One name ignites terror across galaxies. One name fans the flames of fear throughout the universe. Thanos, the Mad Titan. And he's back.
Space scribes Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning add fuel to the fire of upcoming cosmic event The Thanos Imperative with a special one-shot, THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: IGNITION, this May.
"As readers will soon see in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #24 & #25, Thanos is back, so that's the biggest deal of all," says Abnett of the upcoming epic. "There isn't a cosmic bad guy as bad as Thanos, so in simple terms this is everyone versus him-but with a twist! This time, you have the good guys on one side [and] Magus and his Dark Gods on the other with Thanos standing directly in the middle!"
Lanning states that "if you're new to the cosmic books, don't worry!" The duo has you covered with this opening salvo.
"THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: IGNITION is a great place to jump aboard and you won't need any prior knowledge," he notes of the one-shot. "But if you're a devoted reader, there are rich seams of pay-off to enjoy. The threat of the Fault, a huge rip in time and space left by the War of Kings, is something we've been exploring in the Realm of Kings stories that run into The Thanos Imperative. This is the moment where Magus, a very
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #25 cover by Alex Garner
serious bad guy in his own right, takes control of it and galactic disaster follows! This epic story forms a climax to many of the tales we've been spinning in the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe for the last three years."
Thanos first reared his mutant head in 1973's IRON MAN #55 and soon became one of the most popular villains in the Marvel Universe. Time and space still sport the scars from his insatiable quest for Death, but there's even more than that to make him worthy of this new cosmic event.
"It's not so much his power level because, let's face it, in a universe where beings like Galactus are kicking around, there's no shortage of cosmic power," notes Abnett. "No, with Thanos, it's his malice, his intellect, his guile. He's dangerous. He's treacherous. He's the Mad Titan, but his insanity is concealed under a mask of terrible logic and brilliance. He's so twisted, that sometimes it's hard to tell which side he's on. This is one of those times. Does the Marvel Universe need him to survive, or is he just too dangerous?"
The writing team claims that readers will also witness the involvement of many of their favorite space characters beginning with IGNITION and expanding out into the entire event.
"Nova is going to be front and center in this, along with the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially Star-Lord, but they're going to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Quasar and the Silver Surfer," Lanning reveals. "We're talking serious, heavyweight cosmic heroes. Add to that some fabulous cameos from the cosmic side of things, and some great characters on the villain side such as Magus."
In all, THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: IGNITION sets the tone for the raucous events to come, and Abnett and Lanning promise that all the action, adventure and surprises for which they've become known will be present.
THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: IGNITION cover by Aleksi Briclot
"This is going to be big, serious, epic stuff," promises Lanning. "Huge space action and vast, galaxy changing events. But we're not going to forget the human scale of things either. All the big stuff is just too big without a human focus to ground it, so the fortunes and relationships of our characters are going to matter as much. Friendships, loyalties, betrayals.
"Oh, and this is probably the biggest and most serious cosmic epic we're ever going to produce, but there's still going to be an opportunity for a gag or two. Rocket Raccoon's in it, after all."
Can't wait for this!!! Thanos is a grail of mine and one of the most complex and interesting villain, period!
I'm loving the whole Groot and Rocket partnership too!
I love how Thanos is neither "good" nor "evil" now, he's "indifferent"... he's somewhat been that way since the end of "Infinity Gauntlet", though. Indifferent or not, though.. there's always some grand scheme kickin' around in that grape of his.
Clearly his "indifference" has some malevolence to it, but he's no longer trying to kill everyone and conquer everything in the name of Mistress Death, either.
the thanos FS was the first bowen item i ever saw. i've been a big fan of thanos and cosmic characters since silver sufer in the early 90's. i picked up the thanos tpb's back in 2005 and loved them. there are few things better than starlin writing thanos. the only exception is marvel: the end, i think that was the title. that was utter crap both story and art wise in my opinion. i was disappointed that thanos didn't have a bigger part in annilation but i still like the story. curious to see how this pans out, i don't buy individual issues any longer, i wait for the collections/tpb's. but i might pick this up if it sounds good.
i would agree somewhat that it dragged. my biggest peev was the changes they made to annilus and drax. not that i was a big fan of the roid rage version of drax from infinity watch but i don't want a green bald version of wolverine. although i did really enjoy the earth girl that went with him for a bit, i enjoyed their banter back and forth.
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