Infinity Gauntlet, Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War

Some nitpicks that I came across as I discussed the movie with my wife over the past 24 hours.

I got really tired of the emotional anguish that the writers kept inflicting on the heroes, mostly  because of how repetitive it got. The situations came in two flavors:

1 - A tortures B until C gives up D.

A	B	C	D
Thanos	Thor	Loki	Tesseract
Thanos	Nebula	Gamora	Soul Stone location
Thanos	Iron Man	Dr Strange	Time Stone

There’s never any suspense.  C always gives it up.

2 - A struggles with the decision to kill B so that C can’t get D.

A	B	C	D
Star-Lord	Gamora	Thanos	Soul Stone location
Scarlet Witch	Vision	Thanos	Mind Stone

Somewhat surprisingly, A always goes through with it.  Unfortunately, the tough decision is always negated by Thanos’ ability prevent the death, robbing the previously tense moment of any impact.  (It’s interesting to note that the heroes are always okay with the sacrifice if it’s by their own hand. They don’t have the stomach to passively watch it happen.)   

Infinity Gauntlet 1-6

I started collection comics two times in my life.  The first came when I was in elementary school, and the only thing I bought was Marvel’s Transformers.  I stopped after four or five years. The second came in 1991, and Infinity Gauntlet 5 is the second non-Transformers comic that I ever bought. Nostalgia colors this review to no small degree.

My second step in a life-long journey.

I jumped ahead in my collection to read this today.  The movie obviously inspired me to read the source material.  

This series feels placid and small-scale in comparison to the hyperkinetic pageantry of the film. Despite the epic nature of its contents, it still feels like a Broadway version of the movie, constrained in what it’s able to show.  The Thanos/heroes fight, in particular, feels staged. There’s a Bruce Lee-esque quality to it, where small group of people take their best shot at Thanos while everyone else hangs back.  Which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a jarring shift after the chaos of Infinity War. (And it’s not like the movie didn’t do the same thing at the end as Wanda destroys the Mind Stone.)

These two covers work so well together.

For me, issue 5 is where it’s at.  The confrontation between Thanos and the cosmic beings blew my middle school mind, showing me conflict at a scale that I had never seen before.  Even today, the words of Jim Starlin bring a thrill to my soul.

Many of the edicts of nature fall victim to the assault.  I sense near collapse along the entire spectrum of reality.

I honestly can’t tell you if it’s good writing or the rose-tinted remembrances long ago, but it doesn’t really matter.  It combined with Ron Lim’s awe-inspiring art to create the perfect experience for a new comic reader.

     

Reading it 27 years later, Infinity Gauntlet still entertains.  It’s very much a relic of its time; I suspect that a reboot of the story would read very differently today.  But I love it for what it is, and for showing me a glimpse of what this medium is capable of.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty Good