Before we get to the content of these issues (which is great–and is one of the best Thanos books of all time), dig this summary of the Infinity Gems’ powers…
Silver Surfer, Drax, and Starfox realize Thanos is not dead, while Thanos has successfully obtained all of the Infinity Gems and put them in a fashionable glove that he calls a “gauntlet” because that’s a much, much cooler word than “glove.”
He gives Surfer and Drax a beatdown.
After defeating them, he sticks them into the Soul Gem.
He also revives Nebula and turns her into his zombie slave, and then meets up with a new sidekick: Mephisto.
Mephisto?!? A sidekick?!? Well, he’s more of a Iago than a Bucky or Robin.
He adds some detail to his own origin: He was created when the all-powerful entity that used to be the collective Infinity Gems killed itself.
As a result, he claims to have intimate knowledge of the Gems’ powers, and offers to serve as Thanos’ assistant in understanding their full power.
He does this largely because his animosity against Surfer goes way back.
Once Silver Surfer and Drax are stuck in the Soul Gem, Jim Starlin can bring back some of his more (and less) famous cosmic characters like Pip the Troll, Adam Warlock, and Gamora.
And you probably don’t remember Judge Kray-Tor.
Your loss.
Anyway, the whole crew are stuck in the Soul Gem, too.
Drax is still kind of nuts after having been resurrected, and the only thing he wants to do is fight Thanos—so he sees Surfer, Warlock, etc., who want to talk about dealing with the threat of the Infinity Stones. So Drax basically punches them a lot throughout these issues, until Warlock kicks his ass.
Then Mephisto appears to tell them that Thanos is planning something really big.
Mephisto is essentially a Loki-character in these books, which is consistent with his past.
More wonderful cosmic work by Jim Starlin. The only thing that would make this better is if he drew the issues himself, but Ron Lim’s art is also perfectly suited for these characters.
All this is gearing up to one of the best events of all time: Infinity Gauntlet.