Questions about Thanos

[Darkseid Is]

Just picked up Infinity Gauntlet and I thought it was really excellent and a lot of fun (bought it on Monday and read it by Teusday). I was able to understand the story completely I just have a few questions about Thanos. Now I read some of his wikipedia page and his Comicvine page but it really doesn't get into the specifics.

I read about how he got the Infinity Gems but it doesn't say what specific comics. Like what issues could I buy or is it collected in a trade? Is it in the Adam Strange book or the Silver Surfer book or another book entirely?

Also how powerful is Thanos without the Infinity Gauntlet? I'm a long time DC reader, would his power rival that of Darkseid? He smacks Drax and Silver Surfer around pretty good when he has the gems but would he be able to do something like that without them?

[Michael Watkins]

he shrugged off Black Bolt's scream.

[XPac]

Just picked up Infinity Gauntlet and I thought it was really excellent and a lot of fun (bought it on Monday and read it by Teusday). I was able to understand the story completely I just have a few questions about Thanos. Now I read some of his wikipedia page and his Comicvine page but it really doesn't get into the specifics.

I read about how he got the Infinity Gems but it doesn't say what specific comics. Like what issues could I buy or is it collected in a trade? Is it in the Adam Strange book or the Silver Surfer book or another book entirely?

Also how powerful is Thanos without the Infinity Gauntlet? I'm a long time DC reader, would his power rival that of Darkseid? He smacks Drax and Silver Surfer around pretty good when he has the gems but would he be able to do something like that without them?

He acquired the gems in a two part mini called Thanos Quest, though he first shows up with the gems in Starlins Silver Surfer run (it's available in trade form and I believe was entitles Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos).

Without the Gauntlet, he's still powerful enough to smack around Silver Surfer or Thor. Darkseid is a pretty good approximation. I'd say he's like a Skyfather.

[Cthulhudrew]

I read about how he got the Infinity Gems but it doesn't say what specific comics. Like what issues could I buy or is it collected in a trade? Is it in the Adam Strange book or the Silver Surfer book or another book entirely?

He collected them from the Elders of the Universe (and the In-Betweener) in the Thanos Quest books; they were two slim trade paperbacks written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by Ron Lim. I am not sure if they are collected anywhere else. (Wikipedia suggests they were collected in "Thanos Rebirth.")

(Also, btw, it is Adam Warlock; Adam Strange is a DC character.)

Also how powerful is Thanos without the Infinity Gauntlet? I'm a long time DC reader, would his power rival that of Darkseid? He smacks Drax and Silver Surfer around pretty good when he has the gems but would he be able to do something like that without them?

He was always pretty powerful even without the gems. He was going toe-to-toe with the Thing, Thor, and the Vision back in one of his earliest stories, and gave Odin a pretty fair fight during "Blood and Thunder" (though the Skygod defeated him.)

[Darkseid Is]

(Also, btw, it is Adam Warlock; Adam Strange is a DC character.)

Doh! I was actually thinking of Doctor Strange but I guess I combined Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange.

Thank you guys.

One more quick question... it says Thanos is an Eternal. Is it the same type of Eternal from the 70s Jack Kirby book? Like humans that were doctored by Celestials is how I understand it. I'm assuming some of them went to Titan.

There's so many references to Greek Mythology sometimes my wires get crossed. Like when they call him a Titan they're referring to him being from the Moon of Saturn and not a mythological Titan like Atlas or Cronus. Also Starfox name is Eros, which is also the name of the Greek version of Cupid. Are these just little homages to the mythology or are they related in some way?

[davew128]

One more quick question... it says Thanos is an Eternal. Is it the same type of Eternal from the 70s Jack Kirby book? Like humans that were doctored by Celestials is how I understand it. I'm assuming some of them went to Titan.

There's so many references to Greek Mythology sometimes my wires get crossed. Like when they call him a Titan they're referring to him being from the Moon of Saturn and not a mythological Titan like Atlas or Cronus. Also Starfox name is Eros, which is also the name of the Greek version of Cupid. Are these just little homages to the mythology or are they related in some way?

The Eternals of Titan are genetic cousins of the Earth Eternals. Mentor was originally from Earth and one of the oldest Eternals who was imbued with cosmic power. He left Earth and eventually met with other Eternals on Titan, who had left Earth even earlier but didn't have cosmic power. Hence, his offspring are noticeably less powerful than he and the Earth bound Eternals.

Thanos is a Deviant mutation of Titan Eternal, which made him vastly more powerful, even before his death, resurrection, and various enhancements.

[XPac]

Doh! I was actually thinking of Doctor Strange but I guess I combined Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange.

Thank you guys.

One more quick question... it says Thanos is an Eternal. Is it the same type of Eternal from the 70s Jack Kirby book? Like humans that were doctored by Celestials is how I understand it. I'm assuming some of them went to Titan.

There's so many references to Greek Mythology sometimes my wires get crossed. Like when they call him a Titan they're referring to him being from the Moon of Saturn and not a mythological Titan like Atlas or Cronus. Also Starfox name is Eros, which is also the name of the Greek version of Cupid. Are these just little homages to the mythology or are they related in some way?

The Eternals from Titan are less powerful than the more godlike ones on Earth (though Thanos doesn't fall in that same category as he's probably more powerful than any of the earth Eternals). You can Wiki it if you want more specifics, but there was a civil war with the Eternals back in the day and the losers left earth to go into space. The space ones were all wiped out except one, which ended up repopulating Titan with one of the earth eternals to create a slightly less powerful group of Eternals.

And yeah, it's confusing how the Eternals and the Greek gods overlap. They had an agreement where the Eternals, who were a lot alike to the Greek Gods, would represent them. But overtime I think they ended up fighting over it.

[ZNOP]

Titanian Eternals

[Darkseid Is]

While we're on the subject... Will Cate Blanchette's character of Hela be Mistress Death that Thanos falls in love with for the Infinity War movie? I'm assuming mistress death in Infinity Gauntlet and Hela of the Thor comics are seperate characters. It would make sense to combine the two for the movie universe.

[XPac]

While we're on the subject... Will Cate Blanchette's character of Hela be Mistress Death that Thanos falls in love with for the Infinity War movie? I'm assuming mistress death in Infinity Gauntlet and Hela of the Thor comics are seperate characters. It would make sense to combine the two for the movie universe.

I think the MCU is a bit more down to earth than the comics. We see Odin for example say they aren't gods. So I don't think the MCU will have the cosmic entity Death. So using Hela as a substitute probably is the way to go.

[Zero Hunter]

These are the trades you want to read to get the whole story on Thanos leading up to the Gauntlet.

[LordMikel]

This one takes place after and isn't too bad either, if you like reading Thanos.

4909270-01.jpg

[Mike_Murdock]

Doh! I was actually thinking of Doctor Strange but I guess I combined Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange.

Thank you guys.

One more quick question... it says Thanos is an Eternal. Is it the same type of Eternal from the 70s Jack Kirby book? Like humans that were doctored by Celestials is how I understand it. I'm assuming some of them went to Titan.

There's so many references to Greek Mythology sometimes my wires get crossed. Like when they call him a Titan they're referring to him being from the Moon of Saturn and not a mythological Titan like Atlas or Cronus. Also Starfox name is Eros, which is also the name of the Greek version of Cupid. Are these just little homages to the mythology or are they related in some way?

When Thanos's backstory was first revealed, it is said that they are literally the Titans from Greek mythology (literally, they were descendant from Chronos). However, as the Marvel cosmology became more developed, they retconned that so they were now descendant of the Eternal Kronos. Since the Eternals basically use Greek iconography, they're very similar, they're just not gods. In addition to being the children of Kronos, they live on Titan, so they're Titans that way as well.

[ZNOP]

When Thanos's backstory was first revealed, it is said that they are literally the Titans from Greek mythology (literally, they were descendant from Chronos). However, as the Marvel cosmology became more developed, they retconned that so they were now descendant of the Eternal Kronos. Since the Eternals basically use Greek iconography, they're very similar, they're just not gods. In addition to being the children of Kronos, they live on Titan, so they're Titans that way as well.

In what book (title and issue please) can we find this "first reveal" involving Thanos' backstory?

[Mike_Murdock]

I can probably ballpark it, but it's harder to be certain. Basically, I have an abridged Marvel Cosmic reading order and I know it was in there. The whole list might interest you because it's all the Englehart, Starlin, and a little bit of Gerber setup for everything that followed. But to answer the question, I'll have to look at the synopses of each story and hope I find it. Given that, my best guess is Captain Marvel #29.

There are also some relevant stuff in Avengers and Daredevil around that time and it's possible some of the backstory goes all the way back to Iron Man #55, but I can't confirm that.