Josh Brolin as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Screen grab via Marvel Entertainment YouTube
Did Avengers: Infinity War spark your interest? Read on for 20 of the best superhero-themed comics to read after finishing the latest Marvel movie.
Are you still thinking about seeing Avengers: Infinity War, or do you already have your tickets purchased? This massive Marvel movie is likely to make a big splash, not least because it seems like every single superhero ever seen on screen is going to be there.
Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it really does look like a fair number of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) people are going to be there. There’s a bearded Captain America, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), and alien god Thor, to begin with. Even the Guardians of the Galaxy, the roguish superhero team who had previously been sequestered to space, will join in.
What kind of force will make all of these bickering superheroes and at least one smart-talking raccoon join together? Oh, nothing more than the very embodiment of death.
What’s the deal with Thanos?
That might be overstating it somewhat, given that big bad Thanos is more properly described as a despotic villain who is thoroughly devoted to death. He’s been built up over many years now, appearing in several of the end and mid-credits scenes that are now de rigueur for Marvel films.
Previously, Thanos did little more than act menacingly and float around in space while the main action was going on elsewhere. Now, however, he’s set to take on a much more involved role. That’s because he’s about to collect all of the Infinity Stones. Remember that mega-powerful rock in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie? The one that blew up the Collector’s fancified junk shop? That’s just one of them.
Now, imagine all six Infinity Stones put together. That should be pretty terrifying, and Thanos agrees. He even has an Infinity Gauntlet with six settings, all ready to go and help him wreak havoc once complete. This definitely sounds like an occasion for throwing all of your superheroes at a single, massive threat.
Whether you’ve seen the Infinity War film or not, it’s possible that you’re interested in the wider themes of weird galactic threats and spacefaring heroes. Thankfully, there’s a huge canon of comics waiting for you to explore. Read on for 20 of the best superhero tales to read after you’ve finished watching Avengers: Infinity War.
20. Infinity War
I mean, duh, right? Even if you’ve already watched the film version of Infinity War, there are still plenty of reasons to go back to its printed predecessor. Really, Avengers: Infinity War is based on multiple comics, but it doesn’t hurt to start with the basics.
The Infinity War comic is actually a limited series featuring Adam Warlock, the engineered superbeing hinted at in a mid-credits sequence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Of course, Adam Warlock has been around for far longer and has a deeper history on the printed page. He was created by members of the Enclave, a small group of super scientists who want to create the “perfect” human being for their own purposes.
Like any newly formed being, the freshly de-cocooned Warlock rebels. Not having a childhood or real parental figures means that Warlock hasn’t had the chance to develop important things like, oh, restraint or empathy. Eventually, he manages to get it together and is more-or-less a good guy in the Marvel universe.
For this volume, you essentially need to know that Warlock has taken the super powerful Infinity Gauntlet containing all of those shiny, dangerous Infinity Stones. He attempts to get rid of his evil double, Magus, but screws it up in quick order. That’s when Thanos — yes, that Thanos — comes to Warlock’s assistance. This uber bad guy shows up to help Warlock finally conquer Magus.
Now, there are some rumors that Avengers: Infinity War is actually going to follow the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. Still, it’s worth wading through some of the back catalog references and intense mythology of Infinity War to get a good sense of both Thanos and the terrible power of the Infinity Gauntlet.
19. The Infinity Gauntlet
Given how much the marketing material for Avengers: Infinity War has stressed the ultimate confrontation between the Avengers (and everyone else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, apparently) and Thanos, Infinity Gauntlet is a darn important comic to turn to in the search for backstory. In fact, this story arc is so important that it became the basis for all future crossover arcs in Marvel and, arguably, the larger world of comics.
In this 1991 six-issue limited series, writer and artist Jim Starlin returned to Marvel after introducing Thanos nearly 20 years earlier. By the way, he also helped introduce the character of Drax the Destroyer. Though movie Drax is arguably different from the comics version, you still might want to send a thank you card or good thoughts in Starlin’s direction.
At any rate, Starlin had been working towards the high point of a major comics story cycle featuring Thanos. Infinity Gauntlet is that climax. In the story, Thanos has finally collected all six of the Infinity Stones and fixed them to the fabulous and titular gauntlet. Now, with the combined force of all these jewels, Thanos is primed to rule the universe.
Thanos might be excited about this prospect, but practically no one else is jumping up and applauding the idea. It’s not like a bloodthirsty nihilist god is reassuring. Indeed, it’s so upsetting that most of the Marvel superheroes team up to fight the newly powerful Thanos. What happens next is a gloriously knock-down, drag-out fight staged in the cosmos, complete with some very excellent Captain America moments.
18. Kree/Skrull War
Not every single story included here has to center on Thanos. There are plenty of themes in Avengers: Infinity War that are sure to echo many other comics in the sprawling Marvel canon. Do even a little bit of digging, and you’ll see that there are a plethora of galactic conflicts. Even better, those wars, scuffles, and spats all somehow end up on Earth in at least every other issue.
While the Kree/Skrull war saga has plenty of somewhat silly superhero moments, it also has more than enough uncomfortable parallels to real-world events. Story writer Roy Thomas has said that the plot reflects how some small communities, such as islands off the Japanese coast, suddenly found themselves caught up in World War II without so much as a say in the matter. Only, in this case, it’s a massive interstellar war between two different non-human species.
In the story arc, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are abducted by the shapeshifting Skrulls. The trio is taken into space, where the Skrulls force Marvel to build a superweapon. The said weapon will, if deployed correctly, decimate the Kree species. This is doubly awkward when you remember that Captain Marvel himself is Kree.
Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers head into space to rescue their teammates. Altogether, our protagonists have to fight ancient prejudices and — seriously — dangerous cows. At least they can team up with the superpowered Inhumans and some ghostly Golden Age heroes in the mind-bending climax of the story arc.
17. The Legendary Star-Lord
It’s easy enough to think that an Avengers movie will feature only the Avengers. However, even a cursory look at the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War will show that nearly every superhero with an ounce of name recognition is going to take part in the battle. Given that Infinity War must at least partially take place in space, it’s easy enough to include the Guardians of the Galaxy.
In the odd event that you may need a refresher course, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a loose collection of spacefaring superheroes. They deal with a number of cosmic threats, from the Skrull to the Kree, to creepy Infinity Stone collectors, to Thanos himself.
The cinematic team isn’t the original lineup that debuted on the comics page, however. In the very first 1969 iteration, the group included Major Vance Astro, Martinex T’Naga (a crystalline entity from Pluto) and Charlie-27, a soldier from Jupiter. The team also included a very, very different version of Yondu, apart from the common concept of the blue skin.
The Guardians change
Eventually, the comicsverse shifted in its myriad complex ways to the team we know and love today — Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and the beloved tree-like being, Groot. Supposedly, they came up with the name “Guardians of the Galaxy” after finding a frozen Vance Astro floating about in the depths of space.
As director James Gunn and company have shown us, the Guardians of the Galaxy work best when they are presented in a way that is equal parts goofy and self-deprecating, with just a bit of seriousness thrown in the mix. Star-Lord (a.k.a., Peter Quill) is perhaps most appealing when he’s presented as a bit of a doofus (or a lot, as the case may be). If that appeals to you, then the ongoing series The Legendary Star-Lord is right up your alley.
16. Captain Marvel
If we’re going to discuss Thanos in the world of Marvel comics, then we really need to discuss his creator, Jim Starlin. As mentioned earlier, Starlin is a writer and artist who, along with writer Mike Friedrich, introduced the Thanos character in 1973. After that first appearance in Iron Man #55 (February 1973), Thanos went on to dominate much of the Marvel canon as a genuinely creeping and imposing baddie.
Also, Starlin came up with the name “Thanos” after jumbling up the word Freud used for humanity’s death — the Greek “Thanatos.” Sure, it’s a mistake, but a cool one with a very metal theme to it. Even better, Starlin only came up with Thanos after filling in as a penciller on that fateful Iron Man issue.
But Starlin didn’t begin and end his comics career with Thanos. As much as Thanos has come to represent the ultimate bad guy in the MCU, there are plenty more characters of Starlin’s to contend with.
During his career, Starlin also heavily revamped the characters of Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel, the Kree superhero who effectively carried the weight of the Marvel name on his shoulders for decades. He also created or co-created original characters that will seem very familiar indeed to modern readers and viewers. These include not just Thanos, but Drax the Destroyer and Gamora herself.
Is that enough to convince you that Jim Starlin’s work deserves a look? If so, check out Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection. The volume collects some of Starlin’s best work, including the key introduction of Thanos.
15. Planet Hulk
The Hulk is a bit of a problem, to say the least. Bruce Banner himself seems like an okay guy, apart from his dangerously lax lab safety procedures. Hopefully, he’s learned a valuable lesson there. Otherwise, though, Banner is generally a thoughtful, brave scientist who’s proven more than valuable as part of the Avengers.
But Banner is only one half of the equation. The other half is a huge, green muscular beast-man with a serious anger management problem. And it’s not just us puny humans that are afraid of the Hulk. Other, perhaps more powerful groups, are just as worried. That’s why the Illuminati decided to send him into space.
Wait, Illuminati? Well, you’re not supposed to know about them. They’re an intensely secretive group of powerful heroes that include Doctor Strange, Professor X, Reed Richards and the Inhumans’ leader, Black Bolt. They manage to get Hulk into a rocket, where they shoot him off into space. Alas, however, the Civil War event happens almost immediately. Everyone is so caught up in the dramatic events that they don’t really notice when Hulk’s rocket gets knocked off course.
The Hulk ends up on a planet where gladiatorial combat is incredibly popular. He quickly becomes the best and most popular gladiator on the world. Eventually, however, he feels that being a mega-popular sports star isn’t enough. Hulk teams up with the other gladiators to defeat the planet’s menacing Red King.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because significant threads from the Planet Hulk story were used in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok film. For better or worse, however, Planet Hulk is a bit more serious and definitely lacking in Jeff Goldblum-like characters. However, it’s a good way to include the Hulk in the cosmic goings-on of the Marvel universe.
14. Thanos vs. Mephisto
Despite the fact that this match occurs in Silver Surfer #45, the titular character is unconscious for practically the entire issue. As a result, Thanos is our main guy, taking over another character’s series in a pretty satisfying way.
It all starts when the Silver Surfer and Drax the Destroyer confront Thanos. The only problem is that Thanos has recently acquired the full complement of Infinity Stones. Thus, he has a powered Infinity Gauntlet. Drax and the Silver Surfer’s souls are promptly taken by Thanos and stored in the Soul Gem on the Infinity Gauntlet. So much for that, then.
However, that’s just the start of the issue. When Thanos heads back to his ship, he discovers that space pirate and his maybe-relative Nebula is still alive, but badly wounded. If that’s not a bad enough Monday for Thanos, he then has to deal with the sudden appearance of Mephisto.
So far, Mephisto has not shown up in the MCU, and so might not be familiar to all fans. Basically, he’s a demon who rules over an extra-dimensional pocket us puny humans call “Hell.” It’s not the actual Christian Hell, or indeed the hell of any other religion, but it’s close enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Anyway, Mephisto finds it useful to pretend it’s an actual hell in order to gain a bit of power over scared mortals.
When he’s not busy trying to break the will of the Silver Surfer, Mephisto is also trying to mess with Thanos. In this issue, he attempts to persuade Thanos that everything’s fine now and that he only wants to serve the newly powerful Thanos. When Mephisto rather predictably tries to steal the Infinity Gauntlet, he’s in for a rough surprise.
13. Magus Saga
In the least flattering terms, Adam Warlock is a lot like a teenager suffering through an especially turbulent growing up period. It’s not entirely his fault, as in many other dramatic high school processes. He was created by a group of scientists in order to act as a kind of weapon or tool and emerged from a kind of man-sized cocoon. As such, he doesn’t have any childhood memories to draw upon or family figures to dispense wisdom or advice. He just emerged, fully formed, and without any of the emotional regulation that you would desperately hope for.
After his first appearance in 1967, Warlock (also known as Him or Adam, naturally enough) went into a semi-retirement in writers’ minds. It’s not that he was universally despised or played out. He just… sort of faded away.
That would have been plenty sad if it weren’t for Jim Starlin. Yes, it’s true that four different people deserve credit for Adam Warlock’s creation — Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. However, it was Starlin’s work on the Magus Saga that really revived the character.
So, what did Starlin do?
The Magus Saga
In the Magus Saga (which runs in Strange Tales #178-181 and Warlock #9-11), Warlock finds himself set against the creepy Universal Church of Truth. This is a highly diverse religious empire that sounds kind of nice at first — species-wide cooperation is pretty nice in this universe — but gets dark, quick. Eventually, the Universal Church of Truth becomes of the biggest enemies of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
To make things even worse, Warlock discovers that the head of this nefarious church is … himself. Sort of. See, the founder of the Universal Church of Truth is the Magus, the dark aspect of Warlock. This particular version of the Magus is an older version of Adam Warlock that has turned evil and traveled back in time. The Magus is trying to shape the younger Warlock to become himself. It’s a dramatic story with plenty of surprises, including an oddly helpful Thanos.
12. Angela
Now, for all that we’re dealing with evil god-like beings and a fancy glove full of shiny stones that could ruin all of existence, the Marvel galactic stage isn’t too grim. There are goofy Star-Lords and cranky sentient raccoons, for one. Even when Captain America is delivering a super serious speech about saving Earth or something, there’s a certain kind of lightness to it all, a sense that everything will turn out fine and no one will really die.
The Spawn universe, however, is very different. There’s not much time here to get into it, but it involves a man who goes to hell, makes a deal with a demon, and becomes an anti-hero while struggling to save his own soul. Not exactly puppies and rainbows.
Angela is a bounty hunter from heaven who is sent to hunt down Spawn. She later befriends him and then is gruesomely dispatched by a demon. Since Marvel technically owns the rights to her character, she was “resurrected” in the Marvel universe as a disaffected daughter of Odin. Close enough, right?
Angela moves
Thankfully, Angela escapes the grimdark Spawn universe for a somewhat friendlier one containing the Guardians of the Galaxy. In fact, in Guardians of the Galaxy #4-10, she joins up with the space-faring superhero team. It’s not so strange for a vicious, quasi-supernatural bounty hunter to join up with a team of vagabonds, at the very least. Plus, she gets a very cool dramatic entrance into the Earth-616 universe, complete with cool fight and chase scenes.
Angela often seems a bit like she’s just jumped off of the front cover of a particularly dramatic 1980s metal band album cover. You wonder if she’s followed around by a Led Zeppelin soundtrack at all times. To that end, she also dresses like a metal babe, with as little clothing as possible. Thankfully, however, her growing backstory and characterization are helping to make up for that trope.
Oh, and there are plenty of good moments where the Guardians of the Galaxy, in between making heart-eyes at Angela, make fun of Tony Stark. Yes, Tony Stark briefly joins the team and receives a heaping portion of humility. The smartest man on the Avengers is often talked down to by Rocket, the wise-cracking, hyper-intelligent raccoon. And if you thought that he could redeem himself via a little romance, think again. Gamora has him outclassed in that department, too.
11. Thanos
So far in the MCU, Thanos hasn’t received much in the way of a backstory. He’s mostly seen sitting around on his space throne, grumping at people and looking an awful lot like Josh Brolin. While you’ve surely seen some of his backstories in Avengers: Infinity War, it’s likely that nothing in the movie history of Thanos can add up to the deviously, deliciously complicated one for his comics counterpart.
It goes something like this: Thanos is born to two Eternals, members of a race of hyper-intelligent, super strong beings (seems like the galaxy is lousy with them these days). Young Thanos looks different and draws the ire of everyone around him, including his own parents. He starts off as a pacifist but eventually feels drawn to nihilism and death worship.
That death worship gets even more intense when he encounters the physical embodiment of death, creatively named Mistress Death. As an adult, Thanos sort of putters around as a scientist, pirate and galactic baby daddy with many different children. When Mistress Death shows up again, he tries to impress her by killing almost everyone in his family. He also commits genocide against his own people. While he’s at it, Thanos also starts planning to gain power over the entire universe, eventually looking for the Infinity Stones and Infinity Gauntlet.
Like many a comic book protagonist or villain, Thanos has died at least a couple of times. He seemed really dead for a while, but a recent series, Thanos (2016), has brought him back as more of an old-fashioned bad guy. Writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mike Deodato work together on the series, which is as good a place as any to get started on the Thanos drama.
10. The New Gods
Yes, we all know that Jack Kirby’s New Gods series is a DC Comics property. But are we really going to get bogged down in all of that Marvel vs. DC nonsense? Honestly, good comics are just good comics. And if you’re looking for a space-themed comic with vast subjects and some truly weird characters, you can’t go too wrong with the New Gods.
The New Gods were created and designed by Jack Kirby in a setting often referred to as the “Fourth World.” In it, two civilizations face off over the course of many issues and different titles. The so-called “New Gods” are actually people living on two different but deeply interconnected planets.
There is New Genesis, a quasi-paradise full of lush greenery, ruled over by the Highfather. Apokolips, meanwhile, is a hellish trash planet overseen by the despotic Darkseid. The two planetary bodies were actually a single globe at one point, though a catastrophic event split it into two. The precipitating event was actually called Ragnarok, in case you’re sensing a theme here.
Kirby’s inspiration
Clearly, the Highfather is also based off of Odin, though at least Kirby maintained plausible deniability regarding whether that inspiration was the mythological Odin or the comics one. It’s worth noting that Kirby had just left Marvel in the 1970s over credit disputes, after working with Stan Lee for over a decade.
However, it quickly becomes clear that Kirby wanted to create something very unique. The superheroes of the New Gods come from a strange, strange land. Think of Big Barda, the former member of Darkseid’s Female Furies, a vicious security force. She eventually breaks free and joins the good side, but not without some weird galactic events and a tool known as a “boomstick.” The New Gods is beautifully strange, enough that it’s worth exploring on your own.
9. Galactic Alliance of Spider-Men
Whether or not you question the wisdom of sending a gawky teenager into an epic space battle against a vicious space dictator, the truth is that Spider-Man is part of Avengers: Infinity War. At first, it might seem a little strange to see him there. After all, Spider-Man is thoroughly a New York City superhero. He swings through the streets of Manhattan and lives in the heart of the city.
He’s made his complaints about NYC’s subway system, perhaps more so than any other character. At least Doctor Strange, who lives off Bleecker Street in the Sanctum Sanctorum, can teleport without having to worry about public transit.
However, at this point in comics history, Spider-Man has been to space a few times. He takes part in the comics Infinity War, where he gets to kick Thanos in the face. He joins up with the Future Foundation in the Fantastic Four series. There, he wears a spacesuit over his Spider-Man suit, which is a bit confusing, if thematically appropriate.
He is obliged to participate in the Battleworld troubles by the Beyonder, yet another omnipotent space consciousness. His symbiotic black suit appears in this storyline. Spidey takes it back to Earth with him, but the darn suit starts to malfunction. Eventually, it jumps ship, merges with Eddie Brock, and then creates iconic Spider-Man villain Venom.
Perhaps the most ridiculous and visually pleasing “Spider-Man in space” tales, however, is The Galactic Alliance of Spider-Men, from Marvel Presents Vol. 2 #1. Yes, it is eerily like the council of Ricks in Rick and Morty. This galaxy-spanning organization consists of spider-themed heroes from different worlds, all dedicated to upholding the idea that “with great power, comes great responsibility.” It’s delightfully silly.
8. War of Kings
Remember Ronan the Accuser? He was a pretty good villain in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, though, alas, he did not make it past the end of the movie. We probably can’t handle too many characters endlessly dying and then being resurrected in the film world, anyway. Naturally, however, he’s got a bit more time on the comics page than he did on screen.
That serves as the impetus for War of Kings, where Ronan starts things off by defeating Star-Lord so hard that Star-Lord is sent hurtling into the Negative Zone. Once there, Star-Lord has to negotiate with hostile prisoners who have taken over the Negative Zone prison (it’s a bit like the phantom zone from Superman II). Eventually, Star-Lord teams up with some less-bad prisoners to keep the prison’s portal to Earth out of the hands of the real bad guys.
Sounds really serious, but it turns out that War of Kings is pretty fun. The second-tier villains provide good comic relief, including one named Gorilla-Man. Turns out that Gorilla-Man is literally a man’s head on a gorilla body. He’s all too aware of that situation, thanks, but not so shy about it that he can’t take Star-Lord down for his own silly name.
The first section is followed up by War of Kings, Book 2, where the rest of the Guardians and their allies come together to fight none other than Magus. Perhaps Magus and Ronan can pair up for a serious talk about how to keep from getting endlessly killed by superhero teams.
7. The Eternity Saga
As a whole, Marvel properties generally don’t have an issue with mixing the fantastic and the scientific. Admittedly, in the world of comics, there’s a great heaping of fantasy science, with perhaps less for real science going on. Side note: real-life awesome astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson did appear in order to counsel Superman in Action Comics #14, so it’s not a desert of actual knowledge out there.
This easy acceptance is generally a good idea, no matter how uncomfortable it might make the ultra-technological Iron Man or his pals. We could use a good deal of hand-waving when talking about the Asgardians, for example. And Doctor Strange? Forget about it. Let’s just accept that he can do magic while standing right next to Tony Stark, and move on.
The Sorcerer Supreme certainly deserves a spot on this list, as he’s one of the myriad superheroes facing off against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Really, Thanos is one of those villains where you just throw everything you’ve got at him and hope that something sticks.
If Doctor Strange’s presence piques your interest, then check out The Eternity Saga. This is one great, big sprawling epic, surely deserving of the “saga” descriptor. In it, Strange jumps in and out of dimensions, often fighting Dark Dimension villain Dormammu.
This arc also features the introduction of Clea, Dormammu’s niece. She observes Strange from afar, is impressed by his aptitude, and eventually becomes Strange’s sole ally in the Dark Dimension. Eventually, the two romantically partner up according to the laws of the Dark Dimension — take notes for your own wedding or commitment ceremony.
6. Trial of Galactus
If you think that comics storylines are confusing, then you might want to take a seat for this one. The Trial of Galactus is definitely a coherent story, but it’s one that takes place over a long period of time. Moreover, it’s often interrupted by different stories, making the whole matter even more confusing. At least it’s collected in one of Marvel’s first-ever trade paperbacks as The Trial of Galactus.
Galactus is a massive being that originally existed as a man before the end of the previous universe. When he emerges from the end of the universe (that is, the Big Bang that precipitated our own existence), he’s got superpowers. Galactus also finds that he’s developed a hunger for literally eating planets. Throughout Marvel comics, he often shows up to eat the Earth, though he’s usually stopped by the Fantastic Four or some other set of superheroes.
In one storyline, he’s stopped by the Fantastic Four, who find that they are in the rare situation where they can actually kill Galactus and end the destruction. However, Reed Richards recognizes that Galactus is really a force of nature. It wouldn’t be entirely right to “kill” him, just as much as it would be wrong to kill, say, solar radiation or a hurricane. He helps Galactus get a new herald, Nova, who will help him find non-inhabited planets on which to snack.
Galactus can’t help but eat those delicious inhabited worlds, however. When he eats the central Skrull planet, a group of planets bands together, arrest Reed Richards and put him on trial. He protected Galactus, after all. Will Reed’s argument that Galactus is a natural force and necessary part of existence successfully get him off the hook?
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.
4. Secret Wars
Your particular opinion of the Secret Wars storyline may vary. On the one hand, it’s an interesting concept that brings out all the Marvel superheroes (more or less) to fight all the Marvel villains. Plus, these issues include the debut of the Beyonder, an ultra-powerful being from, well, the Beyond. The Beyonder summons everyone to the Battleworld where they fight each other and eventually rebel.
Then again, Secret Wars was also created to sell toys. In a pretty blatantly crass display of consumerism, Marvel debuted this storyline along with a very popular line of toys. Writer Jim Shooter was tasked with applying a plot to the overall theme of every hero fighting every villain. Mike Zeck and John Beatty were recruited to create the art for the huge series.
If that second paragraph hasn’t completely turned you off, there are plenty of interesting and even intriguing things going on in Secret Wars. The whole stage of Battleworld is silly, but it allows for interrogation of who, exactly, is “bad” or “good.” Magneto, for instance, starts off as ostensibly “good” but quickly becomes quasi-neutral when the Avengers become suspicious of him.
The X-Men decide to keep to themselves, but everyone else divides themselves into heroes and villains. There are plenty of requisite skirmishes, which will surely please the battle-hungry comics reader. This is also the arc where Spider-Man finds his black costume for the first time, later revealed to be a symbiotic life form. The life form eventually becomes the villain Venom.
Once the Beyonder has been defeated, everyone travels back home. Well, except for the Thing, who goes on a gap year vacation through the galaxy in order to find himself.
3. The Death of Captain Marvel
Okay, hopefully, Infinity War isn’t quite as sad as the issue where Kree superhero Captain Marvel dies of cancer. But this is a genuinely interesting comic, not to mention one that, in many ways, brought superhero comics into further maturity.
There have been multiple Captain Marvels over the years. There is much to say about them, especially about the current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. However, now is not the time for a dissection of the Captain Marvel hero persona. This time around we are focusing on the Kree hero, Mar-Vell.
Mar-Vell was first created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan in Marvel Super-Heroes #12, published in December 1967. He was an alien soldier ordered to watch over Earth as the humans developed a more advanced technology. Mar-Vell starts to think that his commanding officers might not have the best intentions. He breaks with his training, joins the humans, is deemed a traitor to the Kree, and becomes a superhero.
Bringing Captain Marvel back
Pretty dramatic backstory, but it’s one that actually fizzled for quite some time. He was revamped by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, but for all their work, sales of the Captain Marvel title were still mediocre at best. That’s where Marvel let Jim Starlin loose. He did quite a bit of work of his own, but really cinched everything when he killed off Captain Marvel.
It’s true that a superhero’s death is often little more than a publicity stunt, like DC’s 1992 Death of Superman. However, Starlin created an emotional story in Marvel’s The Death of Captain Marvel, and moreover one that earned its acclaim.
In this standalone graphic novel (one of Marvel’s first), Mar-Vell learns that he has cancer. All of those years fighting cosmic villains and being exposed to toxic chemicals has finally taken its toll. He faces a long, painful decline, one that is the polar opposite of a grand superhero death. Other superheroes, who are frightfully well-equipped with deaths like being flung into a sun, don’t know what to do with something like cancer.
In the end, Mar-Vell, close to death, goes to an astral plane. There, he meets the then-dead Thanos, who introduces Mar-Vell to none other than Mistress Death.
2. The Surtur Saga
It’s honestly a bit of a shame that it took us this long to get to Thor. Besides the Guardians of the Galaxy, who else is set to take on some of the biggest galactic sagas but the alien god of thunder himself?
There’s quite a lot to pick from in the Thor canon, but you honestly can’t go wrong with a story from Walt Simonson. He picked up the series in 1983 and started his run off with the brilliant Beta Ray Bill storyline. That was only the beginning, however, and so Simonson eventually established himself as one of the best writers in the comics game.
Starting with some of his earliest issues, Simonson started to drop mysterious hints throughout the pages. Slowly but surely, those hints began to build until it was clear that Thor and, indeed, all of Asgard were facing one serious foe. Who was it? The massive fire demon, Surtur.
Readers first suspected that something was going on when the sound effect “doom” was heard multiple times over the course of many issues. Each time, another detail was revealed, until it became clear that the sound was Surtur forging his Twilight Sword. Hey, even demons have to give their swords names. It’s all part of the Thor canon.
Surtur — who also featured in the Thor: Ragnarok film — seemed like an absolutely unstoppable force. Even godlike Thor, along with Odin, Loki, and all the others, had to think twice. But, when a malevolent, ancient fire demon wants to bring about the end of your homeworld, you have to do something.
1. The Thanos Imperative
If War of Kings struck a chord with you, then definitely be sure to continue on with The Thanos Imperative. This is yet another miniseries, now with a six-issue run and published in 2010. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, The Thanos Imperative brings together another team of galactic superheroes. What’s the issue this time? Something called the “Fault.”
In contrast to other threats, the Fault isn’t a typical villain. It’s actually a rift in space and time, formed at the end of the War of Kings storyline. Anyone who passes through the Fault ends up in the uncomfortably-named Cancerverse. There, Death is nonexistent and Life reigns supreme.
That all sounds great until you realize that death is a necessary part of maintaining balance and some semblance of order. The Cancerverse is, to put it bluntly, one big mess.
Even members of the Universal Church of Truth, who opened the rift, start to think twice when they see who emerges from the other side and into our universe. First, it’s a series of monsters seeking to invade this reality. Then, it’s their leader, an alternate universe version of Captain Mar-Vell. This time, he’s definitely evil and goes by Lord Mar-Vell.
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Lord Mar-Vell wishes to spread his dimension’s plague of “undeath” everywhere else in an unhinged attempt to share the misery. While heroes like Star-Lord, Beta Ray Bill, the Silver Surfer and more try to defeat the grossly mirrored Mar-Vell, it becomes clear that they aren’t enough.
Who will be enough to face off against the twisted avatar of Life itself? Our universe’s avatar of death: Thanos. It’s a surprising and satisfying twist.
What are your Infinity War must-reads?