Thanos…as you’re never seen him before?
Some of Marvel’s biggest bad guys are not the forces of ultimate evil they used to be.
Doctor Doom is trying to follow Tony Stark’s legacy in Infamous Iron Man.
Now the Mad God of Titan is under siege but not in the way you might expect.
Thanos #1 arrived with a thunderous crash like the Mad God’s boots landing on a doomed planet. Jeff Lemire (Extraordinary X-Men, Old Man Logan) and Mike Deodato team up for a big new chapter in the life of the cosmic menace.
Picking up after the villain’s escape from Earth after Civil War II, the first issue saw the return of other alien characters, a look at an infamous sector of space and set up a shocking new status quo for the classic villain.
If you’re a fan of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers/Infinity epic you will definitely want to pick this issue up.
Before we continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read Thanos #1 yet stop reading now.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
On a moon in a sector of space hailed as the Black Quadrant is the galactic headquarters of the Black Order, a ruthless army of mercenaries and monsters who followed Thanos on his quest to Earth during the Infinity event.
Thanos invaded Earth to find and kill his son Thane who was living among a secret tribe of Inhumans. The son turned on his father trapping him in a living death of stone but the villain eventually escaped
Corvus Glaive once served Thanos and now rules the Order and Quadrant and his power has expanded. He’s living like a King until his former master returns and ultimately convinces Corvus he’s better off killing himself than face the death designed by Thanos.
Thanos is back on his throne.
Meanwhile a former Avenger returns. Starfox aka Eros is the brother of Thanos. Starfox once seemed like a comical character and hard to believe he’s shares a parent with the Mad God of Titan. Starfox became a controversial character of his use of power to seduce women.
Starfox is in what could be called an alien orgy when he’s confronted by self-proclaimed “Champion of the Universe” named Tryco Slatterus. Slatterus appears to be a mercenary/bounty hunter/errand man working for Thane. The son of Thanos has given Tryco a challenge and summoned Eros to help him…kill Thanos.
Thanos worships Death, who appears in the form of a woman in comics canon. The Mad God has courted her over the decades with deadly gifts including the use of the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half the universe’s population.
Is Death cheating on her beloved admirer?
Death is in the arms of Thane in the ruins on Titan, homeworld of Thanos, Eros and the Eternals. Thane knows his father is back and building up his power base and confessed his power is weakening.
But Death shares a secret with Thane (and us thanks to Lemire and Deodato!)
The unimaginable is happening to the “God” of Titan.
Thanos is dying.
As Death utters her secret, the final panel reveals Thanos with his helmet off and a bloody face.
As enemies unite to rid the universe of Thanos once and for all…it might be something else that kills the villain obsessed with Death.
Is this a fatal injury? Is Thanos dying from a disease?
Is he dying from exposure to Terrigen like the mutants of Earth? The Inhumans and X-Men are at war over the Terrigen Cloud which creates new Inhumans but kills mutants. Thanos was at ground zero when Black Bolt detonated the Terrigen Bomb. Thane’s new Inhuman powers were activated after Terrigen exposure. Lemire is co-writing Death of X, IvX so Thanos could be part of this grand plan.
Is this terminal condition behind Thanos attempting the seize the Phoenix Force and the power of resurrection?
If you’re up for a new clash of morally challenged protagonists with a cosmic backdrop aka (bad guys vs badder guys!) then definitely pick up Thanos #1 and watch for this book’s ties to the bigger threats in the Marvel Now.
By Editor