The Infinity Finale
by Jim Starlin, Ron Lim, Andy Smith and guru eFX.

Contains spoilers!

Third and final instalment in a trio of OGN featuring Starlin's signature characters Thanos and Warlock, this book might just be Starlin's final word about these guys. Then again it might not, but if you've been following the career of these cosmic characters since the '70s, you'll find that this would be a suitable conclusion. And what's even better, it doesn't mean that the ending is depressing or even melancholy! It's even kind of upbeat! 

I've read the three books, and they surprisingly get better as they proceed. The first chapter, The Infinity Revelation, had excellent Starlin art but was a little... shall we say "conventional" for the creator? Although the dialog was very enjoyable and Jim clearly knows these characters inside out, to an old-time reader the plot itself was a little like "oh, it's the end of the universe again... been there, read that". To recap briefly (because a plot point becomes important later on) : Thanos feels that something is wrong in the universe, kind of out of tune, and that a portentous event is about to happen. This "wrongness" about the universe manifests itself partly by having Thanos act totally out of character from time to time, an excellent metacommentary about what Marvel comics is doing with him. 

Thanos isn't wrong, and the Living Tribunal, Eternity and Infinity all confirm to the reader that the end of everything is once again nigh. The Titan sets on a quest to find out just what's wrong, accompanied hy a reborn Adam Warlock. The two travel to some Ditkoesque environment at the heart of things, where they encounter their counterpart from another dimension, likewise trying to get to the bottom of the upcoming cosmic change. Then the universe ends... and is reborn. But it is reborn in two versions : one in which Thanos is God, and the other in which it is Warlock. Since both of these universes turn out to be disasters, the not-divine Thanos from the warlockverse and the not-divine Warlock from the thanosverse manage to reset the game once more, which results more or less in restoring our universe. Infinity and Eternity ask the Living tribunal what the whole deal was about, expecting that such events should have deeply felt consequences, to which the Tribunal replies (once again addressing the state of comics event-driven industry): "yes, you'd expect that".

BUT! There was a point to this story after all : the Warlock of this reborn universe isn't our own. He's the Warlock from the other dimension, and he's now the last survivor of his reality... and a much more powerful being than the old Warlock. As for Thanos, in this new reality, he finds that his love for Death is no longer unrequited as She finally talks to him.

In the second chapter, The Infinity relativity, the new Warlock tries to adjust to his new status, spending time playing the gladiator. Because there's never a dull moment in the Marvel Universe, that's when our old pal Annihilus decides to send a new Annihilation wave into our universe, trying to succeed where he failed a decade ago in the Annihilation series. His chief scientist manages to capture Warlock and turn him into an infinite source of energy for, as Thanos explains, the new Warlock does not simply come from the dimension that was erased in the previous book; he is that dimension, in human form, and is the equivalent of its god. 

And now in this third chapter, The Infinity Finale, the conclusion. First, let me say that this is the best Ron Lim art I've ever seen. Adroitly helped by Andy Smith's inks and those guru-eFX colorists, he gives us a book that never makes me regret that Starlin didn't do the whole thing solo. (And I'm not even normally a Ron Lim fan)!

The tale starts like most of these things, which we've seen dozens of times : a cosmically powered villain has conquered or destroyed pretty much everything, a handful of heroes are our last chance, etc... This is a high stake game, sure, but a cynical comic-book fan knows that when you see the Shi'ar empire destroyed, the Celestials and Galactus dead, the Earth obliterated, you know that there's a big reset at the end of the story so no worry. Any drama we witness is only temporary. But hey, let's go along.

The surviving heroes are making their last stand on what remains of our moon, facing Annihilus's moving planet. Their gallant final actions are appropriately heroic, but Annihilus just outguns them and they all die one by one, some in pretty graphic ways. I enjoyed the way Thanos had a plan to turn the tables on Annihilus, and how said plan just failed because the villain was better at his job than the heroes at theirs. Does that ever happen in comics? Anyway, this is all only the prelude to the real finale. Up on Annihilus' planet, Pip the Troll has been hiding since book II, trying to get to the captured Warlock. He finally manages to do so and startsslapping him awake, which eventually works.

It turns out it's not a good idea to brutally wake up God. Warlock's startled awakening causes him to... BLOW UP THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE!!! Take that, 12-issue Crisis maxiseries! Warlock erases everything : space, time, reality, life, death, Eternity, Infinity, (not the Living Tribunal, though, as that one has apparently died elsewhere... my guess is in the Incursion business over in the Avengers mags). Nothing is left but a big blank void with Warlock in the middle.

(By the way, I may seem to take this lightly, but that entire sequence is awesome. We've seen the universe destroyed again and again in comics, but this time it looks like the real thing).

A remorseful Warlock wishes Thanos back into existence to counsel him, and the Titan is quite surprised : this time, he expected oblivion to be permanent. However, Warlock can't manage to bring the universe back. Thanos offers a solution : contacting an entity whose existence he became aware of when he wore the Infinity gauntlet, someone placed above even the Cosmic Heavies we are used to. Called "Above all others", this fellow is as close to the Abrahamic God as we've seen at Marvel yet.  

This being has the shape of a glowing caucasian human being, sometimes male, sometimes female, and Thanos convinces him that it would be interesting to restore the multiverse with a certain modification that he has in mind. God agrees, and *poof*, we're back. Warlock and Thanos resurface in our remade universe a short while into the past, right before Annihilus started his new conquest, and they set things to right. Warlock is a peaceful man and instead of killing Annihilus he removes all his clone bodies and resurrection devices from reality before devolving him into a small insect. (An insect Thanos steps on the minute he has a chance). The Bug King's chief scientist, who was the demon Mephisto all along, is sent back to Hades... without a mouth. This should put a damper on his ability to cause trouble. Next comes the moment to implement the modification that Thanos put foward to God. The "old" Warlock is brought back from nothingness and reunited with his friend Pip; and to this beleaguered Warlock fan it felt good to se the guy finally get something like a happy ending. As for the other Warlock, he proves to be the element that will make this reborn juniverse interesting : he becomes the new Living tribunal (and that makes a lot more sense, to me, than making Hal Jordan the Spectre. Warlock was always pushed toward divinity).

Thanos has done all he had to, and in what really looks like retirement he moves back to Death's realm, where they share a passionate kiss. The end!

I really, really enjoyed the way this story turned out; I believe it is my favourite Starlin Thanos-Warlock-Cosmic extravaganza since Marvel Two-In-One annual #2. I was glad to have the "real" Warlock back without having to get rid of the new one; I think Adam's rebirth in Annihilation : conquest had delivered his best incarnation since the '70s, once more kind of naive and inexperienced due to the rebirth process having been interrupted too early (an incarnation that had been cut short too fast in the Thanos Imperative). As for his godly, other-dimensional counterpart, that one, too, was an interesting character in his own right. I'm not sure anything will be done with him, but for the moment his assuming the role of the tribunal is a perfect ending for the saga of any Adam Warlock.

Odds and ends :

- I enjoyed seeing a bad guy waving Venom's spine with his head still attached to it. Not much of a Venom fan, I'm afraid.
- Ditto for the new Nova, against whom I have nothing... apart from his continuity-smashing backstory and his unnecessary usurpation of Rich Ryder's title.
- One page really, really looks like it was drawn by Walt Simonson. 
- References to current comics seem to be on the spot (as far as I can tell). 
- I'm not sure I understand what Mephisto's stake was in this story. Helping Annihilus kill everybody? Planning to take over Warlock's divine power at some point?
- The Silver Surfer was shown with an amputated arm. I don't know how his physiology works, but having seen Galactus regrow the Surfer's limbs at some point, I had assumed the Power Cosmic would have made that possible to the man himself. After all, he can regrow his board when it is smashed.

I agree about All New All different Avengers. As a matter of fact, I get a refreshing feeling like when the Avengers were brand new back in the SA. I like that it's not a cast of thousands and that they have no money.

I devoured that on the train home after I bought it. Can't wait for vol 2! It's due July 13, according to Image.

Micronauts #1 by IDW.

Bunn introduces a new mix of characters along with such favorites as Acroyear, Microtron, and a Biotron. Karza looks as imposing as ever. We get some bare details of the conflict being set up here but the interaction between the newbies is fun. The art is pretty good.

Off to a decent start, now looking even more forward to IDW's upcoming ROM series.

Well it comes from the toy line, not the Marvel additions, so they could use it...



unlike a lot of things people associate with the Micronauts that were not part of the toyline-Bug, the Enigma Force, Marionette, etc.

-M

I bought the trade of Paper Girls for ten bucks, new, retail.

It was pretty good!

(I grant you that the economics of comic shop comics are kind of screwy right now. But, honestly, the economics have always been kind of screwy.)