Reprints Iron Man (1968) #55, Captain Marvel (1968) #25-33, Marvel Feature (1971) #12, Daredevil (1964) #105-107, Avengers (1963) #125, Warlock (1972) #9-11, #15; Avengers Annual (1967) #7, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, material from Logan 's Run #6.
Written by Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Scott Edelman and Mike Friederich.
Penciled by Jim Starlin, John Buscema, Mike Zeck, Bob Brown,Don Heck.
Inked by Jim Starlin, Mike Esposito, Chic Stone, Dave Cockrum, Pablo Marcos, Dan Green, Al Milgrom, Joe Sinnott, Don Perlin, Sal Trapani, Sal Buscema, Klaus Janson, Steve Leialoha, Josef Rubenstein and Mike Zeck.
Every Bronze Age adventure that featured Thanos, the mad Titan...and more!
A green-skined alien named Drax the Destroyer sends out a call for help. It's received by none other than Tony Stark, AKA the invincible Iron Man. Drax communicates with Stark telepathically, telling him about life on Titan, a moon of Saturn.
Titan is ruled by Mentor, who had two sons, Eros and Thanos. After Thanos attempted to take over Titan with weapons (which are banned on Titan), Drax was created to destroy Thanos. Drax warns Iron Man that Thanos and his minions, the Blood Brothers, are attacking Earth.
Iron Man answers Drax's call and flies off to rescue him, but he's attacked by the Blood Brothers. Iron Man is knocked out after a brief fight and taken to Thanos.
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| The Blood Brothers capture Iron Man & deliver him to Thanos. |
Thanos introduces himself to Iron Man, telling the golden Avenger he has nearly conquered Titan and will soon conquer Earth. The heroes are imprisoned by Thanos and the Blood Brothers and all hope appears lost. But Titan's supercomputer, known as Isaac, comes to their rescue and frees Drax, who helps Iron Man defeat the Blood Brothers. Thanos' scheme is thwarted, but the villain escapes.
Sometime later, Captain Marvel (AKA Mar-Vell of the Kree) is accused of murder. In reality, the killer was Super-Skrull, who used his shape-shifting power to disguise himself as Mar-Vell.
But Super-Skrull is merely a pawn of Thanos. This time, the Titan has a new ally: the personification of Death herself. He is on Earth to find the Cosmic Cube, a weapon which make him deadlier than ever.
Thanos recruits the Controller to act as his regent on Earth. The Controller has discs that he places on people which allow him to control their minds, as well as giving him the strength of everyone he controls. Some of his discs have been placed on powerful government officials.
While Controller takes over, Captain Marvel has been transported to another dimension, where he encounters a being named Eon. Captain Marvel undergoes a transformation. Eon makes him "Cosmically Aware." This makes him one with the universe and gives him the ability to uncover an adversary's weakness simply by thinking about it.
Mar-Vell's Cosmic Awareness helps him in his confrontation with the Controller. During their battle, Thanos observes them and tells Controller that he has failed. Thanos punishes the Controller by taking his life. Captain Marvel has won the round, but Thanos has succeeded in acquiring the Cosmic Cube.
Iron Man visits the site of his previous duel with Thanos and the Blood Brothers, in the Mohave Desert. The Blood Brothers are there as well and attack Stark. Thankfully for Iron Man, and the world itself, Ben Grimm, the Thing, arrives to help the Avenger. The Blood Brothers learn the meaning of "Clobberin' Time" when they wind up at the business end of Ben's fists.
In San Francisco, Daredevil stumbles on the secret hideout of Moondragon, who is Drax's daughter. She tells DD that she fled Titan when Thanos took over and killed everyone. Moondragon says that she has come because San Francisco is under the control of Thanos. She used her psionic powers and genius intellect to create villains named Ramrod, Dark Messiah and Angar the Screamer to defend the city from Thanos.
When Daredevil tells her of their villainy, she realizes it was a mistake. But it's too late, as they are attacked by DD's corrupt law partner, Kerwin J. Broderick. He shoots Moondragon and then releases a giant named Terrex to attack San Francisco. Terrex was created by Titan scientists to be a doomsday device. Daredevil is out of his league dealing with a cosmic menace. Thankfully, Captain Marvel arrives to even up the odds agains Terrex.
With the Cosmic Cube under his control, Thanos attacks Earth once again. He sends a fleet of ships to the planet as well. But Thanos shows he is truly insane when he uses the Cube to become a god, disembodied and one with the universe.
The Avengers are chipping in against Thanos as well. Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis and Swordsman attack Thanos' fleet.
At this time, Captain Marvel wore nega-bands on his wrists. When he brought the bands together, he was sent to the Negative Zone and replaced by Rick Jones. Playing to Thanos' vanity, Rick says the mad Titan doesn't have the courage to fight Mar-Vell "man-to-man." Thanos takes corporeal form and duels Captain Marvel on Earth
This allows Mar-Vell to defeat Thanos. He destroys the Cosmic Cube, which destroys Thanos as well.
But Thanos returns, showing up on the same world as Adam Warlock. Thanos has sent his agent Gamora to keep tabs on Warlock, who is battling a genocidal deity known as the Magus. Thanos sees the Magus as the only threat to him and his goals and believes that only Warlock can take out the Magus.
Later, Thanos captures gems that will make him the most powerful being in the universe and sets out to destroy Earth once again. He will be met on the field of battle by the Avengers, Captain Marvel, Warlock, Spider-Man and the Thing!
Plus, Drax defends the last flower on a planet from Thanos!
And if that's not enough, there's also a brief appearance by Spider-Man's old foe Kraven The Hunter!
Review:
There are so many pages in this book (453), so many characters, and so much going on that it's tough to review Avengers Versus Thanos without getting bogged down in every detail. I'll just cut to the chase and say it contains some of the Bronze Age's strongest stories and excellent art.
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| Iron Man meets Thanos. |
Sometime later, Captain Marvel (AKA Mar-Vell of the Kree) is accused of murder. In reality, the killer was Super-Skrull, who used his shape-shifting power to disguise himself as Mar-Vell.
But Super-Skrull is merely a pawn of Thanos. This time, the Titan has a new ally: the personification of Death herself. He is on Earth to find the Cosmic Cube, a weapon which make him deadlier than ever.
While Controller takes over, Captain Marvel has been transported to another dimension, where he encounters a being named Eon. Captain Marvel undergoes a transformation. Eon makes him "Cosmically Aware." This makes him one with the universe and gives him the ability to uncover an adversary's weakness simply by thinking about it.
Mar-Vell's Cosmic Awareness helps him in his confrontation with the Controller. During their battle, Thanos observes them and tells Controller that he has failed. Thanos punishes the Controller by taking his life. Captain Marvel has won the round, but Thanos has succeeded in acquiring the Cosmic Cube.
Iron Man visits the site of his previous duel with Thanos and the Blood Brothers, in the Mohave Desert. The Blood Brothers are there as well and attack Stark. Thankfully for Iron Man, and the world itself, Ben Grimm, the Thing, arrives to help the Avenger. The Blood Brothers learn the meaning of "Clobberin' Time" when they wind up at the business end of Ben's fists.
In San Francisco, Daredevil stumbles on the secret hideout of Moondragon, who is Drax's daughter. She tells DD that she fled Titan when Thanos took over and killed everyone. Moondragon says that she has come because San Francisco is under the control of Thanos. She used her psionic powers and genius intellect to create villains named Ramrod, Dark Messiah and Angar the Screamer to defend the city from Thanos.
When Daredevil tells her of their villainy, she realizes it was a mistake. But it's too late, as they are attacked by DD's corrupt law partner, Kerwin J. Broderick. He shoots Moondragon and then releases a giant named Terrex to attack San Francisco. Terrex was created by Titan scientists to be a doomsday device. Daredevil is out of his league dealing with a cosmic menace. Thankfully, Captain Marvel arrives to even up the odds agains Terrex.
With the Cosmic Cube under his control, Thanos attacks Earth once again. He sends a fleet of ships to the planet as well. But Thanos shows he is truly insane when he uses the Cube to become a god, disembodied and one with the universe.
 |
| Drax goes after Thanos, after the mad Titan has become a mad god. |
The Avengers are chipping in against Thanos as well. Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis and Swordsman attack Thanos' fleet.
At this time, Captain Marvel wore nega-bands on his wrists. When he brought the bands together, he was sent to the Negative Zone and replaced by Rick Jones. Playing to Thanos' vanity, Rick says the mad Titan doesn't have the courage to fight Mar-Vell "man-to-man." Thanos takes corporeal form and duels Captain Marvel on Earth
This allows Mar-Vell to defeat Thanos. He destroys the Cosmic Cube, which destroys Thanos as well.
But Thanos returns, showing up on the same world as Adam Warlock. Thanos has sent his agent Gamora to keep tabs on Warlock, who is battling a genocidal deity known as the Magus. Thanos sees the Magus as the only threat to him and his goals and believes that only Warlock can take out the Magus.
Later, Thanos captures gems that will make him the most powerful being in the universe and sets out to destroy Earth once again. He will be met on the field of battle by the Avengers, Captain Marvel, Warlock, Spider-Man and the Thing!
 |
| The Avengers attack Thanos' fleet and are met by various aliens minions. |
Plus, Drax defends the last flower on a planet from Thanos!
And if that's not enough, there's also a brief appearance by Spider-Man's old foe Kraven The Hunter!
Review:
There are so many pages in this book (453), so many characters, and so much going on that it's tough to review Avengers Versus Thanos without getting bogged down in every detail. I'll just cut to the chase and say it contains some of the Bronze Age's strongest stories and excellent art.
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| Mentor & Thanos introduce themselves to Rick Jones. |
Story:
Jim Starlin created Thanos, his family, Titan, and wrote most of the stories here. Revisiting these stories, I was impressed at how much of it was right there at the beginning. In the first story, we're told all about Titan, Thanos' origin, the creation of Drax. These were things Starlin wrote at the beginning, not retcons.
Jim Starlin created Thanos, his family, Titan, and wrote most of the stories here. Revisiting these stories, I was impressed at how much of it was right there at the beginning. In the first story, we're told all about Titan, Thanos' origin, the creation of Drax. These were things Starlin wrote at the beginning, not retcons.
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| Thanos communicates to the Blood Brothers through the Cosmic Cube. |
Of course what makes Thanos "special" is his worship of and love for Death. It's truly sick and creepy, perhaps even creepier when Death herself won't embrace him. He's not quite evil enough for her!
In addition to Starlin, the stories reprinted in Avengers Versus Thanos also contain contributions from several other Bronze Age heavy hitters.
Mike Friedrich wrote and/or scripted several tales in the tpb. Super-Skrull is one of my favorite villains, Friedrich makes good use of him here. Steve Englehart, the best Bronze Age Avengers writer, gives us a good action story from Avengers #125.
Prior to this tpb, I had never read the Daredevil stories written by Steve Gerber. I'm a big Gerber fan, but they're a step down in quality from the other chapters of the book. But it's not bad. Gerber brought his trademark zaniness to the stories and they serve as a bit of a breather from the cosmic level life and death drama found in the rest of Avengers Versus Thanos. This was an interesting time for DD's series, since it was set in San Francisco rather than New York.
Lastly, Scott Edelman's contribution, "The Final Flower" was short (five pages) but very good.
Art:
Starlin's art evolves throughout the book. It's always good, but in the first story, you can see he's still figuring out how Thanos will look. Starlin also gives us some unconventional page layouts, like this one, there are more than 30 panels on the left side of the image!
And I love the way Starlin depicts the mind war between Moondragon and Thanos:
The story from Avengers #125 features pencils by John Buscema with inks by Dave Cockrum. Of course, Cockrum was a great penciler, so we see a nice combination of his and Buscema's art on display here.
Mike Zeck delivers some great pencils and inks too. He only contributed five pages of artwork, but Zeck leaves you wanting more.
The weakest art in the book is found in the Daredevil portion. Don Heck pencils it, with inks by Don Perlin and Sal Trapani. It looks like something from the Silver Age. The last of the Daredevil three-parter was penciled by Bob Brown with inks by Sal Buscema, and it's an improvement.
But the art is generally as great as the writing in Avengers Versus Thanos.
How Does It Look?:
Here's a scan from Captain Marvel #26:
And here's how it appears in Avengers Versus Thanos:
Extras:
A gallery of covers from previous reprints, all drawn by Starlin.
Avengers Versus Thanos contains stories that feature one of the greatest villains of all time in any medium. Jim Starlin was at the height of his storytelling powers and these tales are still as exciting today as they were 1970s. Highly recommended.
4 Sals!
In addition to Starlin, the stories reprinted in Avengers Versus Thanos also contain contributions from several other Bronze Age heavy hitters.
Mike Friedrich wrote and/or scripted several tales in the tpb. Super-Skrull is one of my favorite villains, Friedrich makes good use of him here. Steve Englehart, the best Bronze Age Avengers writer, gives us a good action story from Avengers #125.
Prior to this tpb, I had never read the Daredevil stories written by Steve Gerber. I'm a big Gerber fan, but they're a step down in quality from the other chapters of the book. But it's not bad. Gerber brought his trademark zaniness to the stories and they serve as a bit of a breather from the cosmic level life and death drama found in the rest of Avengers Versus Thanos. This was an interesting time for DD's series, since it was set in San Francisco rather than New York.
 |
| Angar turns on Terrex, Matt Murdock prepares to attack without changing to Daredevil! |
Lastly, Scott Edelman's contribution, "The Final Flower" was short (five pages) but very good.
Art:
Starlin's art evolves throughout the book. It's always good, but in the first story, you can see he's still figuring out how Thanos will look. Starlin also gives us some unconventional page layouts, like this one, there are more than 30 panels on the left side of the image!
And I love the way Starlin depicts the mind war between Moondragon and Thanos:
The story from Avengers #125 features pencils by John Buscema with inks by Dave Cockrum. Of course, Cockrum was a great penciler, so we see a nice combination of his and Buscema's art on display here.
Mike Zeck delivers some great pencils and inks too. He only contributed five pages of artwork, but Zeck leaves you wanting more.
The weakest art in the book is found in the Daredevil portion. Don Heck pencils it, with inks by Don Perlin and Sal Trapani. It looks like something from the Silver Age. The last of the Daredevil three-parter was penciled by Bob Brown with inks by Sal Buscema, and it's an improvement.
 |
| Black Widow, Daredevil & Moondragon tangle with Dark Messiah & Ramrod. |
But the art is generally as great as the writing in Avengers Versus Thanos.
Here's a scan from Captain Marvel #26:
And here's how it appears in Avengers Versus Thanos:
Extras:
A gallery of covers from previous reprints, all drawn by Starlin.
 |
| Spider-Man seeks the Thing's help in defending Earth & saving the Avengers from Thanos. |
Avengers Versus Thanos contains stories that feature one of the greatest villains of all time in any medium. Jim Starlin was at the height of his storytelling powers and these tales are still as exciting today as they were 1970s. Highly recommended.
4 Sals!
I picked it up to keep and read, but once I got through it (I was surprised at just how much I had read before.....), I ended up selling it back. It got a bit tiring to read at one point.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic book, but personally, I'd believe it would be much better served as a larger, coffee table book.
As for Gerber's DD chapters, I really loving them at the time. Being new to DD, I didn't find it out of the ordinary (until DD started heading back into the Noir area with Miller..). Apparently DD fans didn't appreciate Gerbers delve into sci-fi stories; again, I thought it was super. To have the likes of Mar-Vell answering the Widow's questions regarding the essence of life and un-life..? Granted a bit surreal, but that was the Bronze Marvel Universe to me at that time, kooky yet pretty cool. I was never a Heck fan ('cept for early Avengers issues), so mercifully his art was briefly included.
A great book to showcase Starlin's art and imagery. He apparently was offered the FF mag at one point. I still ponder just how the Thanos tale would have evolved if it was through the FF pages instead of the Avengers mag...?