In the last arc of this series, Thanos had an epiphany and decided he wanted to do good in the universe. Jim Starlin had an epiphany, too, I guess, and left this character behind for a while. Keith Giffen steps in. Giffen is probably best known for either creating Ambush Bug or for his work on the The Darkness Saga for DC’s Legion of Super Heroes, which most would say is the definitive story of ThanosDarkseid. So, there is reason for hope that all is not lost.
Thanos and Darkseid are very similar characters. Thanos loves death, Darkseid seeks the Anti Life. Darkseid was created in 1971 by Jack Kirby, and Thanos came just a few years later. But there are key differences. Mostly, Thanos has always been a loner–a desperate lover of death–and he spent the better part of three Marvel decades trying to woo her and seduce her.
This story of his redemption starts, on the cover of #7, by paying tribute to his greatest, fallen foe, Captain Marvel. And then Thanos’ former lover arrives…
Giffen has Death take the form of a child, which irritates Thanos–who is no pedophile. By restructuring their relationship, Giffen forces Thanos to find love in a new way….
Love is a partnership, not a seduction. Love is sought for mutual understanding, not comfort.
For reasons unknown, Thanos travels to “the Crunch,” which basically the outer edge of the expanding universe, and meets a bunch of intergalactic cops take him to a prison for the universe’s most powerful villains, called The Kyln. There’s been a riot there, and Thanos goes in, undercover.
Gladiator, who is among the inmates, tells Thanos that the leader of the prison is Beyonder. She’s looking pretty different these days….
She’s the blue one. She’s with Skreet, a “chaos sprite.” I’m tagging her as the same Skreet who worked with Lunatik, but it’s unclear if she’s the same one. Given that Keith Giffen created Lunatik and Skreet, odds are it’s the same one.
He also meets Peter Quill, and learns that Starlord is dead.
Quill is much more sinister in this book than the movie. Several other unimportant characters are also introduced.
Skreet ends up teaming with Thanos to take down Beyonder. For their roles in the takedown, Gladiator and Quill go free and Quill joins the Imperial Guard.
With Beyonder re-imprisoned, Thanos meets The Fallen One, who is a former Herald of Galactus. The first one, actually.
Unlike the ones who came later, Fallen One was empowered by dark energy. After he tries (and fails) to get revenge on Galactus, Thanos takes control of the Fallen One. Overall, this is a good series, but this section feels rushed and confusing. The motivations of the characters and the way it all gets resolved is unclear. These are all incredibly powerful beings–nothing should be done in just a few panels.
In the end, Fallen One becomes a herald for Thanos.
The final panels leave ambiguity about Thanos’ future intentions.
These issues are precursors to the wonderful and amazing revival of Marvel’s cosmic line, which will arrive in the coming years.