of the story are just chess pieces in their long term game against each other. There are some visceral scenes of Earth's destruction that make the stakes very clear and much of the story feels appropriately hopeless as Thanos's power continues to escalate. Starlin has taken his cosmic playground and created an intense epic that will be very interesting to see adapted to the screen in
Infinity War, assuming this is part of the basis for it. -
I collected these comics as a ten-year-old, and still have all the single issues. It's the first "epic crossover event" type comic I can remember reading, and it wowed me at the time. And you know what? Rereading it as an adult, I'd say it has held up pretty well.
In short, without spoiling too much, Thanos gets his hands on all the Infinity Gems and becomes and omnipotent and omniscient god. He almost immediately kills off half the life in the universe, including many, many superheroes. He also rearranges a number of planets to spell out his name in the sky, really. The heroes that do remain -- including Spider Man, Thor, The Hulk, Wolverine, Cyclops, Scarlet Witch, Cloak, Adam Warlock, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange -- fight to save the universe with the help of some cosmic beings such as Galactus. Chaos ensues.
Yes, the dialogue is cheesy, over the top, and filled with exposition, and yes, the art looks like it is from the 90s (spoiler alert: this comic was first published in 1991), but if you can get past those shortcomings, you are in for a cosmic ride. Plus, you'll have a better idea where they are going with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since Thanos and the Infinity Gems have both featured more and more heavily in the recent films.
Update: My timing on rereading this is looking even better after seeing this
article today. -
One of my all-time favorites, I've re-read this thing a dozen times back in the 90s, I'll remember it forever, the movie adaptation was a dream come true.
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I good first issue. Old school art but the story had a great build on Thanos.
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You can find my review on my blog by clicking
here.
As we approach the grand finale to Marvel’s cinematic universe and its Thanos story arc with Avengers 4: Endgame, fans all around the world remain fidgety in hopes of finding out soon enough what will happen to their favourite superheroes as the nihilist villain Thanos continues his onslaught towards cleansing the universe no matter the cost. The Russo brothers directing these movies have so far stunned the world with one of the most shocking endings whilst delivering a compelling action-packed movie where the stakes were at their maximum peak. Drawing upon the original comic book story arcs on Thanos’ hunt for all the Infinity Stones, the movie does an incredible job in being concise and well-structured even when Disney had yet to have complete control on all the Marvel superheroes since their predicament forbidding them of having Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four or having complete control on Sony’s Spider-Man. However, the original story that gave fans one of the most epic crossover event of all time involves far more heroes than Disney could ever possibly introduce in one movie, with yet to be included heroes and villains such as the New Warriors, the X-Men, cosmic entities and so many other. The question is hence asked: What does it take to take down Thanos before it’s too late?
What is Infinity Gauntlet about? The story follows Thanos after he acquires the Infinity Stones and successfully attaches them to his gauntlet. With his newly acquired godlike powers, he looks into seducing Mistress Death, the ultimate living embodiment of death within the Marvel universe who is either portrayed as a purpled-hooded beautiful woman or a skeleton. As he attempts various strategies that imply a twisted sense of humour and exaggerated use of power to get Mistress Death to fall in love with him—or at least to talk to him. Among his strategies to win her affection, he uses his powers to eliminate half of the living beings in the universe. This is when the guardian of the Soul World, Adam Warlock, leads the remaining of the universe’s greatest heroes in a war against Thanos. With different strategies up his sleeves, Adam Warlock, with the help of The Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange, look to dethrone Thanos from his newly acquired status as a God and to find a way to bring back all those who perished from this war.
If you thought cosmic battles weren’t epic, leave it to Jim Starlin and his Thanos story arc to prove you wrong. Collecting issues #1-6 of the limited series, this story arc is jam-packed with action sequences involving countless heroes and villains whose reputation precedes them. This cosmic event doesn’t solely implicate the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, as the Disney Marvel movies portray, but actually brings together heroes and villains from all around the universe who are touched by Thanos’ ruthless decision to snap half the universe out of it. The story thoroughly investigates the consequences of all his actions and effortlessly highlights the insanity of his behaviour that is essentially oriented with the goal to capturing Mistress Death’s attention, even if she seems unimpressed by everything he does. It is worth noting that the odds that this story arc will be covered by the upcoming movie are slim and that the Russo brothers are likely to bring great changes to the original story arc to build their finale with the limited cards they have in their hands.
The artwork style is reminiscent of the 90s and doesn’t ever break away from it even with two artists having worked on this volume. As superstar George Pérez and co-artist Ron Lim drew Thanos’ hungry quest for power, they also do not hesitate to convey through their art the cosmic scale of this ultimate threat to the universe. In fact, the battles in this story arc include characters that have specific roles within the Marvel universe that you would normally take for granted, such as love or death. It was not only fascinating to see how they were all handled but to also see how they all react to Thanos’ decision-making and watch as their own issues are brought onto the table. What follows in this story are battles of grandeur that seek to re-establish the status quo. The colours are also incredibly flashy, often playing with primary colours in a psychedelic visual style that is easily observable in the various explosions of remarkable sizes. It’s safe to say that the poetic and extravagant dialogues go perfectly well with the volatile artwork.
The Infinity Gauntlet is an epic cosmic event that explores an alien’s self-absorbed, deep-rooted and blinded crusade to seduce Death no matter the costs to the universe and the beings that live within it.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog:
https://bookidote.com/
