Thanos Appreciation

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I LOVE that Mark Waid has Ka-Zar going up against Thanos who slaughtered a majority of the Marvel Universe’s heavy hitters during The Infinity Gauntlet. Here you have a loincloth style hero taking on a cosmic being…and winning! It is a fun little twist on Thanos who at the time was still recovering from character burnout from overuse in the early ’90s. http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-mark-waid/

[AnimalSquabbles]

"INFINTY: Finale" has been out. Thoughts?


It was enjoyable but im again annoyed at seeing Thanos play second fiddle to Annihilus and Warlock also.

[Walker in Eternity]

I was disappointed with Infinity Finale, it felt like a re-hash of much of Stalin's previous work. It also felt fairly pointless as once again everything was made right by a Cosmic reset button.

Hopefully this will mark the end of Starlin's writing of Thanos and other more varied writers can take over.

[pjerooo]

I loved it. As for Starling re-hashing his previous work, I honestly don't expect any writer who's been active for 40+ years to surprise me. So, cosmic reset button and all that... I don't mind it, this story is out of continuity and is probably Starlin's last work on his greatest creation. With that in mind, the ending was satisfying, and it was the best part of this whole series. Why?

Warlock has gone from being a throwaway villain of the month, to becoming a martyr figure, then he was transformed into a schizophrenic cosmic entity. Later on, he became a god, but decided to threw it all away, he finally found his piece together with Gamora but it didn't last. He joined Guardians of the Galaxy and became Magus again. And in this last Infinity saga, he carries a whole universe inside himself, returns the old 616 Warlock into existence and leaves to fill the spot of a cosmic entity of the highest order.

As for Thanos - he started as just another madman wanting to rule the universe, he became a god on more than one occasion, he wiped half the population of the universe, but he did it for love, as mad as it was. He lost his godhood, found solace in the countryside, and turned to become almost an anti-hero. He saved the universe many times, found his piece with Death, but was returned to the realm of the living. In this last story, he was outwitted, had to kill himself, but being the master manipulator he was also able to get his way negotiating with One-above-All. In the end, he got what he wanted the most. Not the Cosmic Cube, Infinity Gauntlet or some other trinket, he got the girl.

What a great ending for these characters. In my mind, this last Infinity saga will always be a part of Thanos' and Warlock's continuity. I will agree that there are many better writers than Starlin, but when it comes to Thanos, Warlock and Cosmic in general - he's untouchable.

So, all in all... thank you Mr. Starlin, for all the stories, characters, fun, and time well spent.

[ciscostudent561]

how can u have a good, climatic final battle vs Thanos?

[AnimalSquabbles]

Thanos Quest still reigns supreme as the best Thanos story to me.

how can u have a good, climatic final battle vs Thanos?

What??

[ciscostudent561]

jus curious as to what fans of the character would like to see in a climatic battle with the Big T

[pjerooo]

I'd like to see Warlock :P

[AnimalSquabbles]

I skipped Secret Wars (waiting for the tpb to come out) but for those who might be unaware, post secret wars Thanos has appeared in Ultimates #6 and #7. The issues seem to be leading into the upcoming Civil War 2 storyline, which Thanos seems to be a big part of as he has already been featured in the #0 issue that came out on free comic day

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

Starlin actually handled Thanos and Warlock's conversation with The One Above All Else pretty well, Thanos realizing that the whole encounter was going through the motions for the sake of Thanos and Warlock as to TOAAE it was already done.
The fight on the moon was also handled with with a sense of dread even though I never considered the bugs to be a threat to kill a lot of those heroes.
I thought it was Starlin's best Thanos and Warlock work in a long time (better than the previous two entries in the trilogy and the Warlock only entry).

[Tofali]

I got soooo much satisfaction with how Thanos dealt with Annihilus at the end. I don't know how I feel about Starlin never writing Thanos ever again --- his writing of Thanos is the only one i enjoy reading where the character seems more than just a villain like with other writers.

[AnimalSquabbles]

I never considered the bugs to be a threat to kill a lot of those heroes.

lol, that's a good point actually.

[PaxHouse]

I skipped Secret Wars (waiting for the tpb to come out) but for those who might be unaware, post secret wars Thanos has appeared in Ultimates #6 and #7. The issues seem to be leading into the upcoming Civil War 2 storyline, which Thanos seems to be a big part of as he has already been featured in the #0 issue that came out on free comic day

That's correct, although the FCBD CIVIL WAR II Issue wasn't the 'Zero' Issue (and might be a part of Issue #1 instead); since CIVIL WAR II #0 is scheduled for Next Wednesday's release.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I am grateful to Jim Starlin for giving the readers of marvel comics, the comicbook character Thanos, in the first place.

[Ite]

I loved it. As for Starling re-hashing his previous work, I honestly don't expect any writer who's been active for 40+ years to surprise me. So, cosmic reset button and all that... I don't mind it, this story is out of continuity and is probably Starlin's last work on his greatest creation. With that in mind, the ending was satisfying, and it was the best part of this whole series. Why?

Warlock has gone from being a throwaway villain of the month, to becoming a martyr figure, then he was transformed into a schizophrenic cosmic entity. Later on, he became a god, but decided to threw it all away, he finally found his piece together with Gamora but it didn't last. He joined Guardians of the Galaxy and became Magus again. And in this last Infinity saga, he carries a whole universe inside himself, returns the old 616 Warlock into existence and leaves to fill the spot of a cosmic entity of the highest order.

As for Thanos - he started as just another madman wanting to rule the universe, he became a god on more than one occasion, he wiped half the population of the universe, but he did it for love, as mad as it was. He lost his godhood, found solace in the countryside, and turned to become almost an anti-hero. He saved the universe many times, found his piece with Death, but was returned to the realm of the living. In this last story, he was outwitted, had to kill himself, but being the master manipulator he was also able to get his way negotiating with One-above-All. In the end, he got what he wanted the most. Not the Cosmic Cube, Infinity Gauntlet or some other trinket, he got the girl.

What a great ending for these characters. In my mind, this last Infinity saga will always be a part of Thanos' and Warlock's continuity. I will agree that there are many better writers than Starlin, but when it comes to Thanos, Warlock and Cosmic in general - he's untouchable.

So, all in all... thank you Mr. Starlin, for all the stories, characters, fun, and time well spent.

This. I loved it too.