Gang, our Thanos #2 review is a little SPOILER-Y, so…check back with us after you’ve read the issue. Oh? Still here? Thank you!
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Mike Deodato
Color Artist: Frank Martin
You want to get psyched for Avengers: Infinity War? You want get psyched for the cinematic arrival of Thanos, the Mad Titan? Then read Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato’s new Thanos series, because holy mother of Starlin, is this craziness epic!
(Oh, and check out our review of Thanos #1 RIGHT HERE if you missed it. Ready? All caught up? Good. Let’s move on to issue #2).
Jeff Lemire just gets Thanos. The writer of Underwater Welder and Sweet Tooth just understands how Thanos thinks, acts, moves, and plots. Lemire understands the nuances of Thanos’ dialogue and the nature of the Mad Titan’s psyche. Lemire is presenting a master class in Jim Starlin and Thanos is truly one of Marvel’s best current books.
Take Thanos #2 for instance, a comic that presents the climatic encounter between Thanos and his father, Mentor. The relationship between Thanos and Mentor has been at the core of Thanos mythology since the Starlin days, and in Thanos #2, Lemire presents a denouncement of this father and son conflict that fans of Marvel cosmic will not soon forget.
Then, Lemire presents a gathering of anti-Thanos cosmic entities. There’s the son of Thanos, Thane, brother of Thanos, Starfox, pseudo granddaughter of Thanos, Nebula, and adversary of Thanos the Champion of the Universe. Lemire brings these four long-time space characters to life, infusing them with the same awesome energy that Starlin did years ago and adding his own modern twist to make this new Thanos title a perfect melding of the past and present.
A reader does not have to be familiar with the Starlin work of old to appreciate Lemire’s Thanos, but if one is, Lemire’s work is enhanced to a great degree. Infuse Lemire’s note-perfect, hyperbolic cosmic prose with Mike Deodato’s sense of design and you have a near-perfect comic.
In my head space, Thanos has replaced Star Wars: Darth Vader as the go to place to find a meditation on the nature of cosmic villainy, and I really can’t think of a greater compliment than that. If Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers want a narrative model sheet to find their voice and inspiration for the cinematic Thanos, they should look no further than Lemire and Deodato’s cosmic masterpiece of brutality.
