We saw Thanos seem to succumb to death a while back, but it wasn’t really a clear death. Since then, Thanos has appeared in a few panels but really what we’ve been reading about is Adam Warlock’s attempts to get in Thanos’ way.
Starlin adds to his cosmic menagerie with the debut of Lord Chaos and Master of Order
In this annual, we get to see Big T throw down against the entire Avengers team (plus Thing and Spider-Man), and finally meet his maker as he is transformed into a granite statue. The heroes also realize how whacked out Thanos is…
Most people remember Marvel Two-In-One for its fight scenes. And seeing Thanos get his ass kicked is, indeed, very cool.
But this annual was also significant because in it, Thanos died again. For realsies this time…
Kinda like what they did to Wolverine at the end of this year’s “Death of Wolverine,” eh? This was supposed to be the “death” of Thanos, but anyone who saw Han Solo freed from his carbonite prison knew this wasn’t the end.
But as for Warlock, final death seemed possible…Except for the fact that we already knew he wasn’t really dead—he was contained in the Soul Gem. The fact that the gem was shattered in this issue doesn’t seem all that convincing, does it?
Still, great cosmic stuff. Marvel doesn’t make “important” comics like this anymore because everything seems to be a threat to the universe and existence itself. Back in the 1970s, you could see a whole storyline about Spider-Man fighting a mugger.
This is the second-best comic Jim Starlin ever created. Wanna know what was the best? Go here. It’s also one of the best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list.