The Infinity Gauntlet is mostly associated with Thanos. Created by Jim Starlin, Thanos first appeared in Iron Man #22 (February 1973). A native of the Saturnian moon Titan, Thanos was born with an...odd physical appearance. He became fascinated with nihilism and developed an obsession with Mistress Death, the physical embodiment of...well, death. This led him to become one of the greatest threats to the Marvel Universe, as he will do anything to win her heart, even destroy half the universe.
In recent years, Thanos has gained a much higher profile thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After appearing in a mid-credits scene in the 2012 film The Avengers (Avengers Assemble to my UK readers), Thanos had been established as the Big Bad of the MCU at that point, the ultimate threat the MCU has been building towards for the next six years, culminating in his finally arriving to raise hell in Avengers: Infinity War, and its sequel due out next year. Much like in the comics, the Mad Titan is proving to be the greatest threat the heroes of the MCU have ever faced. So, with that out of the way, let's take a look at Infinity Gauntlet #1!
The cover is AWESOME. But then again, it's a Perez piece, so of course it will be awesome. Seriously, I doubt that man could draw badly even if he wanted to. What I love is the way the shining of the Gems on the Infinity Gauntlet help create various "slivers" that show various characters that appear in the book. It's an awesome effect. Thanos himself is right in the center, which is where he should be. He's the "star" of this book, as it were. It's a great cover, and I love it so much.
"God"
Writer: Jim Starlin
Penciler: George Perez
Inkers: Josef Rubinstein, Tom Christopher
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Colorists: Max Scheele, Ian Laughlin
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The story begins with a barren world, the only sign of life being two pairs of footsteps. There are text panels, the words in them are of someone kissing up to someone else. The two footsteps lead to Thanos and Mephisto, observing the word "GOD" seemingly carved out of giant rocks.
I had to go to Google to get this image, as my tablet scanner HATES double-page spreads and threatened to murder me if I tried to make it scan one ever again. Mephisto is kissing up to the Titanian madman, asking how he may serve. Thanos basically tells him to shut up. Heh heh, shut up, Mephisto. He then says the time as come, as he casually destroys the construct. He will no longer be denied his rightful place in the cosmos. He's coming for the universe.
The scene shifts to the Sanctum Santorum in New York City. Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, is contemplating the universe. He then has some dinner, while reading a medical journal about some people in the catskills going crazy all of a sudden. He and Wong hear a thump on the roof. Two of Strange's allies at the time, Rintrah (A green-furred Minotaur-like being), and Imei are out shopping, so it can't be them. Strange grabs his Cloak of Levitation and prepares to leap into action, but what he finds is not a threat.
It's the Silver Surfer, and he looks like he went ten rounds with the Champion of the Universe and lost badly. He is moaning that he has to see Strange. Strange and Wong quickly get him on a couch. The weakened Surfer says he's got to warn Strange that Thanos is coming. However, the thing is...Thanos is dead. He was turned to stone during the events of Avengers Annual #7 (1977) and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (1977). But he is dead no longer.
Mistress Death had gotten the idea that there were too many people that were alive. She felt it was creating some kind of cosmic imbalance between life and death. Sound familiar, MCU fans? So, in order to restore the "balance", she resurrected Thanos and made him much more powerful. This happened in Silver Surfer #34 (February 1990). She has also given Thanos a mission: Slaughter half the sentient life in the universe. Again, sound familiar, MCU fans?
Back on the planetoid, Thanos contemplates what to do with all this power that is now in his hands. After all, he can now do pretty much anything. The answer hits him like a lightning bolt: He can do whatever he wants. As such, he blows up the planet. He looks around at the pieces drifting through space. anything he dislikes, he can just reverse. Thanos is supreme. Thanos is God.
Surfer then recaps the 1990 two-issue miniseries Thanos Quest, which basically was about Thanos obtaining the Infinity Gems from the various cosmic beings who held them at the time. He had convinced Mistress Death that to do the task she had imparted on him, he needed the Gems. Hence, the Thanos Quest storyline.
Now that he's got the Gems in his gauntlet, he is now essentially...God. He is now even more powerful than Mistress Death herself. We're all gonna die. And then the scene shifts again, to a narrator in shadow. He blows some smoke rings and talks about a group of "Grade-A Losers".
Meet Jake Miller, Ralph Bunker, and Bambi Long. Three criminals on the run. Miller had just robbed a liquor store and shot the shopkeeper. Bunker is clearly the smart one in the bunch, as he yells at Miller for spending the day at a bar instead of fleeing. Long thinks that "Fats" needs to relax and enjoy life. The three enter a car and drive out on the back roads, Miller claiming he knows them like the back of his hand. Mr. Miller overestimated his knowledge of the roads, as he ends up driving the car off a curve and over a cliff at 65 MPH. Farewell, Jake, Ralph, and Bambi. They would have more importance to the universe in death than this trio ever did in life.
Back at the Sanctum Sanctorum, Silver Surfer recalls a battle he and Drax the Destroyer had with Thanos before the events of this story. The battle ended with Thanos using the Soul Gem to rip Surfer and Drax's spirits out of their bodies. The two then found themselves in Soulworld, a world inside of the Soul Gem. I think this was in Silver Surfer #46-47 (February-March 1991). There were others inside the Gem as well, including Gamora and Adam Warlock. Warlock had become sort of a spiritual leader of the area, and he was able to bring the Destroyer and the Sentinel of the Spaceways back to reality.
It turns out that Surfer was made aware of what Thanos was up to by Mephisto. Evidently, the embodiment of evil is running his own agenda. Surfer raced to Earth to warn Strange, but got caught up in some adventures on the way. Mephisto himself is back with Thanos, being awed at his natural ability to handle the power at his hands. The two arrive at the home of Mistress Death. Thanos throws on the charm, asking her to forgive him for his duplicity when it came to obtaining the Gems. But she's like, "Whatever", and walks away.
Yeah, this is a regular thing throughout the miniseries. Thanos keeps trying to win Mistress Death's heart, and she's like "Nope". The Titanian Tyrant really needs to get it through his thick purple head that she's not into him.
Back at the car crash site, three small points of light come down from the sky and enter the bodies of the three dead criminals. The new owner of Ralph Bunker's body is horrified by its condition, as it's been thoroughly burned and fried. However, the new owner of Jake Miller's body reassures him it won't be that way forever. You see, the powers of "Jake Miller" are healing the bodies...and changing them to fit their needs, but it'll take some time. The three climb out of the gorge and find a hotel. Since "Jake" is the least damaged, he'll go in and get them a room. "Ralph" notes that "Bambi" is looking...a little green. Literally.
Hmm, I wonder why she's turning green...
The scene then shifts to Mephisto, who is doing his best Macbeth impression. Alas, poor Yorick and all that. The devilish being is contemplating the sheer power in Thanos's hands now. He notes that despite this, Thanos is still a mortal being with mortal needs. And one need he has now is for the love of Mistress Death.
Thanos is pleading for Mistress Death's love and forgiveness, but she...isn't into it. Her spokes-zombie...yes, Mistress Death has a spokes-zombie. The spokes-zombie explains that because he's essentially become a slave to his love for her...and Mistress Death wants an equal, not a sycophant. Thanos roars that his love for her his worship, that he revers Death. Shrines should be built in her honor. As such, he decides to do so.
The shrine is massive, with Death's human and skeletal faces, big shiny bird heads, skulls upon skulls, and big torches belching out massive flames. As a final finishing touch, Thanos creates two golden thrones for him and Death to sit on together. Their domain will be the universe, and together, they will build a new future, where they determine who is worthy of living...or dying. Death just scowls and turns away. Mephisto suggests that Thanos needs to prove how far he'll go to win Death's heart. Thanos is furious at this. He killed his own mother. He has killed lots of people. What more does he have to do? Mephisto basically says to him, "Man, I know you're worthy of her, but I'm not the one you need to prove it to." Thanos agrees, and shows some proof.
Meet Nebula, space pirate, and self-proclaimed granddaughter of Thanos. He had not taken kindly to the claim, and thus used the Infinity Gems to turn her into this zombie-like creature, nearly mindless and in constant agony. But Death is not impressed, infuriating Thanos. Death's spokes-zombie explains that she thinks he has a big mouth, and his bravado is disgusting. Thanos angrily blows up the spokes-zombie. Great idea, Thanos. Win the girl over by blowing up one of her employees. And even worse, the spokes-zombie was just doing his job. Way to blow up the messenger, dude.
He demands that Mistress Death address him directly. Mephisto suggests that he do what Mistress Death brought him back to the world of the living for. Remember, eliminating half the life in all the universe was Mistress Death's idea, and she brought back Thanos to do that. Thanos thinks that the devilish being may have a point. He's been goofing around, reveling in his power. He marches up to the edge of the temple, Mephisto realizing he's really gong to do it. The Mad Titan is not all talk. And with that, Thanos snaps his fingers.
In New York City, Spider-Man is having a rather good night. He's caught some muggers, so he's ready to head home. He feels a weird burst of vertigo, which forces the Wall-Crawler to land on a building. His Spider-Sense goes nuts, giving him a heck of a headache. He looks down at Times Square, crowded even late a night. And to the Webhead's horror...half the people vanish. Just...vanish. No burst of light, no storm, no warning. Just...disappear. Spider-Man is left utterly confused. What just happened here? What could have caused this? Where did the missing people go? And is it happening elsewhere? He panics and web-swings away, screaming for Mary Jane.
At Avengers Mansion, Captain America is returning from a mission. He encounters Sersi (who was on the Avengers at the time), and Hawkeye, who was visiting from the West Coast. However, the happy moment would end sadly. In front of the shocked eyes of the Sentinel of Liberty, Hawkeye and Sersi vanished. Cap feels a strange terror. Something really bad is coming.
On the SHIELD Helicarrier, Nick Fury Sr. and Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine are discussing the disappearances. Half of Fury's SHIELD crew had vanished as well. SHIELD's Psi-Division (yeah, they have a bunch of psychics working for them. It's the Marvel Universe) has been unable to peg the reason for the vanishings. Fury has a bad feeling about this.
In a bar, a television reports that the disappearances are not just people. Animals are vanishing, too. Cattle farmers are reporting that half their herds are gone. A patron takes a drink and angrily tosses the mug at the TV, scaring the bartender.
The Hulk is in a fighting mood. The disappearances have not just hit Earth. On the Throneworld of the Skrulls, Empress S'Byll of the Skrull Empire is told that half the Skrulls in the universe are gone. Naturally, they decide, "Yup, we're gonna fight the Kree again". Yeah, the Skrulls and the Kree are ancient enemies. They do not get along, and they gladly look for any excuse to fight each other.
Strange is hit by the vanishings too, as Wong vanishes before his eyes. The Surfer collapses in lament. He can feel the confusion, fear, and horror...and it's too much for even such a mighty being as the wielder of the Power Cosmic.
On Titan, the Avenger known as Starfox (no, he was not named after the video game. He's also Thanos's brother) had brought the being called Firelord to Titan to get his help against Thanos. With them is Drax the Destroyer (who at the time, was basically a bigger, dumber version of the Hulk due to brain damage from resurrection), and Mentor, the leader of the Titanian people. Mentor greets Starlord, only to vanish. An enraged Drax tries to crush Firelord's skull, demanding to know what he did to Mentor. Starfox and Firelord are able to calm him down and convince him of Firelord's innocence.
The Titanian's resident supercomputer ISAAC (misspelled as "Issac" in the book) reports that half of the people of Titan have mysteriously vanished, and there's no explanation. Firelord, Drax, and Starfox, though? They know in their hearts who the perpetrator was. They know it's the Mad Titan himself.
Back at the hotel, "Ralph Bunker" and "Bambi Long" are relaxing and getting comfortable while their bodies have started to change into new forms. Yup, they got new owners. "Ralph Bunker" is actually Pip the Troll, whose original body was destroyed previously. "Bambi Long" is sewing a new costume for herself, as she is slowly changing back into Gamora. Pip is rather happy to be back among the living. There's a lot of drinking, gambling, cigar-smoking, and womanizing he has to catch up on. Gamora jokes that he also has a lot of annoying people to catch up on as she vanishes too, much to Pip's horror. He races into the next room, where "Jake Miller" is. Pip screams he's got to do something. The story ends with Pip groaning that "Miller" is going to be a fat load of help now, as he is in a cocoon.
The new owner of Jake Miller's body? One Adam Warlock, Earth-created artificial man-turned-cosmic adventurer...and perhaps the universe's one hope against the threat of Thanos.
This issue is awesome. It fantastically sets up a big epic, cosmic event. We see that it doesn't just affect Earth, it affects the whole universe. We see Thanos reveling in his newfound power, all his quest for the heart of Death herself. It also shows that Thanos is a bit of a thick moron when it comes to Mistress Death. She ain't into him, but he refuses to get it. Yeah, I like the MCU take on him better for motivation.
As for the art, well...there's a reason why people refer to George Perez as "The Master". Who better than Perez for a big cosmic event like this with tons of characters and crazy visuals? It's a real shame that Perez was not able to draw the whole mini-series. At the time, he was also writing and drawing War of the Gods over at DC, a big storyline that was celebrating Wonder Woman's 50th Anniversary. War of the Gods was a stressful project for him, as he not only had to deal with editorial interference, but also he felt that DC was not really doing anything to celebrate the Amazing Amazon's big anniversary.
It was a rough time for him, and as a result, he was unable to finish the mini-series, and Ron Lim took over the series partway with issue #4 and fully with #5. It is really sad, because if any artist had shown they could do big cosmic epics like this, it's Perez. I wish he was able to finish this. Also, at the time, Perez drawing Marvel characters was a real treat, as he was predominantly associated with DC at this point thanks to his work on New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It's sad things were so rough for him at the time. Still, it's amazing work.
Don't forget to check out my last comic review: DC Comics Presents Annual #3! And next time, we return to the DC Universe, as we look at the debut of the universe's Greatest Escape Artist...
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