20 best superhero comics to read after Infinity War

5. Marvel: The End

There are plenty of tropes that are unique to the world of superhero comics. You’ve got the endless resurrections of previously dead characters, thanks to magical realms, pocket dimensions, and robot consciousnesses. There are capes and masks and tight costumes. And, always, big bad guys will eventually turn good, even if for a short while. Magneto did it for the X-Men. Thanos did it for the galactic side of things, too.

It’s hard to blame him. Being a near-ageless space being can get boring after a while. Even the varied delights of villainy can’t last forever. So, why not try being good?

Really, it’s not just for amusement. Eventually, after the events of the Infinity trilogy (The Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, and Infinity Crusade), Thanos starts to rethink his ways. It all comes to a head in Marvel: The End, which was eventually reprinted as Thanos: The End.

In the six-issue series, we learn that a group of explorers discovers the Heart of the Universe, another ultra-powerful MacGuffin. They decide to give it in trust to different people throughout history. When the Heart of the Universe makes its way to Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, however, it all goes awry.

Akhenaten jumps ahead in time in order to take over our own era. The vast majority of Earth’s heroes die at his hands. Even Doctor Doom can’t get it together long enough to defeat the evil pharaoh. However, it could be that Thanos, along with Captain Marvel and the Defenders, has a chance to save the world. It’s a refreshing turn for one of Marvel’s central evil figures.