Review: The Thanos Quest “One Shot/Re-print”
The Thanos Quest – One Shot is a reprint of Jim Starlin’s 1990’s mini-series of
the same name, penciled by Ron Lim, and inked by John Beatty. I happen to think it
absolutely rocked, having recently discovered a penchant for Marvel’s more science-
fiction oriented offerings, and would be happy to tell you why.
The issue begins with Thanos himself, standing before the Infinity Well,
surveying the vastness of the cosmos as he reflects that, though thought is sometimes
limited, the subconscious can, aided by the Well, be freed from all barriers, and render all
things possible. In order to achieve this, Thanos knows he needs great power, and seeks it
in the form of the six Soul Gems, which he later begins to refer to as Infinity Gems. He
begins the mini-series as the thrall of Death, personified as a mute, female corpse; they
converse via an intermediary, and Thanos convinces Death to allow him to undertake his
Thanos Quest.
I’m not going to go into detail as to the little vignettes that play out as Thanos
pursues each gem. All of them are in the hands of “Elders,” powerful beings who, despite
the wisdom their title implies, have no idea what they’ve got a hold of. Thanos outfights,
outmaneuvers, and outthinks each of them to successfully gain the six Infinity Gems, one
of which had formerly belonged to Adam Warlock, a character Starlin was instrumental
in reshaping during his ‘70s run on the character’s book, which he wrote and drew. These
encounters are all interesting because Thanos, a character I had long seen as a villain, is
shown to be direct and honorable (for the most part) in his dealings with the Elders, often
repeating the phrase “Thanos always honors his pledges.”
Also quite interesting is the fact that, after he collects all of the Infinity Gems,
Thanos prostrates himself before Death, only to be told that he is now more powerful
than herself, and, instead of becoming, as promised, her equal, he should now sit above
her. She even summons him a bone-throne, but will not speak to him directly. In an
initially unexplained rage, Thanos uses the power of the Infinity Gems to turn her
intermediary into a bloody explosion, stalking off instead of assuming his throne.
Narration then reveals to us that he loves Death, and, though he could use the power of
the Infinity Gems to force her to speak to him directly, he wanted her, basically, to love
him of her own free will. What a touch of humanity, especially after establishing Thanos
as adhering to a personal code of honor, to have the mighty Titan brought low, having
gained the power of a g-d, but lost a closeness with the one he loves.
As is often the case when presented with an overwhelming amount of material to
review, in seeking not to simply re-state the plot, the review becomes abbreviated,
stepping back to note a few key things in favor of detailed dissection of the various
elements of the book. In this case, I feel less bad about it, because the book’s structure
and how it’s going to play out is rather obvious: 6 gems, 6 confrontations, Thanos always
wins. What was engaging was the cosmic/psychedelic art with which the book was
pulled off, as well as the experience of reading it with the knowledge that so-many more
confrontations were waiting for me behind the next page-turn. Not only was I inclined
not to do so, but I now pledge not to ruin the fun of reading this issue by detailing it in its
minutiae! Suffice it to say that it’s a worthwhile re-print of a somewhat olden booke that
TOTALLY holds up next to its modern counterpart. This one’s about the ride, if you ask
me, and it’s well worth it! Have fun!
