Ron Lim

Starts off rather intriguing, as Thanos kills off half the universe to please Death and we see various entities struggle to come to terms with this, but then becomes a rather dull slugfest of (useless) attacks and explosions against his omnipotence. The finale rights the ship a lot, though, as the story again gets rooted in character and (mostly) ceases its parade of pointless and unsatisfactory guest star heroes.

There's also a disappointing lack of major heroes dying in the apocalypse -- show more the Fantastic Four do, but they go off-screen and aren't even explicitly lamented in dialogue. The closest we get is seeing Hawkeye vanish, but when Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Wolverine, Cyclops, Spider-Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer all remain (even though nearly none of them play a notable role or purpose in the story), the resonance with the reader is rather hamstrung. This problem also coincides largely with the weaker middle issues.

It was still well worth reading, mainly for the -- honestly great -- concluding pages, where we once again return to it being Thanos' personal story, as begun in the pages of "Thanos Quest" where he gathered the Infinity Gems in the first place. But considering the tonnage of famous comic arcs out there, you could, unfortunately, probably do better than prioritising this one among the first couple of dozen. show less

The "Silver Surfer" issues covering the first half of the volume are solid, but a little uneven. They mostly serve as set up and backstory for Thanos' motivations and plans. The "Thanos Quest" miniseries making up the second half of the collection, though, where Thanos is the protagonist as he schemes and brutalizes his way through the cosmos gathering Infinity Gems from the various Elder Beings currently controlling them, is a wonderful piece of comic book history, and well deserving of its show more fame and reputation. Recommended! show less

Oof, wow, this one's really suffered from the way every Marvel event since about 2004 has rehashed it. There are a couple of individual scenes that still really work--Namor and She-Hulk struggling to escape the killer mould that Thanos has set to growing on them, the killing of Iron Man (he gets his head torn off off-panel and then it bounces into the frame) managing to be so understated and yet so much more gruesome than your modern muscle-pose bloodgasms (Cyclops getting in the tiniest of show more victories by throwing Thanos off-balance and then asphyxiating with his head encased in a block of clear force, Mephisto replaying the role of Satan tempting Christ with the newly-ascended deity, Thanos at the end in his simple tunic and his field. But there are so many more that don't, that we're inured to now, and when you're yawning at, like, the total destruction of the Japanese islands or the wiping out of half the life in the universe or the final stand of the cosmic gods, something is rotten in the 616, you know what I mean? show less

It's arguably the most flawed, yet brilliant, Marvel mini-series that changed the history of comics. There are numerous things that annoyed me through the first half of this collection. However, it kind of grew on me and by the end, it was just sheer fun.

Jim Starlin created Thanos and revamped Adam Warlock in the 70s, writing them successfully in several series. After over a decade-long hiatus, when he returned to Marvel, he wanted to bring them back big time! The only problem was, that he show more had killed them both before and got Silver Surfer to run instead. To make The Infinity Gauntlet happen, he needed to pull several tricks. As the result, the introduction of these three main characters in this mini-series is very awkward and makes no sense for a reader not familiar with other comic series. So the whole book gets off to a bumpy start.

Once the story gets going it becomes EPIC! (yeah, all caps)
The dialogues (and monologs) are dramatic, the art is appropriately spectacular, and everything feels larger-than-life. There is no irony or jokes to undercut this grandiose setting. It's kind of pompous but also adequate to the stakes (the end of the universe). It might take a while to get used to but eventually one can really enjoy this style.

At least as long as authors keep the story on track. There are strange moments where we get a page or two that has little to do with the main story and seems to be an unnecessary distraction. I assume these are links to events described in other Marvel comics at the time of The Infinity Saga publication. Nevertheless, they break the flow and make me wonder "Why authors decided to show me this? Why now?".

Despite all those issues, the story pulled me in and I couldn't put the book away. Somehow it all works pretty great. The story and art feel dated and, by modern standards, are not very remarkable. However, it must have been groundbreaking in the early 90s. The audacity and vision necessary to bring this story to life and get it published are the most impressive. This was the first Marvel crossover of this cosmic scale and it delivers what it promises. It started the Marvel (comics) Universe as we know it and was fundamental to the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (love it or hate it).

I should have rated it 3 stars at most, but when I finished it I thought "It was fun!". The Infinity Gauntlet is such an important milestone in comics history that deserves more - an oldie but a goldie. It clearly comes from a different era of comics but can still entertain, impress, and it's a joy to read. show less