Infinity Crusade, Volume 2 by Jim Starlin

The final volume of the Infinity Trilogy’s last part, and the last major epic (minus the less well-received Infinity Abyss and Thanos: The End, as well as a volume of the series Thanos, all of which are out of print and exorbitantly expensive on top of not seeming to hold up as well) of Jim Starlin before his parting ways with Marvel and moving to DC.

Jumping straight from the first volume of Infinity Crusade, this book begins with the “King Pip” segment that, for all intents and purposes, could have been completely excised from the tale without losing anything. However, after that, we move to the action part of the epic, in which Starlin shows his ability to, like in the prior books, have huge action scenes while still making a deep plot that moves along nicely. As this is the second part of one story, it is hard to do much of a plot recap/teaser, but this book is where everything hits the fan, the army of the Goddess fights with the “Infidels,” and the Goddess attempts to bring her universal Rapture to fruition.

Far better than the first segment, this second volume of Infinity Crusade shows off all of Starlin’s writing talents (after we shift past King Pip), and really brings to bear the philosophical quandary of needing to stop your good side from universal armageddon. The one downside to all of the Infinity Trilogy is that they are from a time when events such as these generally were meant to have no lasting impact, and so we see a lot of everything being returned to normal, as we did in the first two parts, but in this one Starlin includes one final twist that leaves you with more than a couple thoughts after the book is over. This half makes it worth slogging through the first part. A nice wrap-up to a trilogy of company-wide cosmic crossovers that set a standard for the things to come.

8/10

Infinity Crusade, Volume 1 by Jim Starlin

Many of you will recall the first two parts of the “Infinity Trilogy”—Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War—from a little while back here at Luke Reviews. It is finally time to wrap up this trilogy with Infinity Crusade, which is collected in two volumes due to the tale’s length. This will wrap up the background reading to get up to speed with the “cosmic comics” of Marvel, letting us jump on to the new stories being put out now, which will start up sooner rather than later with all three books of Annihilation.

The end of Infinity War was a definite cliff-hanger, where we finally learn what happened to the cosmic containment devices that the Magus was using. It is hinted at that, in opposition to the Magus, Adam Warlock’s male bad side, a then-unnamed female good side had stopped him. Infinity Crusade picks up with that idea, as we learn of this mysterious female good side of Warlock, calling herself the Goddess. She begins by casting Adam Warlock out of this dimension, and then scooping up the most religious-minded heroes and taking them away to a world of her own creating, Paradise Omega. From here, the tale splits three ways, as we follow the machinations of the Goddess and her quest to rid the universe of all evil no matter the cost, the heroes left behind who are trying to discover the kidnapper, and Adam Warlock, who is working behind the scenes to return to the universe and stop his good side.

More than either of the first two books, Infinity Crusade is much more obviously philosophical, with questions of faith thrown everywhere. One character questions the benefit of “too much faith,” while the main goal of the entire series is to stop someone whose goal is too extreme. The proposed “perfect” ruler would be very much one with equal good and bad, making the Goddess just as dangerous as the Magus. These underpinnings are certainly interesting fair.

The downside to this book comes in two prongs. First, as this story was initially told in three intermingling sources, much time is spent recounting minor details that the reader who reads the whole saga knows intimately already. Much more than either of the other volumes in the trilogy, this one has this excessive recounting that is unnecessary. The other down side is that, in the entirety of the first volume, there is almost no action. The entire first half is mostly people standing around talking, going over the same things repeatedly. The tale of Warlock was the most interesting, but with the quick approach of the wrap-up of his solo act and joining with the group, even his tale is starting to slow. While the build-up appears to be coming to an end, both of the other two books manage to integrate action and story-telling in a wonderful way, while this one flounders, and ends up doing little to nothing.

I have high hopes for the second volume, where it seems like things will come to a head, and which will make this first volume a necessary precursor, but I couldn’t help but feel that this prelude could have been so much more.

6/10

Infinity War by Jim Starlin

Wrapping up the Labor Day weekend cosmic graphic novel fest, I read through the second book in the so-called Infinity Trilogy, Infinity War. After the conclusion of Infinity Gauntlet, the universe has apparently returned to order, although we are soon to find out that a nasty surprise is on its way. Magus, the evil portion of Adam Warlock, was expelled when Warlock gained near omnipotence (along with the good of Warlock, the Goddess), as Warlock attempted to become a purely logical god-figure. This evil entity has returned in a big way, gathering together cosmic objects of extreme power, in the hopes of creating his own alternate universe to overlay the current one. Thanos discovers this plan, and alerts Warlock and company, while at the same time a spree of doppelganger attacks on heroes of Earth alert them to a pending threat. Once again, a universe-wide attack ensues, with the fate of eternity in the balance.

While not quite as deep as Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War still manages to be a huge amount of fun. It is faster-paced than Infinity Gauntlet, with more action and over the top cosmic mayhem. After the story of Infinity War, the book contains a number of short pieces that add a lot to the background of the story, with large amounts of solid characterization. It is odd that these are given out of chronological order, as they would have fit nicely between the chapters of the War, but they are still a fun and illuminating read. “The Island!” details what Warlock and his compatriots are up to prior to the Infinity War. “Interlude” takes place, as the name suggests, in the middle of the Infinity War. It builds the relationships between the characters, particularly that of Gamora with her adoptive father Thanos, and her non-love interest Warlock. “Old Wounds” once again focuses on Gamora, as she gives her point of view on a pivotal moment in the War, while “Self-Destructive Tendencies” follows Thanos’ battle with his own doppelganger, as well as his contemplations on supreme power, identity, and sacrifice. By far the deepest part of the book. “I, Thanos” is a four part tale of a hidden interaction between Thanos and Death that takes place during the exact same time as “Interlude.” There is a three page section that explains how the War effected the rest of the universe, and then the final tale, “Yule Memory,” which recounts a Christmas that Thanos and a young Gamora spent together.

All in all, yet another fun cosmic graphic novel at the hands of Jim Starlin. While this book signals a return to straightforward prose, keep an eye out for both volumes of the final part of the trilogy, Infinity Crusade, to appear sooner rather than later.

8/10

Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin

Carrying over from yesterday’s Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (review), we see the beginning of what is sometimes called the Infinity Trilogy (Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, and Infinity Crusade). Following directly from the events in Rebirth, Thanos is now omnipotent, and taking on the entire universe in a show of dominance, as part of his bid to win the cold heart of Mistress Death (death personified). Standing against him are the heroes of the universe, lead by a mysterious man who goes by the name of Warlock, of whom little is known, other than he used to run with the villain. Warlock leads the offensive against impossible odds, with the embodiment of Eternity itself in reserve in case he fails.

What follows is all out war on a universal scale. From heroic but futile attempts by the humans of Earth, to full scale battle between the man who wishes to be god and the gods of the universe (Chaos and Order, Love and Hate, Death, Eternity, etc.), the action is near constant, yet that is far from all that is portrayed in this epic onslaught. Ideas of religion and the meaning of being a god are weaved into the text, along with ideas on what it would mean to hold such power. The ecological and social disasters that humans perpetrate upon the Earth are also a part (as well as in Rebirth), and even the necessity of death makes an appearance. Far more than a tale of heroic beings stopping a nihilistic tyrant from taking the role of god, this tale is an in-depth look at the deeper meaning of controlling fate, and living life without the constant need for more.

A solid beginning to what looks to be a wonderful trilogy.

9/10

Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos by Jim Starlin

As readers from over the summer know, my guilty pleasure of late is an interest in the so-called “cosmic” graphic novels, particularly the ones coming out now as written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and the modern resurgence in their popularity. Yet, I felt that I should catch up on the story a bit, as these underused characters still have very extensive backstories. An earlier review at Luke Reviews for Annihilation Classic was the beginning of this history lesson, and this long labor day weekend gave me the opportunity to read a few more of the books that were fore-runners to what is out today. Much of these tales revolves around the character Thanos (so much so that these books—Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Infinity Crusade Volumes 1 & 2, Infinity Abyss, and Thanos: The End—are collectively known as the Thanos Chronicles), whose story doesn’t begin with the volume in question, but Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos still serves as a solid jumping-on point. Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos contains two main stories, as well as a very short addendum, and thus it will be reviewed on a story by story basis.

Rebirth of Thanos: The Silver Surfer (corny name, interesting character) falls upon the Temple of Death, where Death herself has decided that she needs a new champion. The Surfer gets to witness the rebirth, before being confronted by Death’s newest thrall, Thanos. We learn of Death’s desire to match the number of dead with the number of living, and the acting out of the plan: to kill 50% of all life in the entire universe. Thanos begins this task, and the Silver Surfer must stop him. A well-written, fun tale, with a villain that legitimately claims ecological and ethical reasons for his universe-wide genocide.

The Thanos Quest: After the events of Rebirth of Thanos, Thanos wishes to expedite the process of fulfilling Death’s desire (although the devious villain has more up his sleeve than at first it would seem), and searches out the Infinity Gems. These six precious stones each contain a power of an ancient, god-like entity, and when combined, give the bearer near-absolute power over all of reality. Another interesting tale that continues the trend of a complete, not totally evil villain. Thanos becomes a very human, very easy to relate to being, and his motive for his actions is one that is very easy to rationalize, making his evil even more dark.

The final bit is the short piece “The Final Flower!” which was also contained in Annihilation Classic, so quoting from that review:

“The Final Flower!” by Scott Edelman: A very short tale with a science fictional bend to it at the end, well worth reading. If you changed the names of the main characters, and removed the pictures, this could have worked as a solid science fiction piece in any magazine today.

All-in-all, this was a very fun read. Well worth the time and cost of admission, and a nice primer for the future tales in this universe. Of note: this book’s ending leads directly into Infinity Gauntlet, thus leaving you with a minor cliff-hanger. Be prepared to have Infinity Gauntlet on hand, as you won’t want to have to wait to find out what happens next.

9/10