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The Infinity Gauntlet

May 14, 2018

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the film Avengers: Infinity War, because the internet is a cruel place.

By now, more people know the names of all the Infinity Stones than they do the names of the Supreme Court justices, but don’t let the death of civic engagement get you down. There are other tragedies in the universe, like the ending of Avengers: Infinity War. If that movie left you feeling a few heroes shy of super, why not go back to the source?

First published in 1991, The Infinity Gauntlet was a six-issue mini-series written by Thanos co-creator Jim Starlin and drawn by George Perez and Ron Lim. The plot is pretty much the same as Infinity War (the movie, not the comic--more on that later): Thanos gets all the Infinity Stones, wipes out half the population of the universe to try and impress Mistress Death, and the heroes of the Marvel Universe try to stop him. If the movie left you feeling bereaved, there’s hope: in the comics, it all works out okay.

This series was followed up by the sequels The Infinity War (1992) and The Infinity Crusade (1993). It’s a safe bet elements of those series will eventually find their way to your local multiplex sooner or later.

Comic book panel of man expressing horror avatar

Jeremy

Jeremy Estes has worked for Nashville Public Library since 2008. He loves comic books and dislikes the term “graphic novels”. He hosts Panel Discussion, a comics book club for adults, on the first Wednesday of the month at 12pm at the Main Library.