The Infinity Gauntlet represented a different time for comic books. Though the shift towards modern comics had begun, harkened onwards by titles like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, the writing in the 1990s still remained largely outlandish with campy interior monologuing and over-the-top setpieces that pushed the realms of imagination and power scope into that of an anime. Jim Starlin's 1991 hit proved to be no exception, the infamous storyline where the mad titan Thanos uses six infinity gems (later renamed stones due to the mythos of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) to eliminate half of all life in the universe.
Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past three years should find this premise immediately recognizable, as it was used as the punchline for the insanely popular movies Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Thanos does acquire all six gems/stones and does eradicate half of all life, but the similarities between comic and movie end there. The power of the infinity gauntlet is buffed significantly in the comics, to the point where Thanos practically becomes the entity of Marvel itself. This is further commented on when cosmic beings of universe-controlling proportion like Eternity show up to stop Thanos, an all-consuming battle that fractures reality as people know it, and is so grand in cosmic scope that the writers were not quite sure how to illustrate it, thus leading to almost three full pages of red explosions and then Thanos just winning.
Popular heroes like the Avengers and X-Men are an afterthought here, they don't hold a candle to the type of power being dealt with. In fact, Thanos deactivates all of the gems except one just so he can amuse himself and not wipe them from existence in the blink of an eye. It was the result of the cosmic age of Marvel and DC, when someone was too powerful so a new, more powerful character was created to check them, who could then only be beaten by another, newer, more powerful character. So on and so forth until people like Captain America are laughably useless whenever a new threat arises. Star Wars ran into the same problem with their expanded universe, which is one of the reasons why Disney scrapped it when they acquired the franchise (although it was mostly to tell their own stories and make their own money. Thanks Mouse).
As such, while The Infinity Gauntlet is a fun read of omnipotence, it leaves a newer reader needing a cup of tea and grounded television show to unwind from what they just witnessed. When the main character casually dislocates Earth from its orbit by hitting their hand on the ground in frustration, readers might start to lose their relatability to the hero versus villain philosophies of superhero comics. Granted, Thanos isn't even doing this because he is dastardly, he's doing it out of love... with the entity of death itself. What?
Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past three years should find this premise immediately recognizable, as it was used as the punchline for the insanely popular movies Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Thanos does acquire all six gems/stones and does eradicate half of all life, but the similarities between comic and movie end there. The power of the infinity gauntlet is buffed significantly in the comics, to the point where Thanos practically becomes the entity of Marvel itself. This is further commented on when cosmic beings of universe-controlling proportion like Eternity show up to stop Thanos, an all-consuming battle that fractures reality as people know it, and is so grand in cosmic scope that the writers were not quite sure how to illustrate it, thus leading to almost three full pages of red explosions and then Thanos just winning.
Popular heroes like the Avengers and X-Men are an afterthought here, they don't hold a candle to the type of power being dealt with. In fact, Thanos deactivates all of the gems except one just so he can amuse himself and not wipe them from existence in the blink of an eye. It was the result of the cosmic age of Marvel and DC, when someone was too powerful so a new, more powerful character was created to check them, who could then only be beaten by another, newer, more powerful character. So on and so forth until people like Captain America are laughably useless whenever a new threat arises. Star Wars ran into the same problem with their expanded universe, which is one of the reasons why Disney scrapped it when they acquired the franchise (although it was mostly to tell their own stories and make their own money. Thanks Mouse).
As such, while The Infinity Gauntlet is a fun read of omnipotence, it leaves a newer reader needing a cup of tea and grounded television show to unwind from what they just witnessed. When the main character casually dislocates Earth from its orbit by hitting their hand on the ground in frustration, readers might start to lose their relatability to the hero versus villain philosophies of superhero comics. Granted, Thanos isn't even doing this because he is dastardly, he's doing it out of love... with the entity of death itself. What?
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