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The Infinity Gauntlet (2015) #1 [Review]

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Walt

secretwars_infinitygauntlet001Story: Gerry Duggan & Dustin Weaver
Artist: Dustin Weaver
Script: Gerry DUggan
Letterer: Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne
Cover Artist: Dustin Weaver
Production Designer: Idette Winecoor
Assistant Editor: Devin Lewis
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: July 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Particularly given my "Thanos kick" this year, and the nostalgia for me of the original The Infinity Gauntlet series from 1991 (and its followups and the evolution/devolution of Thanos across the 24 years since), this one–as a first issue, at least–was a no-brainer for me on picking up.

I was put off a bit by the Novas on the cover, which I mistakenly saw as a couple generic Novas and the new "Kid Nova" character that replaced the one I knew growing up. Turns out from the interior that I actually would like to see these Novas. I’m also rather put off by what has become an extremely nitpicky sticking-point: the Infinity Gauntlet itself, as I’m most familiar with it, as it was in the ’90s was a left-handed device. Not a right-handed piece, despite recent (the last few years and the Marvel Cinematic Universe) having it as a right-hand thing. I’m not passionate enough on the point to research when the chance actually happened or if it was intentional…I just don’t like it and it bugs me.

The interior, the story of the issue follows a young girl and her family surviving in a dystopian environment. The matriarch of the family disappeared ages earlier, choosing to attempt to protect the world and thus her family by fighting an alien threat before it could hit home. The fact it did leads most of the family to assume the woman’s death, and it’s a point of contention between several characters. While a bit of "hope" is found despite horrific developments, the end of the issue indicates things are about to get much worse.

That this is titled The Infinity Gauntlet and does not "star" Thanos is a huge disappointment for me. I also don’t like that the comics are now following the cinematic universe in referring to Infinity STONES rather than Infinity GEMS. I appreciate this is a different take on stuff, and that we’ll likely HAVE a quest to assemble the Gauntlet by series’ end, but as a first issue I am not overly thrilled.

Visually, this is a solid enough issue, though something about it–for something I went into expecting superheroics and such–seems just a bit "off" for a super-hero comic, and thus my reading experience. There is a slight Runaways vibe for me flipping back through the issue, though, so it’s not entirely out of place for me.

While I am not a fan of losing content in favor of huge one or two page "splash" sequences, this issue’s double-paged title sequence worked very well for me, generic as it is. Basically just the title, credits, and representations of the six Infinity objects (Stones/Gems/whatever) on a starfield. But having that amidst the story itself, as actual story pages instead of a textual title page opening the issue, and being two pages instead of one…reminds me of the title pages of the original 1991 series, and I just enjoy its presence.

I’m not entirely certain what to make of this, but I’m interested in seeing where things go. Rather than just a reimagining of Thanos or the Infinity Gauntlet conflict, this seems like it actually could be the start of something new and truly ongoing, and well worth my having checked this out. I do expect to pick up the next issue, and really hope to enjoy this series in general.

Filed under: 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, MARVEL, Secret Wars (Event) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Adding to the Thanos Collection

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Walt

infinity_gauntlet_number1

I’ve been on quite the Thanos (and Warlock) kick lately, finally "pulling the trigger" on gathering up a number of the collected volumes associated with the characters, with my favorite stories involving them…or at least ones that I’ve known of but not yet read, and want to (and anticipate their becoming favorites).

On Free Comic Book Day 2015, while out with friends, I spotted a simple but extremely effective display in which a copy of the Infinity Gauntlet paperback was propped up next to a giant coin bank of Thanos’ infamous gauntlet sporting some pretty, shiny Infinity Gems (aka "shiny plastic," in this case). I’d seen this before and I’d passed on it…but Free Comic Book Day tends to be an "extra" thing where I’m more likely to try new stuff than usual, or to buy stuff I don’t normally buy in the course of visiting comic shops. Unfortunately, someone a dozen-or-more people ahead of me in line picked it up and claimed it, so I wasn’t able to buy it there and then.

thanos_bank

At another shop I did spot a Thanos bust bank, and while it wasn’t what I’d decided I wanted, I decided to make do with what I could get and bought it. Still Thanos, and he IS sporting the gauntlet…but it’s hardly a "life-size" piece.

After parting ways with my friends, I went to visit my parents and help out with some stuff…and fortuitously put me in range of two other comic shops. The first one did not have the Gauntlet bank…but the second one did.

infinity_gauntlet_bank

And of course, since it had become my most-coveted item for the day and was the entire reason I went to the fourth shop, I bought it.

I don’t specifically collect banks or busts…but they ARE functionally plastic statues, and since I’m not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a single item, I’m quite content with the plastic variety.

thanos_and_infinity_gauntlet_banks

Sadly, I only later realized that whoever OKed the Gauntlet screwed up–THE Infinity Gauntlet was on Thanos’ LEFT hand…while this bank is clearly a right-handed piece. The Thanos bust has it correct.

I actually looked online for some images to see if I was just misremembering or such, and found more recent pieces that DO show Thanos with a right-handed gauntlet…so I’m just gonna go with it on the notion that it’s Starlin‘s Thanos, and that depiction of the character that wields the left-handed one…and a more generic Thanos that uses the right.

As such, the bank isn’t entirely inaccurate, but it does bother me a bit, in that I-didn’t-think-this-sort-of-continuity-detail-WOULD kind of way. But that sort of continuity thing is a discussion for some other post, some other time.

Suffice it to say these are a couple of cool items for my collection, and their coolness to me IS entirely based on Thanos appearing in the Marvel Studios films…and nostalgia for the ’90s Thanos stuff. (Other than the FCBD Infinity issue a couple years ago, I have yet to actually read Infinity and don’t presently have any great intent to seek it out).

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Thanos Annual #1 [Review]

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Walt

thanosannual001Damnation and Redemption

Writer: Jim Starlin
Penciler: Ron Lim
Inker: Andy Smith
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover: Dale Keown & Ive Svorcina
Assistant Editor: Jon Moisan
Editor: Wil Moss
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99

It’s safe to say that Thanos is one of my favorite Marvel characters. However, perhaps that’s something to be further quantified: Thanos as written by Jim Starlin is one of my favorite Marvel characters.

While I have yet to read the entirety of Annihilation or Annihilation Conquest; or the Thanos Imperative, or even the more recent Infinity, I’ve been loosely aware of the character’s recent appearance and involvement in Marvel stuff. I’ve been sucked into buying various issues solely on the appearance of Thanos on the cover, the promise of the character within.

So it was the almost random “notice” of Jim Starlin writing and Infinity Gauntlet artist Ron Lim on art that prompted my purchase of this issue.

Despite the aforementioned favoriteness, it’s been a long time since I’ve read most of what I vaguely recall having once read–maybe 15 years since the original Infinity ____ volumes, a decade since the shortlived “ongoing” series…a fact that’s rather “idealized” Thanos for me, and coated things with that sweet nostalgia of childhood memories that so often props something up IN memory but leads to disappointment upon revisitation.

As such, I was prepared to be quite disappointed in this issue.

I’m not a fan of the standard cover…however, I opted to purchase it over any of the variants I saw. In the short term gratification sense, I probably would have preferred the Ron Lim cover…but I feel strongly enough on the “issue” of variants that I would have been quite disappointed having something LABELLED as a variant rather than the “real” cover. Particularly given the “core” creative team of this issue being Starlin and Lim, it’s truly beyond me why neither of their covers were “the” cover and instead shuffled off as variants. Starlin‘s own cover actually fits the interior story, and Lim‘s is equally as fitting visually…whereas Keown‘s cover is a generic (and not even particularly “iconic” to me) image far more suited as an interior “pin-up” page if not a variant cover instead of being the standard cover.

This issue is essentially a prologue, setup, for the forthcoming graphic novel Thanos: The Infinity Revelation. We open on Thanos upon his first major defeat in Marvel continuity–having lost the Cosmic Cube. Dealing with the massive failure, he is approached by Mephisto, but the intervention of an Infinity Gauntleted avatar of Thanos appears and takes this Thanos on a journey through time and space, as it processes various events and how they play into the younger, defeated Thanos’ future. We’re ultimately given setup for a new event in Thanos’ life, which presumably will be chronicled in the OGN this Fall.

I recall being pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Starlin brushed off several years of less-than-ideal characterization and use of Thanos in Infinity Abyss–that the appearances of Thanos in Ka-Zar, a Hulk Annual, and even a Thor-versus-Thanos arc in Thor’s own title proved to be duplicates of the ACTUAL Thanos; less than perfect at that. So this issue referencing multiple “avatars” of the Infinity Gauntlet Thanos fits right in with past precedent and gave me no pause at all, where it may have with other characters.

As a fairly simple one-off story, this worked well for me, giving me a chance to dip back in with Thanos without feeling like I actually missed anything from Infinity or anything else I didn’t feel lost, and actually quite enjoyed the touches on continuity that I recognized.

Visually, this entire issue was quite a treat. It had a feel of the familiar that I appreciated–and EXPECTED. While familiar, the coloring and such certainly showed through as “modern,” keeping this from feeling entirely like some ’90s throwback. I don’t much like Thanos’ appearance without his headgear, but having seen imagery of him without it before, everything fit. In the various detailing other than noticing how ugly he looks without the headgear, nothing of the art itself jumped out as a distraction. 

I enjoyed seeing familiar scenes and characters, and the only one I really didn’t recognize offhand was what I believe to be a “current” version of Adam Warlock that I’ve not actually read in-continuity yet.

The $4.99 price of this issue is a bit steep; I read the thing cover to cover in under 20 minutes…but then, these days, that’s par for the course to me with a Marvel issue. Steep price point for a quick read, whether it’s good or not.

To best of my knowledge, this is not a follow-up to Infinity, and that story seems to be solely referenced by the “previously” page, so you need not have read any of that to enjoy this. Similarly, if you’re looking FOR Infinity follow-up, this isn’t really gonna meet that expectation. 

However, if you’ve read or are familiar with the Thanos stories from the late-’70s and 1990s to early 2000s, and you’re a fan of Starlin‘s work in general and Thanos in particular, this should be a pretty enjoyable read and whet your appetite for an original graphic novel apparently due out in August this year.

Filed under: 2014, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Thanos | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 2

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Walt

While these would not have been my favorite characters back in ’93 when these cards came out, looking back on them now 20 years later, these are indeed some of my favorite Marvel characters, especially this version of them!

Warlock caught my attention in ’95 or so with the Ultraverse Black September event where he wound up in the Ultraverse, in the Rune series. It was around that time that I “discovered” Thanos and a lot of the other “cosmic” Marvel characters.

It’s harder to “see” the actual full image on the individual cards in binder pages…but this one looks really good digitally, which makes me collectively like this page all the more. It’s also not nearly as “busy” as the first in this set, and works so much better for me.

Of all the characters here, I’m probably least familiar with Morg and Starhawk. The others are quite familiar for me.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Marvel Series IV Revisited, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Supermen, Batman, and Thanos

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Walt

Several weeks ago, I came across the Injustice Superman figure at a local Walmart. The thing looked pretty darned cool, and with the sheer LACK of quality 3.75″ DC figures, splurged and bought it.

dc_supermen_batmandkr

Later, looking for the Injustice Batman figure, I came across this Dark Knight Returns Batman. I opted to go ahead and buy it, figuring it’s way cheaper than trying to track down the older DC Direct figure.

And last week I found the much-less-cooler-looking-than-I-thought-I-remembered Superman in New 52 mode. Still, not wanting to have to HUNT for the thing later or pay a premium online, went ahead and bought it. I mainly hate how small the “S” on the chest is for this figure….pretty much everything else looks fine to me.

While on the figure-hunt, I decided to also get another one I’ve had my eye on for YEARS: the Marvel Select Thanos!

marvel_select_thanos

I’ve been interested in this figure for a number of years now, and happened to see it at a couple different comic shops, for what I believe is “retail price” for the Marvel Select line.

And with the character’s mounting popularity of late, I did not want to get “shut out” of being able to acquire this figure at retail price, so went ahead and finally pulled the trigger on buying him.

I think Thanos is now competing with Galactus to have the most “versions” in my collection–in addition to this, I have the 3.75″ Marvel Universe figure from a couple years ago, and the Thanos from the line based on the ’90s Silver Surfer animated series.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Value of Infinity?

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Walt

Infinity #1 has a $4.99 cover price, and includes 45 story pages–10 of those previously available (to customers, at least) “free” in the 2013 Free Comic Book Day Infinity issue.

The day that I paid cover price for the issue, I also snagged a number of 25-cent bin issues.

Which means that Infinity #1 was an especially poor value to issue quantity and page count!

comicsvalues

For less than the price of Infinity #1, I was able to purchase:

  • single issues of Batman: Year One (Batman #404-407)
  • the 1989 Catwoman mini-series (I believe this was later collected/reissued as Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper)
  • Invisibles #1
  • Spider-Man #1
  • an extra-sized, foil-enhanced Incredible Hulk issue
  • the original first printing of the first Gen13 mini
  • both prestige-format History of the DC Universe issues
  • the foil-enhanced anniversary issues Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and Web of Spider-Man #100
  • the chromium Valiant #0 issues for both Shadowman and Bloodshot

Yet another reason my enjoyment of older/’90s (and even ’80s!) comics is increasing while my enjoyment and interest in current comics continues to wane.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Infinity #1 [Review]

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Walt

infinity001Infinity

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Penciler: Jim Cheung
Inkers: Mark Morales with John Livesay, David Meikis and Jim Cheung
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterers: Chris Eliopoulos with Joe Caramagna
Cover: Adam Kubert & Laura Martin
Assistant Editor: Jake Thomas
Editors: Tom Brevoort with Lauren Sankovitch
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99

I wasn’t going to buy this issue. I physically picked it up from the shelf last Wednesday, and then put it back. It’s a $4.99 issue, which is $1 more than “usual” for most Marvel fare these days (though to its credit it’s a thicker than usual issue, even factoring out full-page “chapter headings”). But Thanos’ face is featured prominently on the cover (it IS the cover image, really!), and darned if I’m not a fan of classic Marvel Cosmic Thanos stuff! So despite other online chatter, I decided to go ahead and buy this Friday after all, in the interest of giving it a fair chance.

On the whole, I’d have to say that it was a passively neutral read for me. I did not particularly enjoy it…but I did not actively dislike it the way I’d somewhat expected to.

We see a world apparently destroyed by Avengers…then move to Titan, to a creature whose existence seems to be solely its mission–Thanos’ bidding. With the success of one mission, it is now sent to Earth after other secrets. Various events unfold–Space Knights face an unwinnable situation, SWORD and Captain America and Hawkeye bust a group of Skrulls hiding out, and we see the current status quo of the Inhumans and their King, Blackbolt. The spy creature delivers a message, and we get a hint of Thanos’ plan.

After not enjoying SHIELD #1 a few years ago, not being able to “get into” his early Fantastic Four issues, and being completely turned off to his Marvel Now Avengers and New Avengers launches, I’ve pretty much decided Hickman‘s work in general just is not for me. As such, his name attached to Infinity was a big red flag…one that somewhat holds true even now, having read this issue.

Despite Thanos’ face on the cover, he may as well not even actually appear in the issue for the near-zero on-panel time he gets. For that alone I’m disappointed with the issue. Additionally, there are plenty of characters that I’m not familiar with that I get the feeling I “should” be to truly “appreciate” this issue/story.

Visually I definitely enjoyed the art overall…I’m not a huge fan of some of the costumes (specifically Captain America and Hawkeye) but they look about as good as I can expect here, leaving me only to dislike the costumes themselves rather than the depiction. As for the many characters I’m not familiar with, I suppose the visuals don’t do them any disservice…they look how they do, and I’m cool with that.

The title Infinity–and featuring Thanos’ face on the first issue and other marketing as well as the Free Comic Book Day issue–seem clearly chosen to draw association with past Thanos-centric stories like The Infinity Gauntlet or Infinity Abyss. As such, the comparison is there, and as a first issue, this does not do for me here what those did in their respective stories. Plus, about 10 pages of this issue are what we were given in that FCBD issue, so that wasn’t even a prologue so much as “just” some random scene over 3 months before the arrival of #1.

While I imagine things will pull together and make sense by the end of the six individual issues of this “main story”/mini…as a single issue, Infinity #1 leaves me let-down. If I come across positive enough reviews of the later issues and/or tie-ins, I’ll likely be interest in a collected volume of the entire story; but as it stands, I don’t plan on picking up any of the subsequent single issues for this event/story.

Filed under: Infinity, Infinity (Event), MARVEL, Marvel Now! | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The ’00s Revisited: Captain Marvel #17

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Walt

captainmarvel017Cheating Death

Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Jim Starlin
Inks: Al Milgrom
Colors: Steve Oliff
Letters: RS/Comicraft’s Wes Abbot
Assistant Editor: Marc Sumerak
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: 2.50
Cover Date: May, 2001

This issue grabbed my attention because of Thanos on the cover. Besides Thanos himself, there’s just something to the cover’s colors that I really dig…it’s so colorful without being gaudy or even all that bright…it’s just really nicely drawn and colored; the generic background sets Thanos, Thor, and Genis off quite well; and the coloring of the logo and such even fit nicely…though I might’ve gone with more of a gold for Captain Marvel to better match Thanos’s gold coloring.

This was another quarter-bin discovery, at least this copy of the actual issue–I’d bought and read it as a new issue back in 2001, and still have that copy…somewhere. So I do vaguely recall some context, both prior and subsequent to this issue, once I got to reading. But even sticking solely to this one issue by itself, I rather enjoyed the Thor/Thanos bickering, and even the dynamic with Rick and Genis and having to be aware of the environments they’re in when the swap places. And of course, the now-iconic “Klang” that I’ve come to appreciate in context of Quantum & Woody from Valiant.

We find Thanos recruiting Thor for some part of a larger plan…of course, Thor is not at all a happy camper, given his recent tussles with Thanos. But he’s convinced of his necessity in things, and goes along grudgingly. Meanwhile, Marlo (Rick’s wife) is being haunted by the ghost of…a friend, or coworker, I don’t recall exactly, she’s just here (the details were in earlier issues of this run). Rick finds himself in a bit of trouble, as the entity that has Thanos recruiting Thor to begin with makes his appearance, and the “big guns” duke it out.

Visually, I very much enjoyed the interior art. Starlin has–for me–defined these characters to the extent that just seeing his name on the cover would have drawn me in. As far as I’m concerned, “Marvel cosmic” doesn’t get much better than sharing involvement from Starlin.

Story-wise, David always did have a great feel for the characters he involved in this series, making them his own, and giving them quite a memorable voice. There are elements from this series that settled into the core of my thinking about comics, and this take on Captain Marvel remains my absolute favorite.

This issue reminds me of how much I’d enjoyed this run on the series, and has me remembering rather fondly other issues, and a bit of a rekindled interest in re-reading the entire run…and certainly wishing Marvel would put out an omnibus collecting this entire first run of PAD‘s Captain Marvel.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Infinity [Checklist]

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Walt

AUGUST 2013
Infinity # 1
Avengers # 18
New Avengers # 9
Avengers Assemble # 18 [tie-in]
Captain Marvel # 15 [tie-in]
Thunderbolts # 14 [tie-in]

SEPTEMBER 2013
Infinity # 2
Infinity # 3
Avengers # 19
Avengers # 20
New Avengers # 10
Avengers Assemble # 19 [tie-in]
Captain Marvel # 16 [tie-in]
Infinity Heist # 1 [tie-in]
Infinity: The Hunt # 1 [tie-in]
Mighty Avengers # 1 [tie-in]
Nova # 8 [tie-in]
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up # 3 [tie-in]
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up # 4 [tie-in]
Thunderbolts # 15 [tie-in]

infinity_checklist_01a

infinity_checklist_01b

source: promotional postcard (pictured above)

Filed under: Checklists, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Infinity FCBD 2013 [Review]

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Walt

infinityfcbd2013Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Penciler: Jim Cheung
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Assistant Editor: Jake Thomas
Editors: Tom Brevoort with Lauren Sankovitch
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $0.00

Given my history with Thanos, Adam Warlock, the Infinity Gauntlet (and the Infinity Gems’ involvement in the Ultraverse)…even though I REALLY don’t want to get sucked into another Marvel Event, I wasn’t about to ignore the Infinity issue Marvel‘s got out as one of the Free Comic Book Day 2013 offerings.

The cover has a rather iconic look about it, a shattered pane falling away to reveal Thanos’ grin behind it–and images of a bunch of characters from around the Marvel Universe looking rather disconcerted.

The story is fairly simple, as we’re introduced to some aliens, including one whose latest mission was a success. The alien is given another task, which it sets about accomplishing quickly. A “tribute” is extracted from another alien people–who are but thousands where they were once millions. This tribute is presented to Thanos. And on Earth, we learn that tribute will be demanded there as well, or the world will burn.

This issue certainly serves its purpose–to be a “teaser” of sorts, something within the main story of Infinity yet probably not absolutely essential to understanding the story. This reeks of “prologue,” and other than seeing Thanos, I was honestly not very interested here. I don’t consciously know anything of any of these aliens or their worlds. I’ve yet to get through all of Annihilation, Conquest, or the Thanos Imperative, so other than tidbids of spoilery stuff, I’m not really current with Thanos…but this issue doesn’t hold up, considering I’d expect from the cover to either have more of Thanos himself, or of the general Marvel Universe presented.

The issue also reprints a Thanos backup story from Logan’s Run #6 in which Thanos once more survives the wrath of Drax the Destroyer. This was more to my liking, in that at least the focus was on Thanos, not a bunch of characters I didn’t know. Also, I’d never read this particular Thanos story, so it was still new material to me.

The art of the main story is pretty good, and quite to my liking. Thing is, I’m more interested in a story that I enjoy than I am pretty pictures, so it doesn’t make up for the lackluster story snippet. Meanwhile, the art from the Logan’s Run backup at least looks like classic Thanos, and while not entirely to my liking, is easily forgiven as a product of its time.

All in all…I’m not at all impressed with this “preview” or “prologue” or whatever-the-heck-it-is for Infinity. However, as a free issue, this is certainly worth it, if only for the reprint of the classic Thanos story.

Filed under: Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), Infinity, MARVEL, Marvel Now! | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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