Yeah it and Aunt May's death in Amazing Spiderman #400 are some really emotional comics.

Also, love that avatar gif Mecha. :-)

Okay, a little music for a new era in Thanos....



If ever there was perfect casting, it would have been Frankie Avalon, as the Silver Surfer!



Silver Surfer #34



Creative Team: story by some old timer, Jim Starling , or something; art by the greatest new artist on the planet-Ron Lim, Tom Christopher-inks, Ken Bruzenak-Letters, Tom Vincent-colors, Craig Anderson-editor, Tom DeFalco-left holding the bag after Shooter.

Synopsis: Like, the Surfer dude is shredding the cosmic ways when he decides to head to the beach (or planet) and cop some Zs and soak some rays. Since he has, like an all-over zinc-oxide covering, he's cool with the melanoma! The dude wakes up and sees this bitchin' skull temple-looking thing and goes over to investigate. It's kind of gnarly, yet tooootallly familiar; ya know, dude? So, like, the Argent One goes inside, but realizes he must be dreaming....



So, like, Surfer goes poking around and sees a rat dude and his bro' carrying a trunk and follows them. he sees like this really bony chick, sitting on a throne, with like a bathrobe on, and they open the trunk and some spirit pops out, like at the end of Raider of the Lost Ark (awesome flick, dude!). So, get this, this really wasted-looking dude tells the spirit that he was, like, really awesome and the lady's favorite and she needs him to restore balance to the universe (whoa, yin and yang, man). So he says, "Cool!" Then, the ugly wasted guy says his enemy is, like Surfer and says, "Let's get it on!" So, the spirit blasts him, with, like, rays and stuff; and Silver is all "Whooa, ouch!" and like he ends up in a sea of aliens, headed towards this smoky volcano. he see some green chick toss a rug-rat into the volcano (Who, boiled baby!) and Surfer shoots the curl and rescues the baby; but it gets all scary-looking and attacks Surfer. Bummer! It grows and Surfer exlodes it away, only to like wipeout into the sand. When he gets up, this big rocky-lookin' dude is sitting there, on a bitchin' beach chair...



Bogus!

Thoughts:....



Thanos lives! The Surfer would leave little silver pellets, if he had another orifice. Starlin is back at Marvel and is back handling Thanos. Surfer was already getting some attention for Ron Lim's dynamic art; but, Starlin jumped it up to a whole new level, in one issue. Surfer is now truly cosmic. There is a bit of reference to a previous brush with Death and the In-Betweener; so, Starlin didn't totally ignore what came before. He does seem to make it clear that Thanos was essentially dead and has somehow been given new form. It remains to see how true that is.

As new issues go, this is a humdinger, grabbing your attention and the ending will most definitely have you back the next month. The question is, what happens with Thanos, after, as is pointed out, he has been beaten more than once before, with pretty much the same plot? Does Starlin have something new up his sleeve? All I can say is "Cowabunga!"

Silver Surfer #36



Creative Team: Same bunch.

Synopsis: Surfer heads to Earth and Avengers Mansion, to see their files on Thanos. After a brief dust up with She-Hulk (she hits him, he stands there, she hurts her hand, Cap shows up and chastises her). The Surfer and the new generation of Marvel zombies (that is, the ones who actually read comics in the 90s, rather than putting them in mylar while they waited for the guide value to increase) is given the history of Thanos. Surfer is then directed to Titan, to speak to Mentor and flies off, while hearing that Eros had been an Avenger, which doesn't sit well with the Surfer. As he flies to Titan, he encounters another creature, the Impossible Man. Impy says he knows about the impending showdown and offers advice:



He basically tells Surfer that he can;t defeat Thanos by being grim; he needs to go in the other direction and tries to bring out a sense of humor in the Surfer. It gets pretty weird.



Thoughts: Wow! It looks like Starlin took Sgt. Hulka's advice and lightened up (Francis)! There is a seriousness of story; but, a lighter touch in execution. Impy appeared just prior to Starlin's arrival, in a tale written by normalman creator Jim Valentino. Here he is again, showing the Surfer that laughter is the best medicine. It is an unusual tactic, in the grim & gritty 90s.

Silver Surfer #38



Creative Team: Starlin et al....

Synopsis: Thanos turns up on his space ark, Sanctuary III, under the command of Nebula. She has been going around, saying she is the granddaughter of Thanos. Well, it's Maury Povich time! Thanos blasts her and she runs away, charred and screaming. The master has returned! A subordinate finds Nebula's burned body, still alive; and secrets it away. Thanos is summoned by Death and Rat Boy gets mouthy to the big guy, wondering why he isn't hacking up half the universe. Thanos tells her it takes time; the universe is a big place. He also warns that the Surfer is out there and presents a threat.

Surfer hunts for Thanos and runs into his disembodied face, appearing in the stars. Thanos goads him to an artificial world, where they battle, with the Surfer learning to track Thanos' energy signature. Thanos buggers off, then hits him from behind...



Surfer figures out to track the chair, not Thanos and ambushes it, destroying Thanos...



Except, it turns out he scorched Nebula's lieutenant and Thanos is free of the Surfer, who takes the body off to Titan. Thanos reappears an lets us in on the scheme, then departs for his next phase of mission...



It is from there that tHanos heads into the Thanos Quest.

Thoughts: Well, now we have Nebula, who had appeared in the Avengers (#318). Thanos defeats Surfer via a complex strategy. We see that Starlin has learned to draw things out, like moves on a chessboard, rather than constant appearance-fight-disappearance (though that is still there). He's got a longer game in mind, here. We will have to follow Thanos into the two-issue Thanos Quest to see what he is up to, while, after a fill-in issue, the gang will be back to see the Surfer come to Titan, with "Thanos' remains."

Thanos Quest #1



Creative Team: Starlin-words, Lim-art, John Beatty-inks, Bruzenak-letters, Vincent-colors, Anderson-edits

Synopsis: "Schemes and Dreams"-Thanos stands at the Infinity Well, a swirling pool of the cosmos, looking for answers (Oracle of Delphi time). He is questioned by the rat and brought to Death again, who challenges why he hasn't started killing half the universe. He talks of the time it would take, at his present power levels and that he has a way to boost and refine them...



Thanos explains that he didn't truly understand them before; but, the Infinity Well has show him their true nature. He mentions that the first is held by the In-Betweener, who recently humbled Death. His wish is heartily granted and he heads off to retrieve the gem.

Thanos flies through dimensions, until coming to the Nexus of All Reality. where Lord Chaos and Master Order have imprisoned the In-Betweener, for exceeding his brief. Thanos offers him a deal, to release him, if he will aid Thanos in escaping from Death's control. The In-Betweener doesn't trust him; but, want's to escape the energy prison that holds him. Thanos tells him to employ his magics inside, while Thanos uses his power outside. It requires a lot of effort; but, IB is released. He immediately tells Thanos he doesn't trust him and Thanos swats him like a fly and takes his gem, while telling him he fooled the dimwit. IB's power doesn't work there, only inside the prison. He knows that he doesn't have a presence within the realms of Order and Chaos, so he could arrive undetected. order and Chaos will now reimprison IB, while Thanos heads off for his next target. Sucks to be the In-Betweener.

Nice! Real strategy and guile.

Thanos has the Soul Gem, the stone carried by Adam Warlock, which is able to reach out to spirits and control them. He is then faced by Death and her mouhtpiece (probably was a lawyer, before dying). He asks about Thanos' statement, about chafing under Death's leash. Thanos sweet-talks the bony lady and gets away with it.



Thanos heads for Tamarata, a world at the crossroads of several empires. here, the Champion lives and tests his mettle against all challengers. Thanos calls him out and says he will meet him, in the Garden, on the 29th, 7:00 pm bell time, for the title (card subject to change). Champion says he has said his prayers and taken his vitamins (deca durabolin, winstrol) and receded his hairline, so what is Thanos gonna do, when the Champster runs wild on you? The bell rings and Hulk, er....Champion, comes out swinging, while Thanos holds back behind force shields. This angers Champion and he hulks up. He stops short of battering through Thanos' shield (just a few blows shy of doing so) to berate his cowardice and zooms up into the air, to deliver an atomic legdrop like no other. As he comes into range, Thanos just teleports out of the way and Champion punches a planet. It all looks something like this...



Tamarata is destroyed and Champion is left floating in space, believing he has won. Thanos says bye-bye and Champion challenges him for his Mobius Chair (tm King Kirby) and Thanos asks why he should? Champion says honor and Thanos laughs. He then says he is leaving, but offers to tow Champion to the nearest planet, for his gem. Champion refuses, until Thanos says he may have to wait a century or two for someone to come along, who will probably recognize Champion as a jerk and leave him behind. Champion hands him the stone, saying it doesn't work and Thanos keeps his word...



Thanos now has the power gem and he heads off to find the next one.

Thanos turns up on the world of the Gardener and renews their acquaintance. They walk through the garden and appreciate the beauty. Thanos asks why the Gardner broke with the other Elders and he replies because they only sought power and more power. He acquired a new Soul Gem to make his garden flourish. he knows that Thanos is there to take it. Thanos speaks of his dream and the Gardener says their dreams are at odds, despite assurances that Thanos wishes him no harm. The Gardener attacks and Thanos easily shrugs it off and takes the Gardner's stone, which is the Time Stone. It allowed the Gardener to manipulate time, to speed the growing cycle and freeze the plants at the height of beauty. The Power Stone boosts the other gems, which allowed Thanos to beat him. He takes the Time stone and leaves the Gardener's husk, as his plants die, due to the loss of the Time Stone's freezing of time.



Thanos heads off to acquire the other three gems and the book ends.

Thoughts: This is essentially the third draft to Starlin's Thanos plot. In the first, it was the Cosmic Cube that would turn Thanos into a god. In the second, it was the Soul Gems that would allow him to create cosmic genocide, as a gift to Death. In this one, the Soul Gems are actually Infinity Stones, the key elements of Reality, which will give Thanos untold power. Starlin has also redrafted Thanos into one who seeks this power to change the universe by removing half of it, so the other half might flourish. His Thanos acts with guile and cunning, rather than brute force. Starlin's work has matured to beyond the Marvel cliche and he is showing the rest of the company how to create a saga, after a deluge of bad epics and crossovers, designed to appeal to speculators and indiscriminate readers. There is a slight repetition of Thanos arriving and challenging his foe, then using his wits to defeat them; but, there is enough variety to the method to forgive the recycling of the conflict.

There is a ton of intrigue here and it keeps you engrossed, waiting for the next battle. I do think the story would be more powerful if it occurred as a longer miniseries, rather than two bigger parts, as it would make Thanos' struggle more epic.  It feels a bit rushed, to help set up the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series and crossover, much like the third acts of Thor and Captain America TFA felt rushed to set up Avengers.

One thing is for certain, this third draft is where most of the inspiration for the MCU treatment of the Infinity Stones seems to originate, as well as the depiction of Thanos.

Thanos Quest #2



Creative Team: Same as before.

Synopsis: Having acquired the SouL Gem from the In-Betweener, the Power Stone from the Champion and the Time Stone from the Gardener, Thanos now sets his sights on the remaining three Infinity Stones. He makes a loooooooong distance phone call to the Collector (worst Elder ever!)......



He offers the Collector a bargain, since they had worked together in the past. He offers something extremely rare, in exchange for the Collector's Infinity Stone; a prize to be delivered later.



Thanos sends his intergalactic Lazy Boy off to a specific sector of the galaxy and waits. His chair then gets destroyed by the Jim Fixx of the Universe, the Runner.



He taunts Thanos and Thanos replies with the backstory of the Infinity Stones. The Universe was once a single living entity that encompassed all. It grew tired of its singular existence and exploded into new realities, with the 6 Infinity Stones representing the building blocks of reality. The Runner gloats about now having the secret and Thanos then informs him that he is a pretty low wattage bulb...



Thanos uses the Time Sphere to speed the Runner's aging, until he is millions of years older, unable to utilize his gem. he then simply takes it from him and then returns him to childhood, reducing him to an infant. He then collects the baby and heads off. (hopefully with a supply of Cosmic Pampers). Thanos heads over to the Collector's intergalactic longbox and offers him a rare prize, a baby elder, of his very own. It's the rarest of rare beings. The Collector aggrees and let's Thanos take the Stone, which he says is worthless. Thanos retorts....



The stone is the Reality Stone, able to alter perception itself, which Thanos does to the Collector's reality. It gets all MC Escher-meets-Steve Ditko and then the Collector is humbled. Thanos delivers a last F-you, on the way out, as the Runner reverts to his normal age...



Now, the Gamesmaster awaits and he is a master strategist; so, Thanos will have to work hard. They meet in some barren world, where a table is waiting. The Gamesmaster insists on lecturing about why Thanos must play his game, despite Thanos' wish to skip the preliminaries (I feel the same way with televised sports). If Thanos tries to take the gem, a transporter will instantly send it randomly across the universe. If the Gamesmaster is killed, the same will happen. If he loses, it will happen. He then demands that Thanos wager the other 5 stones and he agrees. The sit down with 20 sided dice and character sheets. Oh, wait; ni, that isn't right. They pull out an intergalactic Nintendo and choose players. Well, kind of, mentally. Each creates a player with perfect armor and set the to battle. Basically, it turns into Tron, with Thanos as Jeff bridges and Grandmaster as the MCP.....



Thanos and the Gamesmaster chase each other around the gameboard and then Thanos ducks around an object and blasts a hole inside. The Gamesmaster comes by and exposes his back and Thanos attacks. However, the Gamesmaster cheated and rigged the system to envelop Thanos in a hardening fungus. He then begins to take the Infinity Stones for himself, only to discover that Thanos is a mechanical duplicate. Thanos, in the real Reality, smashes the game controller, trapping the Gamesmaster...



Thanos also cheated. By removing his gemstone, the Gamesmaster removed his ability to spot the duplicate, allowing Thanos to operate freely, while the Gamesmaster was trapped in the game. Thanos now has the Mind Stone and the Gamesmaster is mindless. Thanos now has all 6 Infinity Stones.



The Time Stone allows Thanos to move forward or back in time, altering things as he sees fit, at any point. The Space Stone (the Runner's) allows travelling across space to be a mere intellectual exercise, the Power Stone boosts all, the Soul Gem taps into the core of beings, the Mind Stone taps all thought, the Reality Stone can alter the very fabric of Reality. Thanos is a god!

Thanos returns to Death, to show her his power. He says he did all for love of her; but, he must be equal or better, not slave. Death materializes a companion throne for Thanos, though she still speaks through the rat..



Thanos destroys the rat and leaves Death. He still desires her; but, he wanted to win her, not have her subservient to him. In gaining all, he has lost Death to be his love, of her own will.



Thoughts:



Starlin has really crafted something here. Thanos outwits the most powerful being in the universe to gain the Infinity Stones, yet loses his goal, in the end: to win Death. Now, he is left to find a way forward. Now that he has all of this power, what will he do? To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, he doesn't know; but, he will think of something.

That something will be next.

Meanwhile, picture the comics landscape of the 90s, as hulking generic psychopaths blast each other with Lego Guns and fists, while strippers and swimsuit models pose seductively. Everyone is dying and being reborn. Crossovers are interrupting the story flow of large swaths of comic lines. Then, there is Jim Starlin, the Grandmaster of the Epic Saga, showing everyone how it is done. His villain isn't some guy in overly elaborate armor and cape, throwing generic energy bolts and sicking mindless thugs on heroes, piling up a bodycount. He is a schemer who uses his brains to get what he wants. He uses soft mental martial arts to use his opponent's strength against him. His aims are even somewhat noble, as he wants to bring balance to a galaxy that is destroying itself, whether it likes it or not. He is taking responsibility for the future, even if no one asked him to. This is far more than an Apocalypse or a Doomsday. Finally, Starlin has pulled Thanos out from under the shadow of Darkseid. He is no longer the personification of evil, out to control all; now, he is a surgeon come to cure the universe of the disease that is killing it.

I have to say, when I originally read the Infinity Gauntlet, I wasn't impressed and felt it was just another big crossover, of which there had been far too many. Re-reading the build up, I better appreciate the craftsmanship behind Starlin's work. Yes, it is a repeat of the same plot he used twice before; but, he has reworked it and refined it to a whole new level of depth. Now, it remains to be seen if I feel the same way, once I get into the crossover event. Will it be similarly held in a brighter light or will it reconfirm my initial feelings?

Just because......

HISHE's How Avengers Infinity War Should Have Ended...