Should Jim Starlin continue to write Thanos?

[MyriVerse]

Starlin treats Thanos like he's the very best at everything at the detriment of other characters.

I would rather he move onto something else.

Any writer that can't step up isn't worthy. There are probably scores of other characters they could be writing instead of using some weak, ill-conceived version of Thanos.

[Thanos]

There is one thing everyone needs to remember in relation to Thanos and Starlin, and that is that Starlin created Thanos. Prior to the Infinity Gauntlet series, Starlin was really the only writer to use Thanos and he was used sparingly. Once the Infinity Gauntlet was released, Thanos became a mainstream villain in the Marvel Universe. Starlin had or has a particular view of what he wanted his character to be or act like and after Thanos became a mainstream Marvel villain, other writers wanted to use him as the big bad villain in their stories regardless of whether they wrote Thanos' character correctly. There are really only a few writers who understand Thanos' character and who he is, how he acts, and the manner in which he phrases his words. Starlin is the gold standard for writing Starlin's Thanos. Ron Marz, Peter David and Keith Giffen are a step below Starlin but at least they understand who Thanos is and try to stay true to Starlin's Thanos.

If I had a character that I created and spent a couple decades building into what I envisioned my character to be, only to turn around and have others mess my character up, I would try to recon those versions also so I don't blame Starlin at all for trying to return Thanos back into the Thanos he created.

Can you imagine the outrage if horrible writers turned Deadpool into a serious, no talking, Punisher knock off? Or what if Spawn was written as a Dr. Strange type magician by some writer other than MacFarlane? Or it turns out that the Spider-man most of us grew up with was revealed to be clone...errr... nevermind. The point being is, Starlin created Thanos with a certain characterization of Thanos in mind and to see others deviate from that, I'm sure that upsets him.

So, yes, I believe that Starlin should continue to write Thanos and I wish that others would look at Starlin's Thanos as a model for how they should write Thanos also.

[comicscollector]

I like that Starlin returned to write more Thanos stories.
His stories with that character were awesome in the past,so i like that he is writing more stories with that character.
Would be cool if he wrote Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers stories as well.

[Tupiaz]

And yah, Roy is a co-creator of Thanos.

That is simply not true. Jim Starlin wrote and Draw issue 55 of Iron Man which is the first appearance of Thanos. He even co-draw the cover. Roy Thomas was only an editor in Chief on that issue.

http://marvel.wikia.com/Iron_Man_Vol_1_55

No. Don't agree. His writing and art are dated and tired. Time to hang it up or move onto something else.

LOL. Maybe you should just let people like the comic if they do.

[Thanos]

We all know Thanos is a carbon copy of Jack Kirby's character Darkseid, but I hate how Starlin never gives Roy Thomas co-creator status on Thanos because he had a hand in his creation.

Thomas' hand in Thanos' creation was limited to suggesting Starlin beef Thanos up a little.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...-revealed-266/

"That was the one exception where there some long term plotting on Thanos. Kirby had done the New Gods, which I thought was terrific. He was over at DC at the time. I came up with some things that were inspired by that. You’d think that Thanos was inspired by Darkseid, but that was not the case when I showed up. In my first Thanos drawings, if he looked like anybody, it was Metron. I had all these different gods and things I wanted to do, which became Thanos and the Titans. Roy took one look at the guy in the Metron-like chair and said : “Beef him up! If you’re going to steal one of the New Gods, at least rip off Darkseid, the really good one!”. - Starlin

[THANOSRULES]

And that's why I'll never understand when people whine about Starlin retconning Thanos treatments of other writers.
Why yes, if Thor would suddenly go back to being a boastfull blood knight, wouldn't you want it to be retconned? If Spider-Man would go back to being a selfish wrestler, wouldn't you want it to be retconned? etc etc

Thanos abandoned his Unviersal Conquest/Genocide plans DECADES ago. He didn't even have an army anymore.
It was all part of intensive character developement by Jim Starlin. And then other writers came along and ignored it.
I would be pissed too.

The crux of where I've always seen Starlin going with Thanos is that he is a character who is a proto-abstract and is someone who may be an abstract by his own hand. ..and the "on his way" aspect is really important to that..like you say he's had phases.

Therefore notions of good , evil, hero, anti-hero, villain are almost irrelevant to Thanos. All those terms begin to break down for a god or an abstract. I think that was where Starlin was going with his "anti-hero" period and his evolving depiction of Thanos.

The character is just so much more complex than Darkseid ever was. (and I like Darkseid and the new Gods as well)

[basbash99]

I don't think Starlin really has much new to say with the character, and do find it annoying that he seems to have a need to retcon anything other writers do with the character, maybe Marvel should just take Thanos off the shelf (as he was pretty much throughout the 80s) but given his presence in MCU it seems unlikely that would happen. For example, Hickman could easily have created a different villain (or just used a more obscure cosmic heavyweight) in Infinity, aside from introducing son of Thanos (which frankly still seems dubious to me), Thanos didn't really need to be the earth conquering villain in that title for any specific reason really. I do think DnA had a pretty good handle on how to use the character in Annihilation (with some major contributions from Giffen, to be sure) and in GotG / Thanos Imperative.

I have mixed feelings on Starlin, love his older work and to some extent some of his more recent (pre-new 52) cosmic DC stuff was decent but the Thanos stuff just seems to rehash old stories, its seems like its just "Look, here's Thanos trashing Marvel's most powerful heroes, then becoming omnipotent again, then somehow engineering his own defeat" over and over again. It just doesn't interest me much. But unless I'm mistaken Starlin's work doesn't seem to have a big impact on other series in the Marvel U (IOW its relatively self-contained) so it doesn't bother me enough to say they should put the guy out to pasture, if fans are buying these series that's fine.

[THANOSRULES]

BTW for the record I liked what Hickman did with Thanos. I loved the Black Order and Cull obsidian...incredibly creative stuff..I just wanted it fleshed out a bit more.

Bendis' stuff...not so much.

BTW if Starlin didn't do anything for the character (which I disagree with he factually added several new wrinkles) Bendis Assembled arc certainly did nothing as well (regressed him actually).

Let's also keep in mind that Starlin was basically kept in the dark as to what was going on with the character or what marvel had already planned.

[FanboyStranger]

That is simply not true. Jim Starlin wrote and Draw issue 55 of Iron Man which is the first appearance of Thanos. He even co-draw the cover. Roy Thomas was only an editor in Chief on that issue.

http://marvel.wikia.com/Iron_Man_Vol_1_55

LOL. Maybe you should just let people like the comic if they do.

Yeah, That's why I said earlier that by Bob's standard, Roy would be the co-creator of pretty much every Marvel character that debuted in the '70s-- he was EiC, and constantly giving advice on how to improve new characters. Jim created the character, plotted the comic, and co-scripted it with Mike Fredreich. He was responisble for pretty much every aspect of the character. I love Roy and his work, but this is what an editor-in-chief does-- he guides the work in a more appealling direction. Nothing I've read suggests that Roy had any more input than that, unlike Bob's other example of Wolverine.

[teepee]

Starlin has many merits, and is the only one who understands Thanos character, besides maybe Geffen. But he's maybe a little pre-occupied with it to the detrement of fresh approaches. But his main problem is that the way he writes dialogue is rather old fashioned and corny.

[Tupiaz]

Yeah, That's why I said earlier that by Bob's standard, Roy would be the co-creator of pretty much every Marvel character that debuted in the '70s-- he was EiC, and constantly giving advice on how to improve new characters. Jim created the character, plotted the comic, and co-scripted it with Mike Fredreich. He was responisble for pretty much every aspect of the character. I love Roy and his work, but this is what an editor-in-chief does-- he guides the work in a more appealling direction. Nothing I've read suggests that Roy had any more input than that, unlike Bob's other example of Wolverine.

Oh it wasn't meant to say that Roy didn't create anything nor was a bad writer. Roy Thomas have created so many things that the small suggestion he hase made with Thanos isn't that important in the big picture. I didn't try to say he was a bad EiC either even though I have heard that he was more focused on writing and it wasn't his thing. Then again Marvel didn't really have a consistent EiC between Stan Lee and Jim Shooter. Marvel had five EiC within eight years.

[Darrell D.]

Starlin created the character.
He can write the character as long as he wants.
No other argument needed.

[Tupiaz]

Starlin created the character.
He can write the character as long as he wants.
No other argument needed.

Just because you created a character you can easily run out of new ideas and the character can be put in better hands with a new writer. If you want to own the character you don't make it for Marvel or DC put publish it yourself. Whatever or not Starlin and other writers doing the 70's knew that they wouldn't own the character in the 70's is a discussion for another place. I get that it is more authentic to read a story written by the creator however just because you made the character doesn't make you immune to criticism nor everything you do good,correct or best.

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

He's Starlin's own personal Marty Stu. Thanos is the strongest, smartest, most knowledgeable, most powerful, best fighter, best at everything, he's even written retcons so that Thanos has never lost save for when he subconsciously wanted to lose. He's made him "god" several times, usually finding some new power source because the old one became "tainted" by other writers. Thanos actually became interesting again under Giffen, Abnett, and Lanning, but Starlin and Hickman (pulling a Ron Marz) messed that up again. Starlin should be kept away from Thanos and Adam Warlock not only because they are his Marty Stus, but because it'll actually help these characters he adores; just like Claremont should be kept away from x-characters (especially the x-women who have collectively become Mary Sues under his pen). Greg Pak has also become too buddy buddy with characters in his runs, and it makes them less interesting.

[Darthfury78]

Maybe Jim Starlin should write the All New. All-Different Avengers and return the series to it roots.