Saturday Splash Page #89

 

"All Aboard?" in Thanos Imperative #2, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Jay David Ramos (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

So, after the conclusion of Ignition, the Cancerverse is invading the 616, lead by a version of Mar-Vell loyal to the Many-Angled Ones. He seeks the Avatar of Death, meaning Thanos, so he can perform a ritual to kill Death in the 616 as well. To that end, he and his "Revengers" are gathering up every "anomaly" person they can find. Like Major Victory, who's from the future, or Namorita who came out of the Fault. 

Thanos is, unhappily for everyone involved, with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who infiltrate the Cancerverse to try and figure out how Death was killed there to possibly undo the process. Meanwhile, Nova is trying to halt the invasion, without much success.

That's basically all the plot there is. The Guardians snoop around the Cancerverse, rendered by Sepulveda and Ramos as a muddy, destroyed mess. I don't know why life overtaking everything results in everything falling apart. I guess if you can't die, you don't worry about protecting yourself from the elements or maintain infrastructure. Drax (donning the classic purple cloak look but still carrying alrge firearms) eventually loses it and tries to re-kill Thanos, only to find he can't (as in, Thanos just regenerates from a skeleton) and ends up dead himself. Nova grabs a bunch of heavy hitters for a surgical strike on Mar-Vell's ship. They mostly get their asses kicked. I don't recall Mar-Vell being enough of a force to shatter the Surfer's board, but I guess that's the boost from the Lovecraftian horrors.

There is a nice bit where the Scarlet Witch is revealed to have been a sleeper agent for the Vision and other artificial intelligences, only pretending to serve Mar-Vell all this time (which was nicer than Wanda had been treated in the Marvel Universe at that point in like 10 years.) but it really does feel like a lot of running in place that could have been pared away.

End result, Thanos pretends to switch sides, offering Mar-Vell the chance to kill him so he can be dead again. I thought the idea was he can't die, so this lets him see the ritual and reverse-engineer it to destroy Mar-Vell. Wrong. What it does is, bring Death from the 616 into the Cancerverse, and she just kills Mar-Vell herself. Which trashes the Many-Angled Ones, since he's their connection or something, and will supposedly cause the collapse of that universe from the immense loss of mass. Seems contrary to how I understand current theories on universal expansion, but sure.

Death basically leaves Thanos, having gotten what she needed, and he's insanely pissed and still unkillable. So Nova and Star-Lord stay behind to try and keep the Mad Titan there until the universe collapses. Otherwise he's headed back to the 616 and everybody's fucked. Nova's got the entirety of the Nova Force and Star-Lord has that damaged Cosmic Cube.

I mentioned last week to keep in mind that, during Ignition, Star-Lord announces the Cube is exhausted. No power left. He and Rocket had been running tests together, so they both know this, and they were telling Moondragon, a telepath with less regard for the sanctity of other's minds than your typical Marvel telepath. No indication he was lying, until it just suddenly has enough for two or three more uses. What? How?

The plot elements don't really add up. Most of the casts of the books Abnett and Lanning had been writing up to that point, the ones we'd presumably be most invested in, are useless. The other Guardians don't get to do much but tag along behind Thanos and Star-Lord. The rest of the Nova Corps is barely involved. Now, that could be by design. We'll see next week that Abnett and Lannig did have a sort of plan behind the Guardians' ineffectiveness.

There is a point made, that this war is on an entirely different level from the previous events. The Cosmic Abstracts, the Celestials and Galactus and whatnot, all show up to confront the invasion from the Cancerverse. None of them bothered when Ultron conquered the Kree with the help of the Phalanx (Annihilation: Conquest), or when Kree and Shi'ar went to war (War of Kings). Galactus was dragged into Annihilus' plan by Thanos' scheming, but the moment he gets free and exerts himself, he wipes out like 80% of Annihilus' army in one shot. The point being, all that stuff was ultimately the concerns of little mortals, and didn't matter a whit to the truly big guns.

This? This requires their involvement. Sepulveda mostly shows them floating there, but the Surfer tells us the Abstracts are fighting on levels mortals can't perceive. Taken from that angle, that this ends with Nova and Star-Lord just trying to slow Thanos down long enough for a collapsing universe to hopefully kill him, could almost be seen as a logical end. They've survived a lot of close calls going back to Annihilus, but this is another scale. Against that, all they can do is fight until they can't any longer.

Saturday Splash Page #87

 

"Death Takes a Holiday", in Thanos #7, by Keith Giffen (writer), Ron Lim (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Christie Scheele and Krista Ward (colorists), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

Years and years before he would be the tentpole villain for the culmination of multiple phases of a cinematic universe (I'm imagining myself reading that sentence 20 years ago and muttering something about gobbledygook), Thanos got himself an ongoing series. Jim Starlin wrote and drew the first 6 issues, where Thanos trying to chart a new course for his life, after having yet another epiphany in the Starlin-written mini-series Marvel Universe: The End. 

Having decided to try and make amends for past misdeeds committed in Dan Jurgens' Thor run by what was actually a rogue clone of himself Thanos made (because Jim Starlin doesn't like it when other people mess with his toy), Thanos saves the universe from some cosmos-devouring thing called The Hunger, which played Galactus like a chump. Because when Jim Starlin writes Thanos, all other characters become 1000 times dumber and less-competent than normal.

Because Jim Starlin has no problem messing with other people's toys. Which is why I didn't keep those 6 issues. He's got some interesting ideas, I just completely hate the execution of those ideas.

I did keep the other six issues, handled by the Keith Giffen/Ron Lim team. Where Thanos decides to make a pilgrimage to the Kyln. Which is a combination power plant/max security prison/holy site at the edge of the place where the universe is generated. I'm unclear if that puts it at an expanding edge or some "center", but whatever. Point is, it's a delicate place, and while Thanos is ostensibly there to think, he gets sucked into a mess involving some version of the Beyonder, having made itself mortal.

In the process of that, Galactus' true first herald escapes. No, not Tyrant, his other first herald. The Fallen One, who goes gunning for Galactus himself, while Big G is still worn down from that previous story arc. Thanos handles that, albeit out of desire to have a herald of his own. Especially one that apparently is powered by dark matter. 

Giffen's Thanos is patient when he wants to be. Smart naturally, able to quick figure out weaknesses in his opponent and bring them to heel. He's also got a bit of a sense of humor - dry, to the point it isn't clear if he's trying to be funny - and not above provoking someone if he thinks it in his interests. And for all that he proclaims to Death - who Lim draws as a child dressed all in black - he's done serving her, he still seems inclined to listen to what she has to say.

That arc is probably most notable for the number of things Giffen introduces that he later used in Annihilation. The Kyln and the Crunch are where Annihilus' army emerges. This frees the two elder beings Thanos encourages to take down Galactus and the Surfer so he can use them as weapons of planetary mass destruction for Annihilus. 

Most importantly, this is where Star-Lord steps back out on the stage for the first time in a long time. Ship is gone, the element gun is gone, the cybernetic eye is there. Quill's an inmate, for what he did to stop the Fallen One originally, but he's also there to make sure the Fallen One stays locked up. He's sarcastic, cynical, basically ready to die whenever. Gladiator's there on made up charges to keep an eye on the Beyonder, and even he treads carefully around Thanos. Quill basically gives zero fucks, maybe because he realizes that if Thanos decides to kill him, it could have very little to do with anything Quill says or does.

The one odd thing of note is, one of the guards responsible for sending pilgrims on through to the Kyln is an Earthling named Cole, who was abducted, then abandoned. To what end he was abducted isn't explained, possibly because Cole doesn't know. But that's pretty much the origin they gave Star-Lord in the movies, except the kidnappers kept Quill. Hard to believe, as annoying as movie Star-Lord can be.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Won't Die

I've been trying to figure out why Death was so infatuated with Ben Grimm in the recent Thing mini-series. The point that kept coming up was that Ben will never stop fighting, but Death seems intent on making him her consort or concubine, her words. It would seem like that's something he will fight, and Death must recognize it, because she tries to use Alicia as a lever to make him submit. But even if it works and Ben does give in, doesn't that mean he's not what she wanted after all?

So the conclusion I came to is, Death wants someone who plays hard to get, but only to a point. Look at her two most common suitors. Thanos throws himself at Death all the time. Proclaims his devotion to her and anyone else in earshot at the drop of a hat. Showers her with gifts like killing half the universe or making temples that float in space. Completely shameless, and look at how she treats him. She eggs him into doing things for him while he's alive, but as soon as he succeeds too well she stonewalls him. When he's dead, which would seem to be the truest submission, she can't wait to bring him back to life and send him off to pick up her laundry or whatever.

In contrast, Deadpool. Wade is, on the surface, a bit like Thanos, if less eloquent. He kills a lot of people, in a more personal way, but sometimes not terribly discerning. Wade also talks sweetly to Death, although mostly when he's in a vulnerable state. Meaning, while in severe physical and probably mental or emotional pain. There's also that lack of pride Thanos shows, but it doesn't feel like an act, Deadpool trying to show he can be vulnerable. In those moments, he just is vulnerable. Hurting and eager to die. 

The trick is, Wade doesn't stay dead. Death can welcome him with open arms, but Deadpool will always leave, whether he wants to or not. On the plus side, he never overstays his welcome. Death never grows sick of him the way she does Thanos, but at a certain point, it has to get tiring. No commitment. Wade isn't playing hard to get, he just is hard to get.

So now here's the Thing. He's not singing any hosannas to Death, but he's open about what he feels. He's looked death in the eye in a hundred different forms and punched it in the face. He will not quit. Will fight until he collapses. Fight until he dies. But that's the key. Unlike Deadpool, Ben Grimm can die and (setting aside meta-textual intellectual property concerns) stay dead. There's no ridiculous healing factor that will pull Ben back from the brink. So she gets to enjoy his fighting, but there is will be an end to it eventually. 

And during this mini-series, we watch Ben fight and fight and fight. More than once, he collapses from either his injuries or exhaustion, or both. In a couple of cases, Death (as Amaryllis) helps him recover, which seems contradictory. But it offers another chance to watch him fight later, to watch the struggle of the mortal against inevitability. She can afford to indulge, because she's confident that sooner or later, he's going to succumb. 

But she has her limits, so when Ben refuses to kill Dr. Doom, when his stubborn will refuses to remove a possible threat to her domain, it stops being a fun exercise. That's when it becomes a matter of trying to force the issue via Alicia's safety. Which doesn't work because Death underestimates Alicia, because a woman who made herself a great sculptor, who befriended a strange man who crashed through her skylight and turned out to be a gofer for a hungry giant alien, who has dated Ben through all his insecurity, is not the sort to give up easily, either.

The Old "Fake Faking Your Death" Trick

At some point last month, I got a look at the first issue of the new Guardians of the Galaxy series. I was curious as to what the solicits had meant by 'who is the new Thanos'.

I'd forgotten Thanos died in that Infinity Whatever that came out last year, and stayed that way through the end of that event. In Guardians of the Galaxy, a bunch of people gather to see his video will, and it's in that recording Thanos reveals his mind has already been reborn, or transferred, something, to another body. He's out there, somewhere in the universe.

Which doesn't really seem like a "new" Thanos. He's still the same mind, and still going to behave the same way. All that's different is the external appearance. That's assuming he's telling the truth. My first thought (besides "Goddamnit, just leave him in the ground.") was, "This is a fakeout."

Thanos has pulled this move before. Back before Infinity Gauntlet, he let the Surfer believe he'd killed him (I think to throw everyone off his trail while he hunted down the Gems). Not content with that, he had gained citizenship in Dynamo City, and suckered the Surfer in with a messenger stating the Surfer was mentioned specifically in. . . the video recording of Thanos' will and testament. As it turned out, he'd set all that up just so the Surfer would be trapped powerless in that craphole city, looking for work to earn enough money to pay the exit fees.

I can see Thanos recording this just to throw the entire universe into a panic. A last joke played on everyone so happy he's dead. You thought you were free of me? I'm still out there, somewhere. Booga-booga! I could be anyone, and I'm plotting. . . things. Nefarious things. Better turn over every rock in the cosmos looking for me!

Then he can sit back in the afterlife and chuckle as everyone gets more and more desperate to find him, until they inevitably grow suspicious of each other. I mean, sooner or later, someone is going to decide they aren't finding Thanos because he's hiding inside one of them. Imagine Gladiator with a more powerful will and intellect, or Beta Ray Bill. Although I guess Thanos wouldn't be able to lift Stormbreaker*. But at that point, everything probably goes to hell.

This probably isn't what's happening, but it'd be fun. Or Thanos could be truly dead, and he's just doing this to keep everyone disorganized while he waits for Death to inevitably get tired of him hanging around and boots his purple butt back into the land of the living. So when he reappears, everyone's worn to a frazzle and pissed at each other, and he rolls over them.

* Unless Jim Starlin is writing the story. Then all bets are off.

Upon Further Reflection

I mentioned on Wednesday that I'm not real interested in the new Thanos series that Marvel solicited, but I could be convinced otherwise. The solicit mentioned he'd have to contend with his murderous family, I'd be curious to see Thanos dealing with family issues in a stereotypical sitcom setting.

Nebula: Dad, this is my boyfriend, Genis.

Genis: *slightly spaced out, wearing long sleeves in unusually warm weather* Nice, nice to meet you sir. Shame about that blood you'll get on your clothes when you raid that temple next week.

Thanos: Huh, I knew a guy with a kid named Genis. Guy died of cancer some years ago. It's potentially acceptable to  meet you, if you can prove useful. It's awfully warm for long sleeves, though.

Nebula: Oh, um, he has some tattoos.

Genis: *not paying much attention* Yeah, yeah, that's it.

Thanos: Psh, I don't care about that. What, you have a skull and crossbones, some Skrull characters? As long as you know what they mean, I don't care. I wiped out multiple civilizations. Let's see them.

Genis: *rolls up sleeves, reveals Nega Bands* Huh, there's an insurrection breaking out 5 start systems over.

Thanos: You're Mar-Vell's kid? *turns on Nebula* Such treachery, I should be proud, but you have overplayed your hand. You should have waited until you got my car keys!

Nebula: Hala, Dad, it's not like that! I just like Genis! He's so deep, and he knows where all the best atrocities are happening!

Thanos: Do you know how many times his dad thwarted my plans?

Nebula: You just have to make everything about yourself!

Thanos: I had the Infinity Gauntlet once! I was everything!

Nebula: Mom, talk to him! Make him stop ruining my life!

*Death floats there, silently*

Nebula: See, Mom agrees with me!

Thanos: No she doesn't. My love, you understand why she can't date the son of Mar-Vell, don't you?

*Death turns and floats out of the room without a word*

Thanos: Well that's just like you isn't it? You never want to discuss our problems! This is like the counselor all over again!

Nebula: Stop yelling at Mom! *shoots Thanos with laser pistol, accomplishing very little, runs upstairs*

You could swap Phylla in for Genis if you want. I preferred Phylla myself, but I know Genis really struggled with the whole Cosmic Awareness thing, so I thought he'd work well. I know I'm missing that son of Thanos' that was on Earth, but he didn't fit this particular story. You can throw him in there. Starfox is literally the creepy uncle, Mentor is the cranky old man telling everyone what it was like in his day, and how Thanos isn't raising his kids right (ignoring the part where Mentor raised Thanos, so he's clearly an even worse dad than Magneto and Reed Richards). I don't even know what would qualify as Death's in-laws (or her divorce attorney for that matter), but it'd be something to see.

I'm Getting Lost Trying To Follow Thanos' Plan

With regards to Infinity, I'm not sure I follow why the Avengers being off in space is such a big deal for Thanos. It isn't as if every hero on Earth went into space. Even as fragmented and distracted as the X-Men are these days, I'm pretty sure if Thanos shows up and starts killing and conquering, they'd get off their duffs and do something. I suppose Thanos could be completely unconcerned about them, which is fair. Thanos is a powerhouse on his lonesome. With an entire army at his disposal, the X-Men might be little more than a speed bump (I vote Cyclops for first speed bump!). If that's the case, do the Avengers shift the balance much?

Gavok had some speculation that filled in some blanks for me. Thanos is out to eliminate all the kids he fathered during a wild period Jason Aaron tossed into that Thanos Rising mini-series*. If that's the case, I don't entirely understand invading Earth. The Builders are on their way there already, right? They've thus far appeared to be an unstoppable force. If he has a kid that's part Inhuman somewhere near Earth, then the Builders will take care of said kid in the course of their work.

He could be banking on the very thing all his subordinates were warning him of: Things go badly wrong when you mess with Earth. So the Builders are doomed to failure because Earth is the best, meaning Thanos has nothing to worry about from that direction. Of course, that means he does have to worry about the Avengers when they come home, but if all he's after is to kill every person on Earth between a set age range, and then leaves, it might be doable. Leaving aside the issue of the Avengers trying to hunt him down and bring him to justice. By that point, he can pick the battlefield.

But it sounds like he's just as interested in conquering the planet. If he works fast, maybe he can establish defenses to have waiting for the Avengers. The conquest could be him blowing smoke to his lackeys. Conquest would offer an opportunity for looting and plunder. I don't know whether they're true believers in Thanos, or they work for him because it's better than dying at his hands.

Ultimately, I think Earth's best bet is to start a rumor Adam Warlock is hanging out there. Things never go well for Thanos when that guy's is around. Even setting aside the constant thwarting of Thanos' plans, you have to deal with Warlock's know-it-all, holier-than-thou attitude. I guess Thanos could just kill him (or at least punch him in the face), but Warlock has less success at staying dead than Thanos himself.

* I'm not sure how I feel about that addition to his history. I suppose it would depend on his motivations. What was he hoping for with children, and why is he killing them now? Were the kids some attempt to deny his connection or interest to death? Children as a form of immortality, or simply creating life as the opposite of ending it? Then when he embraces Death later, he decides the best way to prove it is to kill his own offspring. Or maybe he wanted a willing acolyte, one he could mold into an engine of death, the way he did to Gamora.

Beware A Scorned Avatar of Death

We all agree Thanos will be back in the Marvel Universe someday, right? Someone will want to use him, either as a big scary threat for their latest event story, or as a name villain to be punked out to a character they just created and are trying to convince us is the best hero ever.

But his style would almost have to be different now, wouldn't it? After being used by Death and then discarded like a snot-covered tissue, he wouldn't still be pining after Death. Well, I guess he could be, but at that point the writer might be better off doing a story about Thanos as the person who keeps going back to their abusive significant other*. I'm not sure who would want to read that story though.

So Thanos returns. I'm still unsure where he's returning from, because I don't know if the Cancerverse still exists and is just empty** and sealed off again, or if the universe collapsed entirely and Thanos exists in the space between universes. A realm between life and death, if you will. He escapes, because he's Thanos, and he's clever that way (plus desperate and/or brassed off) and now he's back. But now he's working against Death.

I guess, if he was in-between universes, Thanos could have come to an arrangement with the Many-Angled Ones, who were said to exist in that space. He could help them claim a new universe to replace the one they lost. But killing Mar-Vell supposedly knocked them silly for a few eons. Still, Thanos serving as Avatar of Life, when he was formerly an unkillable Avatar of Death, would be quite the challenge. You need an even better Avatar of Death than Thanos to beat Thanos. Good luck.

The other possibility is Thanos comes back on his own, and puts his intellect towards solving problems that plague societies across the universe. You know, the ones comic book writers don't usually have Reed Richards or Hank Pym solve, because it changes the world too much from ours? Thanos starts improving the quality of life, improving food production, generally extending people's lives. He's run across and experimented with so many arcane energies, he can probably cook up something to grant immortality, maybe even without any nasty side-effects. There couldn't be side effects if he wants a wide distribution, because it can't turn out that those who take it become reliant on Thanos for regular shipments.

Depending on how a writer wanted to handle it, he has one of a few goals. One, he's trying to destroy Death, since Death won't take him back. Two, he's trying to tip that balance between Life and Death to the point Death will have to get involved, either by powering up an new avatar, or dealing with Thanos directly. Either way, he can win by getting revenge, or ending up dead (again). Maybe the immortality stuff has no side-effect, but does give Thanos the means to kill everyone who has used it simultaneously (because his studies of whatever energy he's using have given considerable control over it). All he has to do is wait long enough, then bam! bigger than his Infinity Gauntlet "kills half the universe" moment. Which could tip things out of whack pretty good itself****.

I suppose Death could try calling in Galactus to try and eat Thanos, the way he once ate the death-immune Elders of the Universe, but that didn't work ultimately, and if Thanos is ensuring people immortality, he can probably rally enough widespread support to take down Galactus and however many Heralds he has at the time. Immortality is probably great, but not so much if you spend it floating stranded in space because a big purple guy ate your planet out from under you. Or worse, you're sentient energy within Galactus even after he digests you***.

It would still be true to Thanos' portrayals over the recent years. Works on a big scale, but for more personal reasons.

* I know, Death didn't ask Thanos to follow her like a lovesick puppy, killing half the universe as a gift to Death. The fact this devotion wasn't sought hasn't stopped Death from using it to its advantage.

** Except for Thanos, Nova and Star-Lord's corpses, and whatever's left of the Many-Angled Ones. I'd hope Nova and Star-Lord were dead. If Thanos is purposefully keeping them alive, that's not going to be pretty.

*** Though that could drive Galactus daffy after awhile, if those sentients can make themselves known.

**** After awhile, Thanos had gone far enough into left field with the Gauntlet that even Death turned on him. So if he messes things up enough, even as a gift to Death, it will intervene.

A Smattering Of Thanos Imperative Related Thoughts

- It's been noted throughout Thanos Imperative that while Thanos is vital to saving the universe, he's also Thanos, and is really dangerous as well, especially since he seemingly can't die. If he can be brought down, he could be locked up, but Thanos is pretty smart, he figure out how to escape eventually. So convince Thanos to stay behind in the Cancerverse when things are done. Death will have returned to that universe (assuming Thanos succeeds in killing Mar-Vell), but it's still a universe filled to the bursting with life. It'll take time to get things back on an even keel, and an angry Avatar of Death could speed things along. Plus, the Death in that universe is different from the Death in the Marvel Universe, so it's a whole new Death for Thanos to cozy up to and impress with large amounts of killing.

- The idea that Death and Life are connected isn't a new one, nor is the idea that it could be ugly if either one grows too much stronger than the other. Still, I like how connected they've been in this cosmic struggle. For Life to win out, Mar-Vell still needs to kill someone. For Death to balance the scales, that same person has to live, whether they want to or not. Death also needs Mar-Vell to die, but it's to be expected that death would play a part in its own victory.

- Before Thanos killed him, Drax was described as an Avatar of Life. Adam Warlock was considered the same before he became the Magus, and perhaps afterward as well. He still worshiped life. First off, it makes me wonder if Phyla could have averted what's coming by killing Drax, since he's an Avatar of Life, or if it had to be Adam specifically. I'm guessing the latter, since Drax didn't have grandiose schemes of destroying Death. He's quite the practitioner of Death, after all.

- Which brings me around to the second point. Adam and Drax were both Avatars of Life, but they went about things very differently. Drax protects/serve life by destroying the Avatar of Death. Adam Warlock, at least in this incarnation, protected life by trying to seal the Marvel Universe up, so things outside the universe couldn't get in and wreak havoc they might intend. To that end, he took control of the Universal Church of Truth, so that 1) they'd stop interfering in his work, and 2) he could use their resources to do his work more effectively. Contrast that with Drax, who might work with teams, but tends to operate alone when it comes to Thanos. Drax fights Death with death, Adam was fighting life, with Life (the belief energy of his followers). Drax actively sought out his target, while Adam reacts to problems. A tear in the fabric of the universe appears, Adam and the Guardians (or the Church) go there and close it up. When Adam tried to act to avert the disaster, going after Emperor Vulcan before the War of Kings destroyed the universe, he was soundly thrashed and sent packing. Adam Warlock helped set Thanos' return in motion, because he was worried his Magus personality would emerge and need to be stopped. He set aside his personal distaste because he perceived a greater threat. When he reached Thanos during Annihilation, Drax couldn't wait two seconds until Thanos had freed Galactus to kill him, and thus jeopardized the entire universe. He was too focused on the immediate problem, and didn't think of the larger picture. I can't decide whether he'd begun to do so in Thanos Imperative or not, because Thanos is an ally at the moment, but he might be the bigger problem. It would be interesting if he adopted Adam's approach, and it got him killed.

Maybe there's something there about Drax representing the so-called lizard, brain, the basic, emotional responses, while Warlock is the more reasoned, logical portion. Both of them are a part of us, as living beings, and life comes in many different forms, so it makes a certain amount of sense there would be more than one Avatar of Life, and they'd address different problems, or have different approaches.

- These days, there only seems to be one Avatar of Death at a time. There was Thanos, and Drax killed him, so there was no one for a time. I think Moondragon becoming an actual dragon, as the Dragon of the Moon grew stronger, was a step to fill the void, but Ultron stepped in (in a sense, Ultron, unknowingly, filled Drax' role for a moment). Then Phyla took the job to get Moondragon back, until she was killed by Thanos, as he reemerged. Maelstrom's been around, but doesn't seem to have a physical presence, he's more an intangible puppet master. But Death, whatever form it takes, ends the same way. The person is dead, all the way dead (as opposed to mostly dead), and it doesn't matter whether Thanos disintegrated them, they were hit by a bus, thrown from a bridge, died of old age, whatever, end result is the same. It can take many forms, but they all wind up in the same place.

Thanos Has To Love Death By Staying At A Distance

I'm on a Thanos Imperative kick, and may be for the next few days. I've been giving some thought to Thanos bemoaning his fate in Thanos Imperative #4, after he survived Drax' anti-matter charge assassination attempt. He said that Death had rejected, that he could never be by her side again. Considering how often Thanos proclaims his love for death, that's a big deal for him. He even goes so far as to say that's she's merely using him for her own ends, the same as she's doing with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I think he's looking at it the wrong way. Thanos has always been trying to do things for Death to prove his love for her, and earn her affection in return. Kill this group of people, conquer this world, gather the Infinity Gems. The thing is, Death never needed any of that stuff. That half of the universe Thanos killed with the Infinity Gauntlet? They 're all going to die someday, anyway. Thanos may have sent them along to Death sooner, but she would have claimed them eventually. He gave Death nothing it couldn't have taken on its own.

Now though, Death needs Thanos. Mar-Vell can destroy her utterly, as he did the Death of his universe, and her only defense would be an Avatar of Death powerful and wily enough to beat Mar-Vell. Phyla could have spared him this (that might have been interesting, her facing off with an evil version of her pop*), but I think when she failed to kill Adam Warlock before he could become the Magus, Death realized she needed a more experienced hand. Who better than her most devoted Avatar?

This is actually Thanos' best chance to impress Death. This time around, he's not some guy trying to impress her with flashy stunts, that stuff is in the past. Now he's her knight, and his immunity to death is her boon to him, like a nice horse or an awesome sword. She's asked Thanos to slay the dragon threatening her realm because he's who she trusts the most. It's not as though there aren't other insanely powerful mass killers she could have drafted. There's Maelstrom, Morg, the Tyrant (if he isn't still alive), there's probably a dead Kang somewhere she could have hauled in, but no.

Yes, it's rough that he can't see a way to be reunited with Death. But Thanos had it pretty easy in this relationship. He did something, and could say he did it because he loves her, even though it's something (conquering, killing, taking power) he'd do anyway. But where was he when the Grandmaster had stolen her power and taken control of her realm for his stupid games? Thanos didn't set things right, Hawkeye did**. This is harder for Thanos, because it involves doing something he doesn't want to - live - because it's what she needs him to do. That's how it is with these things. The knight wants to stay with his lady, but he goes on the quest on her behalf, because he does love her. Talk is cheap.

If Thanos wants to look on the bright side, he can consider the possibility that Death may be able to rescind the immortality she's granted him once the danger is averted. Their separation may not be forever like he thinks.

* I'm not sure it's as interesting as what we have, with Thanos getting to play the hero, even though he still represents Death, and Mar-Vell as the villain. Probably better as is, since we avoid any potential Daddy issues stuff that would like have been played out with Phyla vs. Mar-Vell.

** By getting the Grandmaster so fixated on a game of chance he stopped concentrating on keeping Death imprisoned. Go Hawkeye!

The Nice Thing About Having An Evil Mastermind On Your Side

Said Evil Mastermind can usually come up with good plans to defeat your enemies. The Evil Mastermind probably has plans in mind to screw you over as well, but if you're lucky, they'll wait to unveil those until after your enemies are dealt with.

Case in point, Thanos. At the end of Thanos Imperative #5, Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy are battling Cancerverse Mar-Vell and his Revengers, mystically-enhanced versions of Thor, Ms. Marvel, Captain America, Iron Man, and Giant Man*. Mar-Vell and Thanos are enemies, regardless of which universe each hails from, so they squared off. It's at the end of the issue that Thanos drops the bombshell: He isn't here to destroy Mar-Vell, he's here so Mar-Vell can grant him death. Since Thanos is the Marvel Universe's Avatar of Death, that's precisely what Mar-Vell needs to do to rid the Marvel Universe of Death forever, thus enabling his masters to gain a stronger foothold in the Marvel U.

As "Oh, crap!" moments go, that was a good one. I was pretty surprised, and definitely worried - until I remembered this is Thanos. During Annihilation, even when Thanos was Annihilus' research and development guy, he installed a failsafe so he could cut Galactus loose if he needed to turn on Annihilus**. From what I recall of Thanos Quest (his hunt for the Infinity Gems), it was largely Thanos appearing to take one approach to victory, but really having another strategy in mind entirely. Back-up plans and duplicity are part of who he is.

Right before Mar-Vell and Co. showed up, he was trying to psychometrically determine how the Necropsy goes. That's the ritual Mar-Vell used to destroy his universe's Thanos (destroying Death in the process), it's what he'll use to destroy this Thanos, and it's what Thanos has to use to destroy Mar-Vell if he's going to reset the balance and thwart the Many-Angled Ones. The problem was he spent a page and a half trying unsuccessfully to get the Guardians to scram***, and by the time he abandoned that strategy, Mar-Vell had arrived. There was no time for him to discern what he needed to do. He and Mar-Vell are evenly matched, but the Guardians are massively outclassed power-wise, so the odds they could drive off the attackers long enough for him to figure it out are slim.

The beauty of this is Thanos will get Mar-Vell to show him exactly what he needs to do to Mar-Vell. It can work because he didn't warn the Guardians, and they know how angry he is about being alive again, about how even Drax with an antimatter charge couldn't kill him. They haven't yet seen any indication Thanos can be killed, but if there was something that could do it, a mystical ritual designed to eradicate Death would be a pretty good bet. So they're going to be convincingly distraught, which sells it to the bad guys.

It took me until today to realize Thanos can pull this off because he knows the Necropsy really can't kill him. Prior to that, I figured he was banking on his power being sufficient to escape being the subject of the ritual, and instead sacrifice Mar-Vell.

* Quasar teleported in with the rest, but I didn't see him during the fight.

** Don't feel too bad for Annihilus, though. He was planning to double-cross Thanos, too.

*** It occurs to me now, but it's interesting that he would tell them to leave, rather than simply killing them. None of the Guardians of the Galaxy present have the means to kill him. It's iffy whether Mantis and Cosmo can shut his mind down if they combine their powers. He doesn't think he needs them, and he's Thanos. Yet he gave them the opportunity to run, which would get them out of Mar-Vell's line of fire.

Thanos Always Lives To Serve Death

OK, I'm past my dour mood of yesterday. Actually, my dour mood's focused on things unrelated to comics, so I can be more engaged with the post tonight.

Thanos is coming back to life, after a bit over 3 years in the ground. I'm guessing he'll wind up being the fellow in that other cocoon the Universal Church of Truth has. It would make sense. Adam Warlock, in his current incarnation, emerged from a cocoon, and is/was described as the Avatar of Life. If you were going to describe someone as the "Avatar of Death", Thanos would be a good choice.

What's interesting is why he would be coming back. Maelstrom told Drax that when Drax killed Thanos, the balance between life and death was upset. Life became too strong, and a universe with too much life is as doomed as one with too much death. It will simply meet a different kind of horrific end. A safe bet is that Death is concerned by this turn of events, and sent Thanos back among the living to redress things*.

The other possibility is that Death is well-aware of the world Moondragon described as existing on the other side of the Fault, the one where life ran unchecked. A "cancerverse" was what she called it. The next big cosmic thing looks to be that universe trying to encroach upon the 616-reality. It's life, so it will spread if it can, and a whole new universe would provide considerable room for growth. Death knows this is coming, and is concerned by it. One universe where life won might not be an issue, since there's probably at least one universe where death won as well. This could be the start of a chain reaction, universes becoming choked with life, one after another. Which is bad, not just for Death, but for everyone.

Perceiving that, Death sends her most loyal apostle/servant/fanboy back to combat the threat. Which means Thanos would be helping to defend the 616 against that other universe. Which would make Thanos sort of a good guy. He's probably going to kill lots of people, whether it's needed or not, and he'd likely consider any allies he made expendable, but still. He'll be trying to protect a universe from a different doom than it's used.

Or he could be after Adam Magus and his followers, since they support unfettered growth of life. They'd be a more local, immediate threat, especially with the future we've seen, where the Magus ends up ruling all timelines. I'd be curious to see how Thanos would approach that challenge, considering the odds against him. If he's facing a threat from the other universe, Magus might actually throw in with him, since the enemy isn't likely to just let Magus step in and conquer. But if Thanos is after Magus himself, he's going to have to go through a lot of meat shields. Not that Thanos would care, except for the fact he'd be expending energy better spent killing Adam Magus.

Could he manipulate the Guardians of the Galaxy into helping? or would he play it (mostly) straight with them, explaining exactly why he needs to destroy Magus? Though, if he tells them Adam Magus isn't dead, the Guardians shouldn't need much encouragement to go on the offensive.

* The safest bet is Thanos observed all this, and hating to see Death marginalized, asked to be sent back, to serve her. In which case, death would send him back because he hadn't truly embraced her as it seemed he had by the end of Annihilation.

Someone's Inside There

So Adam Warlock did become the Magus. This is not likely to be a good thing for the Marvel Universe. Still, there's the matter of the cocoon. This Adam Warlock emerged from a cocoon during Annihilation: Conquest, but the Universal Church of Truth has another cocoon just like it, which they've been trying to open ever since they encountered this Adam Warlock. Where the UTC came across this other cocoon is unknown. Who is inside it is unknown. When it first showed up, I figured it was the Magus, but since he's known made the scene through a different avenue, I have no idea.

It could be another Adam Warlock, but that wouldn't explain why the voice of whomever is inside was so angry when the UTCers tried to forcibly open it. Granted, Adam Warlock was disoriented through the early chapters of Conquest precisely because he was forced to hatch before he was ready, so maybe this Adam Warlock is more proactive in making sure that doesn't happen? Or maybe I was right, and it's another Magus. Perhaps his cocoon drifted into the 616 universe through a little tear the Guardians either didn't notice or didn't reach soon enough. Two Maguses (Magi?), it's doubtful they'd get along.

The main thing I had to go off of when I originally guessed Magus was the cocoon, the anger, and the use of the color, since that's Magus' skin color. Hmm, who else is purple? Well, Star-Lord's supposed to run into Kang soon, could he have tried a cocoon as an unorthodox method of traveling backwards in time? Yeah, you're right, that's silly.

Maybe it's Thanos. He's purple, and dead, the last time we saw him. Maelstrom said that Drax killing Dearth's Champion caused an instability in the universe, so could Thanos have come back to serve Death again, and try to even things out? Sure, he wouldn't want to leave Death, but he would if he thought she needed him to. Thanos has interacted with the Magus before (Infinity War), but it might be interesting to see how things went this time, since I imagine both of them have changed since then.

Life Wins Over Death With Death?

Drax, Life's champion succeeded in his purpose by destroying Death's champion, Thanos. So Life triumphed over Death by killing.

Perhaps you've heard the phrase "Death is just a part of life". Well, the scenario above seems to both agree with and refute that statement.

On the one hand, if death was a part of life, life couldn't really defeat it. Your toe is a part of you, if you smash it with a hammer, you didn't really "defeat" your toe. Well, you may have, but you haven't done yourself any favors in the process. So if Life can defeat Death, then they're separate entities. Or if we want to go more, abstract, one's childhood shapes the person they become. You can try to "defeat" whatever effect it had on you, but by doing that, you're verifying the effect, by your response to it.

On the other hand, Life defeated Death through death. Which does imply a connectivity between the two, if Life must beat Death at its own game. It's a loop, Death (acting through Thanos) will kill large numbers of people, so Life (acting through Drax) stops Death by killing. This singular act of Death preserves a much larger proportion of Life. Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one?

It strikes me as rather strange. Wouldn't life triumph through another method, like giving Thanos a hug, and teaching him there are better ways to court Death? Really, flowers, candy, a nice stroll through the stars, something to take Death's mind off the fact that it's Death, and many people have a strong dislike for it. That could become a tad depressing eventually, assuming that a driving force in the universe is allowed to contemplate its existence, rather than simply carrying out its purpose.

Love Changes A Person

I want to talk about something from Annihilation. In Annihiliation #6, Nova has finished off Annihilus, and is passing out from his wounds. Before he does he sees Death and Thanos standing before him, and says 'Better luck next time.' First, was he telling them "too bad, I'm not dying, you'll have to get me some other day", or does he think that Death was looking forward to the success of Annihilus' plan, and thus Richard has thwarted her desires? I'm figuring the former, but whatever. Just throwing that out there.

The main thing I want to discuss is Death's appearance. She appears as an adult woman, ghostly white, pupilless and bald. This is in stark contrast to how she looked the other two or three times she popped up over the entirety of Annihilation. Those times, she was in that Goth child form, with hair, and pupils. So why was she different this time?

One explanation could be that her appearance varies depending on who sees her. So how Nova regards Death is different from how Thanos does. I'm not sure what that says about Thanos, if he saw Death as a child. It could represent that his love for Death is more of a protective, nurturing style, than a "Man loves a woman style". Doesn't seem to fit though. Nova seeing her as a bald adult? Uh, I've got nothing. I'd expect him to see her as the skeleton she was so often portrayed as in the past.

My other theory is that Death looks how she feels like looking, to hell with your perceptions. In that scenario, her transformation to an adult could signify her final acceptance of Thanos, in the manner that he's been striving for so long. All this time, Thanos has been trying to woo her with big, impressive gifts, like planetary conquest, and killing half the people in the universe, and she's appearing before him as a child. Because he still doesn't get it. He thinks he knows what she wants, but he doesn't. He's the child, playing at love.

But by dying, and accepting the finality of that (until someone decides to bring him back), he's progressed, he finally gets it. I suppose it's a sign of maturity to accept that your end will come. Death didn't care that he killed a bunch of people, because all those suckers are going to die eventually anyway. It was about Thanos accepting his own mortality.

Just a thought.

One last comment for the road. Thanos, I'm happy you're finally with Death, but man you've got to ditch the matching outfit. The "shroud with plunging neckline" look is just creepy. You are not a character in an Anita Blake story, get an undershirt!

Separated At Birth?

So, I'm done with the review posts until the end of the month, which means it's time to get back to what this blog does best - raise silly questions based on observations made about comics.


So, what's up with Thanos' Skrull chin? By reading his Nova Corps file in Annihilation: Prologue - and various Internet resources - I know Thanos is a mutated Eternal, and that he more closely resembles a Deviant. I don't have any images of Deviants in front of me, so I don't remember if they have the bumpy chins as well. The pictures I'm seeing on Google seem to say "no", but maybe you can help.

Eternals and Deviants are the result of Celestial tampering with humans, who have also been known to tamper with the Skrulls. So, there is the possibility that the bumpy chins are just something that Celestials like to code into their experiments' genetics, like a practical joke. Can't put it past those Coffee Mug Heads (as Len called them today).

Of course, Thanos also spent some of his youth augmenting his body through bionic implementation, which is suppose could be shorthand for "harvesting Skrull organs", which in turn might provide him with similar traits to those fellows.

I'm kind of fond of the last idea, but it leads me to wonder, would Thanos have the ability to shape-shift in that scenario? Or would he even need Skrull organs to do that? Thanos can use cosmic energy to alter the state of matter, make it shift or change. How hard would it be for him to apply something like that to himself?

I suppose this boils down to me trying to figure what Thanos' "out" was in Annihilation #4. Like he said: 'I am Thanos. I prepare for every eventuality, however improbable.' So I wouldn't be hugely surprised if he altered the location of some of his organs before Drax struck, or altered a less vital organ to take the place of what Drax punched out (I'm guessing his heart).

Of course, on the off chance he really did bite the dust (again), I'm going to start preparing a eulogy for him, to use sometime after Annihilation #6.

Never hurts to be prepared.

He Was Sooo Faking

I think this week is going to be kind of up-down. Happy post, sad post, and so on. Fortunately, today's a happy post, because I'm talking Annihilation #3. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to sort out how I feel about Ms. Marvel #8, and I'm sure that won't be cheerful. Oh well.

The primary thing I wanted to discuss was Ronan's fight with Ravenous, which I would have to say Ronan lost. That kind of surprised me, because power-wise, I've seen him do better. There was a Silver Surfer comic, I from the series that ran through the '90s, issues 12-13. In #12, he finds the Surfer and accuses him of attacking Kree worlds, which the Surfer denies. They fight anyway, and Shiny-Boy eventually wins - with the old "you're focused on me, so I'll have my surfboard fly up and smack you from behind" trick" - and immobilizes the Supreme Accuser. Afterwards, Ronan gets a power boost designed to counter the power and abilities demonstrated by the Surfer. Meanwhile, the Surfer finds a fake Surfer, who actually defeats him.

It turns out the phony is a Skrull, masquerading as Surfer, and he's stuck in this form after a bomb detonated that robbed Skrulls of their shape-changing abilities. Like Super Skrull, he was getting power from various Skrull stations, which made him strong enough to beat the former Herald, and using that power to attack Kree settlements. Ronan catches up, and with his enhancements, kills that Skrull-Surfer, and then proceeds on his way.

As far as I can tell, Ravenous is roughly equal to that version of the Silver Surfer. Certainly, he couldn't defeat the Kirby version, which is what the former Norrin Rand has been restored to. Yet, Ronan could do little more than slow Ravenous down. I suppose one can argue that Ronan's tech is out of date, since he's fallen out of favor with the Kree Empire, or that he was more concerned with protecting his allies, since the blast that ultimately immobilized him hit when he was shielding the Rigellian doctor (that was a Rigellian, I think).

Suffice to say, I'd like to see Ronan get a rematch. Next time, clock him over the head with that hammer, instead of shooting green energy out of it. Thor will tell you (or would, if he were around), few problems can't be solved by repeatedly smashing things with a hammer.

Other thoughts:

- I'm waiting for Thanos' betrayal of Annihilus. As Len pointed out, he wouldn't be Thanos if he didn't double-cross Annihilus, and the line about telling Annihilus "all you need to know" about the Power Cosmic certainly left me inferring that he's withholding critical info. What that may be, I don't know.

- For Quasar's inevitable return, I'm going to predict that when Nova goes after the Big Bug, he breaks that Cosmic Control Rod, and since that seems to be where Annihilus stores energy, all the energy he took when he killed Quasar escapes, and Wendell reforms on the spot. And then everybody will be happy!

- I love how Giffen didn't really bother to explain how Super Skrull came back. Some vague stuff about Ravenous and Firelord's energies washing over him and reviving him, and away we go. I think Giffen's saying "I could give you some long-winded explanation, but we're in a full withdrawal, and the reason would be pure b.s. anyway, so let's just enjoy his return, ok?"

To which I say "Yes sir, Mr. Giffen, sir. I'll believe anything you say. If I had a sister, I'd try to convince her to bear your children. And then she'd beat me up, but anyway..."

- Given Thanos' revelation that the Power Cosmic is something that replaces souls, does that mean Super Skrull might now have cosmic powers, given they probably played some role in his return?

- And what are the odds Marvel will completely ignore that explanation of Power Cosmic the first time that Bendis or Millar (or JMS, I'm stunned he hasn't said that Power Cosmic resides in people because of the Cosmic Totem) wants to screw around with Heralds and such? (My guess? 100%)

- Do you think Peter was flirting with Phyla when he said 'Have we met?' She thought so, I didn't, but I'm usually dense about these things (I had no clue Ultimate Colossus was interested in Ultimate Wolverine until Wizard mentioned it).

Of Villainy

On Thursday, Jack was going through the new Wizard. Specifically, he was reading their "100 Greatest Villains" list to Len and me. I'm going to ignore the obvious pandering of the Joker as #1 (really, when you're not confining yourself to comics, you're including movies and literature, and some crazy-ass clown is #1?), and the fact that they seem to confuse "villain" with "force the protagonist is set against", such as the shark from Jaws. It's a force of nature, with no malice, just trying to survive, even if Spielberg (and Benchley) and try to portray it as having a grudge against the crew of the Orca. This post is about two characters that were in the low twenties, mirrors of each other, one of them one spot ahead of the other. I mean Darkseid and Thanos, with Thanos having been considered superior.

Len seemed to feel this was backwards. I felt that it wasn't, because Thanos had once killed half the universe and become the living embodiment of the rest, which I'm pretty sure Darkseid can't match. Len felt that was the problem: Thanos peaked with Infinity Gauntlet, and he'd never inspire the same level of "Oh, shit!" reaction again, whereas Darkseid could still reach new heights in that regard. Personally, I think Thanos can still be the greater threat, especially written a certain way, and it boils down to what I've interpreted as the difference between the two (the key here, to me, would be to be well-written, which is always dicey).

Darkseid - Darkseid wants to use this fabled "anti-life equation" to bring the whole universe under his heel, ostensibly to bring order to it. The key, of course, is that it be under his control. I doubt that if Tim Drake stumbled across the equation and used it (not sure I would put it past Teen Titans Tim), Darkseid would be all that pleased the universe had been put in order. That gives his scheme more of a personal touch than say, the Borg's "assimilate everyone" plan. To accomplish his goals, Darkseid commands a wide variety of scientists, spies, warriors, underlings, etc. But at the end of the day, he feels he's got time, so if things are being fouled up by say, a certain Kryptonian, he's willing to call it off, and withdraw, and wait for a more opportune moment. It feels very bottom-line.

Thanos - Thanos, at least the one I've read, loves Death. Admires the fact that Death is the ultimate power of the universe, that conquers everyone and everything eventually. He wants to demonstrate, through his actions as its servant, that he's worthy of Death returning his love. How that would work is a mystery to me, but it seems to be his desire, and it's nice to have goals. He typically works alone, but like Darkseid, can create these huge, grandiose schemes, all to prove his devotion to Death. However, he should have a much harder time letting go of those plans if things start to go south.

Because here's the critical difference to me: Because Thanos is motivated by love, which thus far has been unrequited, he's got an air of desperation to him that Darkseid lacks. Thanos has been trying for years to gain Death's affections, and it's never worked. He's still regarded as nothing more than another servant, no different from Cletus Kasady (Carnage), or a supernova, though somewhat more effective. That's going to drive him, push him. Yes, he can't kill half the people in the universe again; the last time he tried that, Death actually turned against him. But perhaps it isn't the quantity, but the quality that would be important. To destroy those who most often defy or escape Death's grasp. That could be various heroes, or it could be some of the more cosmic beings, that have been around for eons.

I think at their best neither character should be used often, one every 3 to 8 years, tops. What you do in the interim, is drop hints of their newest scheme in a few books. Say, in 2008 Marvel has in two different titles - one issue each - something that hints at a greater threat. Doesn't have to point to Thanos, could be attributed to whatever threat was being dealt with in the title at that time (say, the Mole Man). Then in '09, maybe five comics. 2010, ten or eleven comics. Things start to tie together more, you can see it building, maybe some of the heroes can see it too; how it synchs up with what happened in '08. Then in 2011, Thanos (or Darkseid) puts whatever highly complex and convoluted plan they've been unveiling into motion, and the heroes have to scramble to stop it.

Obviously, the villains lose (this is comics after all, good's gotta triumph, if for no other reason than I say so), but I think the difference would be highlighted. Eventually Darkseid would realize that even if he won whatever battle his forces were engaged in, the losses would make the cost too high, or would cost him too much time to succeed in his greater strategy. The day lost, he'd withdraw, though probably not before striking down some brave superfluous character (by 2011, it's probably the current Blue Beetle or the new Batwoman, who're being shoved aside for newer versions), and you wouldn't see him again until, oh 2018 or so, when he kicks his new grand scheme into high gear.

With Thanos though, there wouldn't be withdrawal. Couldn't be. For him, it isn't just the success that's important, it's the attempt. Continuing forward regardless of what's placed before him would be his way of proving that he truly loves Death, irregardless of cost. Of course, this probably means even more deaths of lower-tier characters than the Darkseid story, but that's the way it goes I suppose. He'd have to be battered until he simply couldn't rise to keep going anymore. Then he'd be imprisoned, and use the time to heal, and prepare his next attempt, which you'd see around 2016 (Marvel seems to squish these things together too much, you know).

A few problems here, especially for Thanos, but in no particular order: First, too much creative turnover to guarantee it could continue to build for four or five years. The writer behind it gets fed up with the company and leaves, then where are you? Second, eventually Thanos would get to the point where the only way his story could end, after say three or four of these failures, is him realizing the only way to gain acceptance from Death was to die himself. That's why you spread the appearances out, by the time that happens, it's something like 2035, you've gotten sixty years out of him, you can let him go. Whether it's with lots of other deaths, or just himself, I'd leave up to the creators. Third, Thanos runs the risk off coming off as really pathetic in this, or at least really whipped. You'd have to make sure to show he does enjoy the power he's gaining from this scheme, in addition to his hopes of acceptance by Death. And you'd need someone who could write a pseudo-love story well. How about the person who writes Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane? No, I'm not joking, the love part is important, and needs to be portrayed well.

Alright, I've rambled well off track, and may have talked more about how I think the characters should be, then how they actually are, but let me try to bring this together. The thing that - to me - makes Thanos a greater villain, is passion. There's more emotion in what he does, and while that can also make him easier to defeat, it makes him more driven, and dangerous to the people who are trying to stop him. It's the difference between Winslow Homer painting Gulf Stream, and me doing a paint-by-the-numbers recreation of it. I'd really try, I'd want to do a good job , and I'd be frustrated when I failed, but, even if I did a perfect job, it still wouldn't be as good, because it lacks whatever Holmes felt when he made the original.

Wow, I think that's my first artistic comparison on this blog. Free drinks for all!

Reflections #6 - Annihilation: Prologue

Page 1: Who is the little Tinkerbell sitting on Thanos' shoulder? Thanos and Tinkerbell are incompatible, like Vibe and cool.

Also on Page 1: If Thanos loves Death, and Death is now in the form of a little girl, does Thanos have a Lolita complex? Of course, with him, that's the least of your concerns.

I think Death is trying to convince Thanos to help stop this. . . force (see, I'm still not spoiling it for you, isn't that nice?). See, I believe Thanos is still in love with Death, or at least worships it to an extent. Death knows this, and is taking advantage of the situation, as nigh-omnipitent cosmic being are wont to do with puny mortals. And the way Death phrases things on that first page, well, it's a little disturbing. (Thanos' lines in bold, Death's in italics):

'Something comes. Yes. Something wonderful. Death? I am with him, yes. And? Learn from this one Thanos. This one knows me intimately.'

I'm sure by now you see what I mean about disturbing. But there's something else. It's almost like Death is trying to egg Thanos on. Death's talking about its new boyfriend, how close they've gotten, even though Death probably doesn't even really like the new guy, just to get Thanos off his butt and busy winning Death back, or busy killing the new guy. Whichever, really. And I think it makes sense, in a way.

See, the big threat is out to destroy anything that opposes its existence. And the way this thing sees it, all living things are a threat to its life. While this is true in a sense, mainly if they wind up competing for the same resources, but it's still over the top. Irregardless, the Annhilator seems determined to wipe out all life, which would seriously upset the balance. And Thanos should remember what happens when you do that.

Once upon a time, Thanos had the Infinity Gauntlet, six gems that gave him control over the whole universe. First thing he did? Kill half the people in the universe, to prove his love for Death (now there's a guy who got stuff done. None of this dicking around with multiverses and sentient satellites like Alex Luthor). Still, when Galactus, the Stranger, some Celestials, and a whole bunch of others on that power scale showed up to oppose Thanos, Death sided with them. I believe it did so because he was a threat to all existence, and if you destroy everything, then there is no Death, because there's nothing left to die, you follow?

This new threat isn't quite at that level (after all, Thanos defeated the very essence of the universe itself), but it's still more than capable of wiping out life. And I'd say that once again Death is looking at the big picture, because while everything will die, someday, it can't all die at the same time. To prevent this, Death's trying to get someone who can make a difference to do so. Granted it's in a somewhat obtuse and childish manner, but hey, Death has chosen to masquerade as a child, it might as well use their tactics too.

Addendum: I was looking online, and it seems Thanos wanted to wipe out half the life in the universe at Death's request. Which raises the question of why Death betrayed him during "Infinity Gauntlet". Possible explanation #1: Death felt he was letting his ego get in the way, that it was becoming less about the mission and more about him. Possible explanation #2: Since Death never seems to actually speak to anyone, Thanos was guessing at what Death desired, and being sanity-challenged, Thanos figured it wanted half of all life eliminated.