Jim Starlin and George Perez team up for what may be the greatest Thanos story of all time. Thanos has all of the soul gems—his gauntlet is complete—and now he seeks to be treated like the God that he now believes himself to be.
Unfortunately, he’s still trying to woo Death, which never goes well for him.
The first issue is mostly an assembling of forces—The Avengers and Dr. Strange along with Silver Surfer, Drax, and the rest of the cosmic guys who have been pursuing Thanos in the pages of The Silver Surfer.
It starts with Strange reading in his Sanctum, and Silver Surfer crashing in through the ceiling to warn him of Thanos. Then comes the gathering of heroes.
Meanwhile, Death is unimpressed by various displays of Thanos’ power, including turning his granddaughter Nebula into a tortured zombie.
Truly horrific. And Death is not impressed.
So there’s a snap…
And people start to disappear.
Isaac, the computer, is one of the first to figure it out. Note the typo, calling it “Issac.”
Note that Hulk is at “Smilin’ Stan’s” bar and the bartender (although blonde) does look a bit like Stan Lee.
Infinity Gauntlet is one of the Top 10 Jim Starlin series ever.
The Tie-Ins
This miniseries got “event” status, which means it got tons of relatively useless tie-ins–but some were good.
Silver Surfer #51. Thanos stopped Galactus from eating an unpopulated planet, so his herald Nova has to take him to one with life on it.
We get to see him unmasked.
Rons Marz and Lim. Grade: B-
Quasar #26-27. Eon is dead. Quasar is mad. Thanos is happy because he never liked Eon. Quasar plays little bunny fu fu with Thanos.
Wholly inessential, but according the cover Quasar gets his “new and final” costume.
Mark Gruenwald, Dave Hoover (#26), Greg Capullo #27). Grade: D
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #31.
There’s a back-up in this issue, but the main story just tells in more detail how Silver Surfer asked Dr. Strange to join the fight against Thanos, in Infinity Gauntlet #1.
Roy and Dann Thomas, Tony DeZuniga. Grade: C
Incredible Hulk #383. This is part of Peter David’s great run, and there’s only a few I.G. tie-in panels, while the rest of the issue is part of David’s overall story. So it still gets separate coverage here.