Next Big Cosmic Event:The Thanos Imperative

[NDX]

Makes you wonder what the witty banter between Rocket Raccoon and Thanos will be like.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If Thanos is anything like he was at the end of GotG, it'll probably be something like:

Rocket: So, I see you went back to your old blue and gold skirt. Are you, like, a Scottish alien or what?
Thanos: THANOS ANGRY!!!! THANOS MURDER ALL LIFE!!!!!! RAAAAARRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!

 

[yenaled]

I thought the Cosmic Cube "cured" him of RAAAAAGHHH!!

 

[NDX]

So then:

Rocket: So, I see you went back to your old blue and gold skirt. Are you, like, a Scottish alien or what?
Thanos: I AM ANGRY!!!! I WILL MURDER ALL LIFE!!!!!!

Less Hulkish, but still rather accurate.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, hopefully yen's right and the cube will have restored him completely to normal, as in:

Rocket: So, I see you went back to your old blue and gold skirt. Are you, like, a Scottish alien or what?
Thanos: Cease your prattling. I am savoring the irony of your entire universe's fate resting in my hands. I have no time for furry little plebeians like you.

And then he blows up a star, which sets off a Rube Goldberg-like chain of events that somehow weakens the Fault and decimates the Cancerverse's forces two issues later.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The Thanos Imperative: Ignition preview!

I only flipped through and looked at the artwork, myself. I know I'm gonna hate having to wait a week for the rest of it if I start reading through the preview's dialogue. Looks awesome, though. I love that Thanos is bats*** insane at the start of this. Nice contrast to his usual calm, philosophical, control-obsessed self.

 

[SouLeSS]

Ignition #1 -

 

[NDX]

Yeah, just got very excited for the first issue next week.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It was really good. I can't wait until the Surfer shows up. I wonder how he (and probably Galactus) fits into all of this.

 

[Dread]

Repost of my review with respoilers:

THANOS IMPERATIVE: IGNITION #1: Or, basically, THE THANOS IMPERATIVE issue zero. It acts as the next issue to both GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and NOVA, connecting their plots into one whole in time for the latest space event. While it clearly isn't as big as SHADOWLAND to or X-MEN VS. VAMPIRES Marvel (and even SHADOWLAND is nothing compared to SIEGE or SECRET INVASION), writers Abnett & Lanning treat it as the mega epic that it seems to be.

Spoiler

It continues with Thanos still being the unwilling "guest" of the GOTH after their 25th issue, while Nova is still chasing "Dark Quasar" across the universe as he tries to flee back to the Fault (after gutting Project PEGASUS on Earth). Brad Walker, who usually does art for GOTG, does the artwork here, and it's up to his usual snuff. Andrew Hennesy is the inker with Wil Quintana on colors, and this may be the first time the GOTG art team has handled Nova for so long. They do a good job.

Naturally, the Guardians are stuck with a broken Cosmic Cube and a very pissed of Thanos chained up in the basement of Knowhere. He's back from the dead and apparently unhappy about that, as Death had finally given him peace (plus, he also finds her hot). Drax and Moondragon want to put him down while they can, and while the others have no love for Thanos, they want to keep him alive long enough to know why he is back. The idea is that Thanos is always such a major cosmic figure that he's back for an abstract reason. While they don't know, the readers know that he is there to represent both Death and Oblivion, since in the universe on the other side of the Fault (the "Cancerverse"), Life has won and nothing ever dies. Nova and Quasar team up against Dark Quasar and "Adam Magus" while the Guardians have seem to have united Gladiator and the Shi'ar as well as the Inhumans against the Cancerverse threat.

In a moment ripped right from STAR WARS, all of the Guardians' telepaths feel "a disturbance in the Force, as if a billion lives were canceled out" or so on when Magus' Church of Truth ushers in the Cancerverse with perhaps the biggest mass sacrifice of any organized religion. This gets Thanos rightly irked and the "master" of the Cancerverse is revealed. Who it turns out to be is quite clever, and actually works quite well against Thanos - Cancerverse Mar-Vell.

While Thanos is usually the villain, this is a story in which he is actually a necessary evil compared to something far worse. It also is a story with an interesting, and rare, message from a Western comic. That is, that death has a purpose in the cosmos, and that a universe in which nothing ever dies or changes (like most comic universes) becomes stagnant and even putrid and vile. The twisted heroes of the Cancerverse think they are doing good by "eliminating Death", but of course that makes things worse, because everything should eventually end. It's almost the opposite of some DC events, in which the "everything old is better than anything new" is often the motif.

This event looks good on many levels, but the biggest it is relies on the stars of their two main space titles, rather than other characters with the stars sort of tagging along, as WAR OF KINGS and ANNIHILATION CONQUEST sort of did. It also has a philosophical message under the punching and explosions, which is always nice. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

The reveal at the end?



Do you guys reckon it is the real him? Or the Cancerverse version of him?

 

[Docker2.0]

I think it's the cancerverse version of him. He probably never died in their universe....or he could have died, hence his hating of death so badly. Kind of wish it wasn't him.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's the Cancerverse version. Why would it be the real version?

 

[JewishHobbit]

It's a Skrull.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Double-whammy!

 

[Dread]

Yeah, it is definitely the Cancerverse version. But it makes sense, since Thanos is being "resurrected" to oppose him, and originally Thanos was one of HIS villains in 616.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I can't help but to feel that they should have in some way built up the old Marvel/Thanos fued, even through minor discuss or by having the Guardian's go up against someone who was connected to it before this. Most readers these days know nothing about those days of the cosmic Marvel, so the reveal of Cancer Mar-Vell fell very flat for a large majority of readers.

 

[NDX]

His reveal didn't mean much to me, but it was interesting. Not mind blowing, but I didn't expect it to be, really. I feel this allows for a new story and new readers to be brough in without having to know their history (which I do not).

 

[SouLeSS]

The reveal at the end?



Do you guys reckon it is the real him? Or the Cancerverse version of him?

Different symbol, defiantly the cancerverse one.

 

[Dread]

I disagree. I don't mind that Abnett & Lanning got on with it. I thought the subplot was there in the regular series and I didn't mind seeing it in, basically, THANOS IMPERATIVE #0 (which is what IGNITION #1 basically was). A lot of new readers don't know or care who Mar-Vell is, but that didn't stop Marvel from ****ing them around with CIVIL WAR: THE RETURN and then the subsequent mini series on the eve of SECRET INVASION.

For me, what worked best is how he looks very heroic, and is saying something that normally should seem heroic; beating death. Of course, for this series, he's the antagonist, because death has a place in the universe. It's a ironic theme as death is rare for comic book characters, but it's there, and is more Eastern in tone than a lot of metaphors in comics I've read.

 

[robsoko422]

I wonder if any of the Elders of the Universe will make an appearance, since some of them are big cosmic players (Grandmaster, Collector, Ego the Living Planet) and due to Death banning them from her realm they can never die (like those in the cancerverse).

I look forward to seeing what Thanos will be doing in this event.

"You forced me to live again. For that, everything dies." - Thanos

 

[NDX]

All I have to say is STUPID HOLIDAY!

 

[Dread]

I wonder if any of the Elders of the Universe will make an appearance, since some of them are big cosmic players (Grandmaster, Collector, Ego the Living Planet) and due to Death banning them from her realm they can never die (like those in the cancerverse).

I look forward to seeing what Thanos will be doing in this event.

"You forced me to live again. For that, everything dies." - Thanos

Welcome to Hype, robsoko422!

Good display of lore. Yes, the Elders of the Universe cannot die, so in a way they are like those of the Cancerverse. On the other hand, they were far above mortals to begin with, and may not suffer the same cancerous fate from immortality as, say, metahumans or animals do. A lot of them do act like jerks, though. That usually comes with it.

All I have to say is STUPID HOLIDAY!

Now now, honoring both living and dead soldiers isn't a bad thing. And it's all over now.

 

[NDX]

Now now, honoring both living and dead soldiers isn't a bad thing. And it's all over now.

Too true. You are correct. My apologies. Work, losing a radio show and lack of this book has me flustered.

 

[sandwraith]

I'm confused, don't you Americans already have a day to commemorate you're Soldiers? Veterans' Day if I'm not mistaken?