Infinity War

The Infinity War six comic book series from Marvel Comics was published during 1992. It was written by Jim Starlin with animation drawn by Ron Lin, Ian Laughlin, Al Milgrom, Christie Scheele as well as Jack Morelli.

Infinity War #1-6, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7-10 and Marvel Comics Presents #108-111


Infinity War #1-6, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7-10 and Marvel Comics Presents #108-111

Publication Date: 1992

Writer: Jim Starlin

Art: Ron Lim and Al Milgrom


The Infinity Trilogy

This story is the follow up to The Infinitive Gauntlet from 1991, and the prequel to The Infinity Crusade published the following year.

The Infinity Gauntlet had witnessed the return of Adam Warlock, The Infinity War sees the return of the equally evil Magus.

The Infinity War- Thanos Greets Adam Warlock

Infinity War is the tale of the fight to take ultimate control of the universe. Members of the Fantastic Four, Avengers, X Men, the New Warriors and the Alpha Flight have to save the day when faced by numerous evil twins.

To make things harder for the superheroes they have to do all this in a changed universe because of Thanos. All he did was click his fingers and half the universe died.

Where Does Infinity War Begin?

Thanos returns for Infinity War yet this time he is no longer after the infinity gems (as he got them all in the Thanos Quest series).

With Thanos having gained all the gems the Infinity Gauntlet grants him the destructive power of a god. He uses that power to destroy half of the universe

The Infinity War - Thanos Seeks Aid of The Avengers

Infinity War then tells the story of how the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the havoc, which Thanos has caused.

What Is The Plot?

Andrew Warlock had considered himself to be a hero, yet his actions would unintentionally give Thanos his opportunity to destroy half the universe.

When he had control of the gauntlet, Warlock had used it to get rid of the good and bad parts of his being so that he would only make wise and logical decisions when using the gauntlet.

By expelling his good and bad aspects, Warlock brings back his evil persona, Magus. On his return Magus wants his revenge against both Warlock and Thanos.

The Infinity War - Mistress Deaths Place

First Magus decides to gain extra power to improve his chances of success. Magus collects five cosmic cubes, and uses the power from them to capture and contain the cosmic being Eternity. Then he creates his own realm as well as an army of evil doubles of all the superheroes.

The plans of Magus are worked out by Thanos after he finds the empty cubes and he decides to warn Warlock.

What Is The Purpose Of The Gauntlet?

The gauntlet has the ability to create and destroy on a gigantic scale.

For Thanos, Warlock and the Avengers the aim is to retain the gauntlet and use it to bring back Eternity so that the Magus and doppergangers can be destroyed.

The Infinity War - X Men Join The Avengers

To distract the Avengers the double of Mr Fantastic detonates a gamma bomb outside the pizza shop they have met in.

That bomb does not cause as much damage as would have been expected as the explosion is contained by the Invisible Woman and the radiation from the blast is redirected into outer space.

The Infinity War - Avengers Do Battle With Magus

The Magus and the double of Thanos then launch a surprise attack, giving the heroes the mistaken impression that Magus has formed an alliance with the Titan.

The heroes eventually locate Magus’ base and defeat the dopplegangers who were there and releasing their captive comrades.

The Infinity War - Galactus, Doctor Strange and Dr Doom

Quasar gets there alongside the Ultimate Nullifier, joined later by Doctor Doom and also Kang the Conqueror. Doom and Kang were hoping to gain some power for themselves.

Magus stops the plan to defeat him by capturing Warlock and the gauntlet yet gets wounded himself during the fighting. He then loses the gauntlet to Doom and Kang who want to harness it’s power.

The Infinity War - The Avengers, Fantastic Four And X Men take care of business

Magus discovers the cubes have been stolen yet still manages to defeat Doom who had already betrayed Kang. Doom attempts to persuade Magus to hand over the gauntlet.

However by that point Eternity has fully recovered and requests that the gauntlet is switched back on, and that request is granted by the Living Tribunal.

The reactivated gauntlet assists Magus in defeating Doom and Quasar is dissolved, and could not be saved by the Ultimate Nullifier.

How Is The Infinity War Comic Different To The Movie?

The reasons why Thanos does the very destructive things he does are described by different motives in the comic book when compared to the movie.

Dark Doubles of the Avengers

In the comic book he does things to impress Mistress Death. It is to impress her that he starts the quest to gain the infinity gems so that he can destroy half of the universe for her.

Not only does he destroy half of the universe for Mistress Death, he traps his own granddaughter Nebula in what is best described in a state of living hell for Death’s entertainment. He humiliates his brother, Eros for her enjoyment. He turns her fortress into a shrine for her.

The Infinity War - The Expeditionary Force

Thanos takes on the Avengers to show his power. He turns the bones of Wolverine to rubber, sends Drax back in time to the Jurassic Era, whilst turning into glass and then shattering him. He also had Cyclops suffocated in an airtight container.

All these actions bring him to the attention of the remaining superheroes and that means they work on a way to defeat him.

How Was Thanos Defeated?

Thanos is confident that he cannot be defeated after beating more of the Marvel Universe such as the Living Tribunal and Galactus. Such successes make him over confident.

Ironically the step he takes to end his vulnerability is the one that backfired in the end. He decides that becoming an astral entity would fit in better with his almost divine status. He will not be vulnerable to physical attack anymore.

He forgot that the gauntlet was still on his hand, so if his body was found it could be removed. Nebula is the one who defeats him.

She locates his body and removes the gauntlet and puts it on her own hand. She banishes her grandfather and then works out what she can do with such supreme power.



The Infinity War Was Featured in : Best Thanos Stories from Marvel Comic Books

Images from Marvel Comics

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