Customer Reviews

Infinity Gauntlet TPB

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When the Infinity Gauntlet saga originally happened, I was in my comic collecting prime. I missed out on most the saga, sadly, because I was in an area where it was quite hard to get a good selection of comics. I bought a few tie-in issues from other series and sort of pieced together what was going on. The only thing I remember is knowing the Infinity Gauntlet was coming in advance, because an issue of Quasar (my favorite comic at the time. Please don't laugh at me about that.) showed Thanos with the Gauntlet, as he attempted (unsuccesfully) to destroy a super-powerful villian you've never heard of called Maelstrom. (If you care at all, the Quasar series was called Cosmos in Collision and ended with the universe nearly being destroyed. I really wish they'd reprint that one as well, but Quasar has never been, and likely never will be, popular enough to warrant something like that.)

This collection, though, is great. All of the original issues of Infinity Gauntlet in one. All the "intergalactic biggies" are there like Uatu (The Watcher), Galactus, Eternity, Death, Living Tribunal and a few more. (Noticeably absent are Infinity and Oblivion.)

I particularly enjoyed the scene where all the galactic biggies ganged up on Thanos and started beating him senseless. Or they tried to, anyway.

As far as I know, this is one of Marvel's earliest multi-comic title sagas. (Secret Wars came before it, though. And DC also had done Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985.) Whereas Secret Wars was kind of disappointing, Infinity Gauntlet showed how it should be done. Not bloated and taking well over a year to play out (as CoIE did) and not having a misuse of a good idea (as Secret Wars did), Infinity Gauntlet was nearly as perfect as a concept like this can be.

So, now all I'm waiting for is a graphic novel of it's followup story (happening a few years later on), Infinity Crisis. (Not nearly as good, but gives a certain closure and definitely ends the chance of anymore Infinity storylines. Well, as definite as you can get in the Marvelverse, anyway.)

You want true heroism, courage, and raw power? Then pick up The Gaunlet, this is the story that tells you why Captain America is so cool, how important Thor really is, and just how scary evil can be. The heroes of earth put everything on the line to save not only their world, but the universe as well. Drawn perfectly by first George Perez and then by Ron Lim, this is one of Marvels shining moments.

I'm a big fan of comic writers taking a stab at what could be considered the final story for a character. I've endured a never-ending loop of stories about my favorites, and every so often, it's nice to see someone take their shot at wrapping it up. Batman has "Dark Knight Returns", the Avengers have "The Last Avengers Story", and in 1990, Thanos kinda-sorta received his, courtesy of writer Jim Starlin and artists George Perez and Ron Lim. To many readers, THE INFINITY GAUNTLET established Thanos as one of the major villains in the Marvel Universe, leading to bigger and better things, but I look at it in another way. I feel that THE INFINITY GAUNTLET can serve as the perfect "last Thanos story", and I prefer it as such, instead of it leading to more stories, such as Infinity War and Infinity Watch.

THE INFINITY GAUNTLET is a continuation of a story that originated in both the regular Silver Surfer series and the THANOS QUEST limited series. The gauntlet is perhaps the most powerful item in the Marvel Universe, as it bestows upon the wearer absolute control over time, space, power, the soul, the mind, and reality. Thanos obtains the gauntlet in order to finally win the hand of his love, Death, through the elimination of half the population of the entire universe. A group of Marvel heroes, one villain, and a host of cosmic characters, come together to stop him, and he fends them off with the sort of casual anoyance that any god would. Adam Warlock, however, is onto Thanos' game and has his own tricks up his sleeve. Warlock's true plan leads to a conclusion that I never expected in one of Jim Starlin's super-duper cosmic epics, but it makes sense and is an ironic finale for a character like Thanos. If only it could have stayed that way. In any case, pick up this book and prepare for a great read.

I grew up reading the author's Warlock series reprints in the eighties. Those were masterful and powerful stories. The series climaxed with a cosmic battle involving the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Spider-man and Warlock. If you're a teenage brat it doesn't get any better than that.

Until this story. Starlin writes this one so deftly and so utterly over the top that you walk away stunned. The premise? The dark demi-god Thanos controls the fate of the universe with his Infinity Gems. The players include X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Warlock, Dr Strange. If you like to see things blow up, Starlin delivers. (The universe becomes an immense battlefield for the alien gods.) If you want to see someone at last handle the psychology of a super-villain in a convincing manner, Starlin delivers. (Why is Thanos so bad? Jim answers loud and clear.) And if you want a plot that's both formulaic but new, this one delivers. (Like Star Wars.)

I also enjoyed the Infinity War series, so I hope Marvel reprints that one.

Upon reading this incredible book again, I realized that this book is timeless. It has a style that does not require a reader to know anything about comics prior to reading this book. If you are looking to get a young person into comics this is an excellent way to start. Jim Starlin is in rare form and paints an excellent picture of angst and despair, and finally joy and astonishment. The book shows you the majestic quality of the Marvel heroes, and their epic struggle to safe guard their world against even the most impossible odds. This book displays the greatest show of courage and strength ever seen in comics. As the reader, you are given a chance to cheer, cry, and stand in total awe of all the visual magnificence dilivered in rare form by both George Perez (The Teen Titans, Avengers) and Ron Lim (X-Men 2099, Mutant X). If you want to see Marvel at its best, The Infinity Gaunlet is the best possible example.

This set of stories is definitely among the best works of fiction ever to reach the printed page! The most important characters such as Captain America, Silver Surfer, and Thanos are handled flawlessly. The entire first five sections just keep building the suspense and you are wondering the entire time "how are the good guys going to win?" and we find out in the sixth. This book shows why Marvel comics are the best because we care about the characters. The book also has Captain America's defining moment: at the end of the battle only Cap stands. He walks up to the God-like Thanos. His shield is destroyed and Thanos brings his fist towards him. Captain America stands there, defiance to the last. The look in his eye, captured perfectly by Ron Lim says it all. In short, if you are a fan of comics, or even if you aren't and want to see why so many of us feel like the characters are friends and, in some cases like Captain America, even good role models, then buy this book!

When this originally came out i was big into the Silver Surfer, and read most anything with him in it. Then out of what seemed nowhere came Thanos. I'd never seen him before and didn't know his past with Captain Marvel and his love of Death. (the entity and embodiment) I only needed to read a couple surfer comics and the first two issues of this series to realize Thanos is the most evil and interesting villain in the marvel universe. In this collection he has attained god-like powers. (as told in the silver surfer trade "rebirth of thanos") Hes used his powers to thin out half the universes population. Whats left of the mightiest heroes earth has assembles with Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer to confront Thanos once and for all. And the result is one of most climactic battles ever put to print. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you like marvel and space oddesys it seriously DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS. Its been around 15 years since this came out and i can still pick it up and read it any time. You'll be glad you bought it.

As a kid I was an avid comic book collector and one of my favorites was the Infinity Gauntlet/Wars series. At the time, the Infinity Wars was out at new stands let me able to collect the short series. However, I was desired to read the prequel to it. I did find and buy the Infinity Gauntlet #1 but never invested in more.

Move ahead some 15 years later; I decided I needed to get to know the Infinity Gauntlet story. It is great there was a graphic novel of the entire series in one book at a discounted rate. I finally read through the story and must admit it lived up to all my imaginations with one exception.

That exception is the non-inclusion of the prequel Thano's Quest into this which would have made it much more complete.

The artwork is great as you get to see many, many popular Marvel Universe characters duke it out against the almighty Thanos. You will also see godlike entities in the cosmic universe that are not typical in the X-men, etc books.

Overall, this book would have been perfect if it included that Thano's Quest; so I can only give it 4 stars out of 5.

I enjoyed this piece as I'm a Thanos fan. The ending was great, with good reasoning...not one of those "you're forced to believe it" endings. I enjoyed the cast of characters, although there wasn't much devlopement shown except within the core characters. If you enjoy anything on the cover, you should really like this book. All in all I loved it.

Although I enjoyed Infinity Gauntlet, I was more than a little disappointed at its similarity to Dreadstorm and the Original Thanos Saga, as well as the subsequent Infinity War. All Starlin Thanos stories have the same characters and mostly doing the same thing. Here, Thanos is still pining for Death, and trying to destroy the Universe and Warlock is back to trying to stop him with the help of the Avengers and other Heroes. The Heroes all get zapped, but Thanos still loses. Most of the characters are completely irrelevant to the story and are just plot devices to be knocked down by Thanos. It's really really derivative of the earlier stuff. Worse, Thanos seems like a pathetic wuss when he is trying to impress Death, it seems to me that this relationship worked better in the original saga, but I may be remembering it better than it was. This story really did not hold up.