Thanos: The Infinity Siblings

Thanos: The Infinity Saga

by Jim Starlin, Alan Davis (Illustrator), Christopher Markus (Introduction)

Jim Starlin and Alan Davis return in the first of a new trilogy! The Mad Titan has everything he ever wanted - but satisfaction is not in Thanos' vocabulary. When a temporal distortion on Titan draws his attention, he finds the purpose he's been searching for: saving himself! An old enemy lurks in the far future, and it'll take the combined wits of Thanos, his brother Eros, and time-travel master Kang the Conqueror to stop it - and save the multiverse. But there are other players in this cosmic chess game - and Thanos may fi nd himself outmatched! What lies ahead for the so-called Avatar of Death?

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Science Fiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2018

About the author

James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine.

In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).

When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (

In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.

Reviews

[Chad]

Do we really need another Infinity trilogy? Especially when the first part is just over a 100 pages for $25 bucks? That being said, Starlin does do some interesting things with Eros's character. That's a difficult thing to do for a character as dull as Eros. But Kang's mildly involved in this and there's enough time travel to make your head spin plus multiple versions of Eros and Thanos running around. It's almost impossible to follow the actual plot of this clod.

[Sud666]

There is nearly an infinite number of Infinity Gauntlet related stories out there. I exaggerate but it often does seem that way. Now we have the Infinity Siblings.

The story was not terrible. Thanos is approached by his brother Eros. The plan is to help Thanos stop a future Thanos from becoming all powerful. Sounds strange but it's true. More than that I will not spoil. The entire time traveling adventure with two sets of Eros and two sets of Thanos was interesting. Kang's motivations were also not bad-at least as to why he was working with Thanos. I wish the volume were longer because there is a lot going on here. The relationship between Thanos and Eros is always an interesting read and Eros, while no Thanos, can be an insufferable prick.

The artwork is good, though not great. There is nothing particularly bad about this story, but there is nothing great either. The whole Infinity thing is getting a bit long in the tooth. I've read some that are good and some, like this, that are meh. At some point, I may read more of these. But, for now, I am Infinitied out for a bit. Going to take a break.

[˗ˏˋ n a j v a ˊˎ˗]

★★★★½

Jim Starlin, the writer that you are; the imagination that you have..!
The first volume of the second trilogy introduces a new character, finally, the mysterious Eros —the younger brother of the Mad Titan. He had been mentioned before in previous issues but now we finally get a chance to know him (at least by the hands of Mister Starlin). His character is well-built and amusing enough to keep reading and wondering what will happen to him. I'd personally love to read comics specifically about him specially written by Jim Starlin.
The story is a bit confusing — I mean, it's about time travel after all! Eros shows up and tells Thanos about the other version of him that will come into existence so he has a plan to stop that. That's all I'm gonna tell you without spoiling or making sense! So here's another exciting issue to enjoy the arts and graphics and criticize the form of storytelling.
Criticize, why? because I see many people loathing Stalin's style so much that looks like he is not one of Marvel's best writers... yeah fine it sometimes gets confusing, doesn't make sense or is repetitive or or or; but THIS is how Mister Jim works! and I personally love him for that.
Anyways, even if the story doesn't interest you, you can't resist but love the art. you can keep turning the pages over and just enjoy the beautifully drawn graphics. Jim and Alan? that's a yes! an iconic duo really...

[Paul]

More of Jim Starlin's painfully pretentious overblown cosmic tosh beautifully illustrated by Alan Davis.

Story: 2 stars

Artwork: 4 stars

[Chris Lemmerman]

Jim Starlin is back for a second and final (because Marvel are dicks to him) trilogy with his favourite character, Thanos, and he's bringing his big brother Eros along for the ride.

This takes a long time to really kick into high gear. I know this is part one of another trilogy, but it takes maybe two thirds of this book before things really start moving, and we spend a lot of time around characters that are basically inconsequential (I'm really not sure what Starlin's deal with Pip The Troll is, either) before we get to the nitty gritty Thanos stuff in the final third.

The ending is a compelling set-up, which is what saves this from a two star rating, but it's a hell of a slog to get to the interesting bits. As usual though, Starlin plays with some brilliant cosmic concepts and pits Thanos against a 'villain' that only he could defeat; there's a reason Starlin's the be all and end all on Thanos stuff, after all.

Alan Davis's art fits Starlin's style easily; they have a very similar style of drawing, although Davis tends to make everyone taller and sleeker than Starlin would. There are some great double page spreads with about a hundred characters on them that are worth spending some time over just picking out the details.

The Infinity Siblings is very clearly Part One of Three, but it could have done with a bit more gas at the beginning to get up that first 30/40 page hump.

[Dimitris Papastergiou]

I liked it. It wasn't something amazing, but it wasn't boring either. A nice story. Thanos being himself as always and the new trilogy that unravels at the end and with what Thanos is going to go up against is interesting.

A bit confusing at times because it goes against the current Thanos ongoing series, and the characters it includes and stuff that happened to them etc. Basically, lots of differences between the 2 titles. Starlin should have followed up with that. Because to the reader is frustrating and confusing to say the least.
Example: Thanos' father Mentor is mentioned that he's been killed by Ultron?! When he was killed by Thanos like, in the first volume of the ongoing of Thanos.

Anyway, all in all it was a fun read and an interesting at that. I'm definitely buying the next GN.

[Eric K]

Read slowly and carefully...

...and be prepared to go back and re-read pages, anyway. This is a layered and complex story, involving time travel, multiple incarnations of selves, and Events of Great Cosmic Significance. It's Jim Starlin writing Thanos, after all! And it's wonderful to behold.

[Judah Radd]

This review is not going to make sense. Bear with me.

I don’t recommend this. The plot is so convoluted that it barely makes sense.

That being said, I like it. Why? Because I like Jim’s style. I like how his imagination works. He writes like he doesn’t give a fuck what people think, and I respect that. These are his characters, and goddamit, he’d gonna do what he wants with them!

I’m not even going to try to summarize the story. It draws a lot from Thanos: Redemption. Hunger, Kang, Pip and all the usual Starlin characters are here. Warlock appears as well. The gems are mentioned. It’s a Starlin’s greatest hits album, in many ways.

Alan Davis is a brilliant artist. His work has an oldschool style, but feels fresh and new due to Ciane Dusk’s dazzling color work.

Definitely an enjoyable (if perplexing) book. For hardcore Jim Starlin fans only!

[Brent Ecenbarger]

The last time Jim Starlin and Alan Davis were telling Thanos stories, it was for Thanos: The Infinity Finale. Much like Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Friday, the finale was just a pause in the action as in addition to Thanos: The Infinity Siblings there's even another Thanos graphic novel that I haven't gotten around to reading out there called Thanos: The Infinity Conflict.

This installment of Thanos's story picks up with Thanos in a relationship with Death, but still a feeling of being incomplete affecting him. The main players that bring him out of action are his brother Eros/Starfox (hence the title of the story) and Kang the Conqueror. On an alien world, the sudden evolutionary jump of a single alien named Ghost will spring a series of events that will greatly affect both Kang and Thanos in the far future. Kang returns to multiple different times in Thanos's life to change history, and Eros spends 2,000 years of his life setting up a trap for one man or the other.

The best think I can say about this book is Thanos's characterization feels accurate and Alan Davis's art is gorgeous. (Alan Davis's art is always great, one of the all time greats in the medium.) Those two factors alone bring it up to three stars. The story was confusing at times with all of the time jumping, and Ghost's storyline felt so rushed that he wasn't much more than a macguffin instead of a character. Overall, not a high point for the Thanos graphic novel series, but not a bad read either.

[Roman Colombo]

It's a lot stronger than some of Starlin's recent work, and a promising start to a new trilogy. I really liked what he did with Eros, but his Thanos seems to be getting stale.

[Todd Glaeser]

Alan Davis's art is always impressive!

[John]

The Marvel cosmology was something that fascinated me as a child, (like middle-school age) when i remember being in the car on a ride to Canada. The story of the Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos seemed like such an epic story, that and the creatures that inhabited the world was epic and made the universe seemed vast and unknowable.

Subsequent delves into this universe (particularly by Starlin) seemed to glean less and less. The stories got less epic and more insular. Thanos became less captivating (until Annihilation and Donny Cate's recent series). These stories eat themselves, each times they claim they are the "last Thanos Story". It's been the third or so time this has been pronounced.

So, really--a time travel story about Thanos trying to become his future self (i.e. usurping death is both inspired, and already been done a bit--at least recently by Donny Gates). It's about omniscience being boring. Starlin claims this is last story for Marvel, so I want to wrap this little part of obsession of mine closed. But I wish it wasn't even unfurled in the first place.

[Ma'Belle]

I dunno about this Jim Starlin, OR the in-universe bar he named after himself. This is the most recent Thanos graphic novel by his creator, and in it, Starlin spins himself and the readers in dizzying circles of time travel and strategic scheming. It's *infinitely* (lol) more readable and enjoyable than Infinity Abyss, and it actually seems to possibly connect with other happenings in Marvel that I care about - namely, some cosmic shifts that have been hinted at in The Ultimates ... but it's still not that great of a story. Thanos and Kang finally meet and pontificate in the third person, and there's a somewhat interesting twist at the end, but I'm losing my interest in these books of Starlin's.

[Adam Fisher]

Thanos will soon die. At least that's what a time-displaced version of his brother Eros tells him. This cannot be, so Thanos must take on a new quest: saving himself!
This story was kind of all over the place. While it is easy to understand when you can see the whole picture, but whenever you get Kang involved, everything seems to go crazy with time. The most important thing to remember is that Thanos has now seen a future (seemingly set into motion) where he becomes Death itself, and not merely an avatar. This, of course, loses him the favor of Lady Death, but he does end up preventing his own future demise.
What will Thanos do next?

Recommend, but with slight hesitation. The cosmic side of Marvel can be confusing at times.

[Alex E]

Jim Starlin serves up another serving of cosmic philosophizing with everyone's favorite mad Titan, and in this one... things get convoluted.

I usually enjoy Starlin's meditations on eternity, good vs evil, inevitability, and various other themes especially since he tends to use Thanos as his protagonist. However, this was a bit much for me. The addition of time travel makes the plot almost indecipherable for me as we jump back in forth from the present, to the far future, to the past, to the not so distant future, etc... all while hiding key plot points that are revealed towards the end of the book. Even Thanos is at a loss towards the end as we don't know everyone's true motivations and secret plans.

One thing that was a huge redemption was Alan Davis' art. I'm not a big fan of his. I know, I know, comic book blasphemy, but its true. Its just not my cup of tea. But in this book, his art is so good, that I had to make sure that it was him and not him along with another artist collaborating. I want to say that this is probably some of his best recent work, but then again, I may not be the best judge of Mr. Davis in general.

Overall, this was a bit of a miss for me personally. But it wont stop me from checking out future installments of Thanos as he navigates the infinite truths and molds forces of nature to his whims.

[Ray]

Perhaps there are too many of these Thanos by Jim Starlin graphic novels from the 2010s, but I'm a sucker for them and I enjoyed this.

In the mid-2010s, Starlin did a trilogy with the Infinity Revelation, The Infinity Relativity, and the Infinity Finale. He even illustrated them (although his longtime collaborator Ron Lim drew the Ending), and it seemed that was that. Thanos and Warlock, the story was over. The last one even had finale in the name.

Then he returned in the late 2010s for yet another trilogy beginning with the Infinity Siblings. Perhaps it was a little cynical, to capitalize on the huge Infinity War movie at the time, but it's still a valid graphic novel. And the art by Alan Davis! After previously doing a Guardians of the Galaxy arc with Starlin, the legendary artist did a phenomenal job with this new trilogy. I'm looking forward to the next chapter in the story, until it gets to the real very last ending after so many decades of Jim Starlin's cosmic saga...

A complicated time travel story about Eros, the younger brother of Thanos who is seen far less, involving Kang and Pip but not Adam Warlock.

[Andrew]

Jim Starlin returns to one of his most beloved Marvel Comics creations: the mad god, Thanos. While currently enjoying mainstream success as the villain of the movie Avengers: Infinity War (still in theaters as I write this), the comic book Thanos is a complex, three-dimensional character who, in the hands of the right creators, makes for a fascinating lead character in his own right. Here, Starlin gives us a complicated, time-twisty story of Thanos and his brother, Eros, as they work to prevent a dire future from coming about. While Starlin is still a great artist and has illustrated some of his own Thanos stories recently, here, he is aided by artists Alan Davis and Mark Farmer. Davis is one of my personal favorite artists, and here he brings a great deal of beauty and imagination to the otherworldly settings. He also brings some dynamic and powerful action sequences to the page. This volume is only the start of a new story, and ends on something of a cliffhanger, but it is well worth picking up to see two comics masters work their magic on a brilliant character.

[Travis]

Maybe Starlin has gone to the Thanos well once too often.
It's all big, cosmic and time-whimey and the art is beautiful to look at, but it's not quite clicking.

Maybe because, while Starlin writes Thanos better than anybody, he doesn't have the same handle on his brother Eros.
Starfox just comes across as Adam Warlock-lite. you could plug almost any marvel space character in his place in this story.

Or maybe it's because this feels like a retread of what's come before.

There are lots of good ideas and moments here, but it's creating an unsatisfying whole.
I know this is book one of a trilogy, but instead of rushing to part two because I have to know what comes next, I'm getting it in hopes that it's better than part one.

[Jamie Connolly]

Paradox after paradox. It could be a bit confusing and bounce around a bit. So I had to double check things a few times. But ultimately if was very intriguing. I’m in for the rest of the trilogy. It was smartly done. Starlin does cosmic marvel better than anyone. The apply doesn’t fall far from the tree and thanos is, after all, his baby. 4 stars and lots of potential in the next book. I do hate that these are $25 though and not even all that long. So to read the whole trilogy will cost $75 and take less than 3 hours. Doesn’t seem right. Well whatever, obviously I still bought it. Supply and demand I guess.

[Mike]

Did not care for Alan Davis' art as much as Starlin's or Lim's but still loved the stories Jim Starlin is weaving with Thanos. The plot is fairly complex but resolves itself in an interesting way.

I just can't stand how Marvel is foolish enough to not treat Starlin better. He left Marvel which means that no more Thanos stories will be written by him. He is the creator of the character and yet they were not willing to give him preference when another writer wrote a similar story to the one Starlin was working on but went with the other writers instead. I hope the conflict gets resolved so we can get more quality tales like this one.

[Sean]

Jim Starlin is at it again as he tells another large scale Thanos story. This time we get Starfox, Kang, Death, and enough time travel to cause headaches. The book kind of felt like an over-ambitious heist movie where all the characters find out what happens at the end and no one, literally, no one knows what's going on. The big bad is also a letdown. I've always enjoyed the weirdness that is the siblings, Thanos and Eros. Here its even more complicated with future versions of both. Alan Davis did a great job with the art chores. Overall, a little too much going on but the big picture developments and Davis's art are worth your time.

[Dubzor]

I love Starlin's old stuff, but this is just needlessly conveluted. Sure the dialogue is great and Thanos is as engaging as he always was, the whole non-linear storytelling angle with this one is just baffling.

At no point do you have any clear idea as to what is going on, the time travel aspects are confusing thanks to the fixed reality approach...

It's a shame, because no one does Thanos or Marvel Cosmic like Starlin. But this...this is just trash.

[Adan]

I mean, it was fine, I guess. I’m not certain Starlin isn’t just retreading the same ground he always does, but at least this one has Kang and time travel to go along with the rest of the cosmic shenanigans. It also casts the unrepentant serial rapist Eros as the hero of sorts, so that’s a negative.

Alan Davis still draws real pretty, though. I love his and Mark Farmer’s clean lines, and Ciane Dusk’s muted colors.

[Rockito]

Thanos is again caught in the machinations of cosmical beings that make control the fate of the universe. This time however, he faces the most unlikely foe ever.
This new trilogy is feeling less complicated than the previos one, in a good way. The story flows nicely and the twists and turn are satisfactory. I'm pumped for the next OGN.

[B]

There's no doubt that this book thinks it's much cleverer than it is. The third time we revisit the same scene . . . . We get it, we get it. But Starlin could make an entire book where Thanos walks through a forest identifying the different kind of trees magisterial and entertaining. So this is, too.

[Rocky Sunico]

These Starlin books just get crazier and crazier and I don't know why I expected this trilogy to be any different. We have a new angle that is somewhat anchored on the likes of Eros and for some reason Pip the Troll as they leverage Kang's time travel technology to at times help and later stop Thanos because of reasons!

As far as story setups, this doesn't quite give us a lot to work with.

[Villain E]

A cosmic epic which actually feels like an epic. Eros partners with Kang for a story which goes through space and time. Is he also partnering with Thanos or is he out to destroy him?

Always solid art by Alan Davis. Eros is usually portrayed as flighty, but in this he's identified as a sociopath on the page.

[Chad Blue]

I started here not knowing there was a previous trilogy so after I finish this set I will go back. Not sure how much they connect. This was a great story but very confusing. Found myself flipping the pages back a lot to figure out all the different times the story took place.

[Jim Ordolis]

Jim Starlin and "cosmic" truly is something special. The first in a series of three original graphic novels featuring his most famous Marvel Comics creation Thanos the Madman of Titan and his brother Eros.

[James Palmer]

Epic Thanos

Jim Starlin does it again! The Mad Titan returns in a twisted tale of time travel and cosmic threats as only Jim Starlin can bring it.