Collects Infinity Gauntlet #1-6
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artists: George Perez, Ron Lim
Publisher: Marvel
It was the event to end all events!
Actually, it was more like the event to begin all events. Infinity Gauntlet set the stage at Marvel for line-wide crossovers and tie-ins that would last through the ‘90s and up to today, though Gauntlet itself was much more self-contained. It also kicked off what became the Infinity trilogy with Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, neither of which had as much heart and focus as Gauntlet. For me, Infinity Gauntlet stands as the biggest and grandest event series in all of Marvel history. There are plenty of bumps here and there, but it’s still aged rather well.
It begins with Thanos having attained the gauntlet. Indeed, on page one omnipotence is already his, and now he must figure out how to impress the love of his life, Death, with this power. His first godly act is to fulfill a promise he made in the prelude to Gauntlet, collected in the Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos trade, to wipe out half of all life in the universe. This, of course, attracts the attention of the remaining heroes on earth, as well as the notice of one cosmic messiah, Adam Warlock, about whom the Infinity trilogy will revolve.
Starlin does a fairly good job of balancing an overwhelming cast. On one hand, power players like the Silver Surfer, Hulk and Thor get more prominence than Spider-man or Cyclops, but event non-participants in the conflict like Moon Knight and Nick Fury get entire pages devoted to their observation of the cosmic catastrophe. The primary cast of characters, including Thanos, Mephisto, Warlock and Starfox, are all significant due to their role in the power struggle, though since they’re also Starlin’s favorite characters, they receive the bulk of his attention. In some ways this can be a little off-putting, since Warlock only returns from the dead in this series to immediately become the most wise and knowing being in the universe. Readers of Warlock’s ‘70s adventures will be thrilled, but new readers might wonder why this guy’s so important if he’s been neglected for twenty years.
The pacing is a slow and deliberate build to a monumental clash of the titans, quite literally, but it’s arguably stronger in the first half of the series than the second. The stakes build as Thanos finds his ploys to win Death’s affections becoming more and more desperate. The extent of his wrath is explored in depth in the earlier issues while the later is given almost entire over to conflict. What’s interesting to note is that George Perez only illustrates up until the middle of the fourth issue, at which point Ron Lim takes over, and this changeover in art also follows the decline in the story. Lim’s work isn’t poor, but it’s weaker in contrast to Perez’s lush details.
The finale of the story relies on some wacky cosmic logic that doesn’t seem to fit the series just right, and the ending is somewhat disappointing given the buildup, but Infinity Gauntlet still stands as a testament that a line-wide conflict of epic proportions in the Marvel Universe can be one hell of a great ride.
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