Thanos Quest
Encyclopedia
The Thanos Quest was a two-issue comic book
limited series
published from September to October in 1990 by Marvel Comics
. The series was written by Jim Starlin
, and drawn by Ron Lim
.
The storyline is a continuation of the events - involving resurrected Starlin-character Thanos
- featured in the title Silver Surfer
. The storyline leads directly into three consecutive limited series, The Infinity Gauntlet; Infinity War
and Infinity Crusade
.
discovers the true nature of the six Infinity Gems
after gazing into Death's Infinity Well. Convincing Death that possession of the gems will aid him tremendously in his quest, he gains her permission to seek them out from the cosmic entities that currently possessed them.
In Part One of the Thanos Quest, Thanos first travels to the Nexus of Reality where the concept being the In-Betweener
is being imprisoned by Lord Chaos and Master Order; after freeing him from the sphere in which he is being incarcerated, Thanos forcibly takes the Soul Gem from the In-Betweener, whose powers are useless at the heart of the realm of Chaos and Order.
Thanos next seeks out Champion
on a planet called Tamarata, where he has been testing his combat prowess against the planet's numerous armies. Challenging him to single combat, Thanos tricks Champion into destroying the planet and stranding himself in space. He then offers Champion transportation to the nearest planet in exchange for Champion's Power Gem, to which Champion agrees (believing that the gem has never functioned, but not realizing that he has tapped into its power reserves subconsciously.) Thanos upholds his part of the bargain, but jettisons Champion into the unnamed planet's atmosphere, leaving him to plummet to the planet's surface. His reasoning is that he had never promised Champion a "soft landing."
Thanos's next target is the Gardener
who has been in possession of the Time Gem and has used its powers to create a garden of unparalleled beauty. After a short and seemingly peaceful discussion, the Gardnener attempts to use the power of his gem to strangle Thanos in various items of vegetation; using the Power Gem, Thanos breaks free and turns the Gardener's creations against him before taking the gem.
In Part Two, Thanos contacts the Collector
, with whom he has apparently had an amicable past and who has been monitoring his activities since Thanos's encounter with Champion. Thanos informs the Collector that he will soon be coming into possession of a treasure so rare that the Collector will gladly part with his gem in trade for it.
Thanos then seeks out the Runner
, who has been using the Space Gem in order to make himself the fastest being in existence. After the Runner destroys Thanos's craft, Thanos reveals to him that he has discovered the true nature of the Infinity Gems; thet they are, in fact, the physical remnants of a godlike being that existed before the creation of our universe, and who committed a form of cosmic suicide out of loneliness. He then uses the Time gem taken from the Gardener to turn the Runner first into an extremely old and decrepit man, and then into an infant. With the infant Runner in hand, he teleports back to the Collector's ship and proceeds to trade the Runner for the Collector's gem, which Thanos demonstrates to the astonished Collector has the ability to control reality. The collector begs Thanos to leave, which he does, but only after allowing the Runner to revert to his normal age and form to take out his anger on the Collector.
Thanos's final target is the Grandmaster, a consummate gamesman. With the final gem, the Mind Gem, imprisoned in a random teleportation device that will only deactivate with his death, he informs Thanos that he cannot have the gem until he bests him in a game of his choosing. The two then compete in a virtual reality combat game, which Thanos seems to win until it is shown that the Grandmaster had sabotaged Thanos's weaponry. However, Thanos then reveals that the body with which the Grandmaster had been competing was merely a robotic clone of Thanos; its destruction being inconsequential, the real Thanos proceeds to destroy the gaming equipment, killing the Grandmaster and freeing the Time Gem.
Thanos returns to Death's sanctum with the Infinity Gems in his possession, boasting of his achievement and his newfound status as Death's equal. Death congratulates his accomplishment, though still speaking through her various minions. When Thanos demands that Death address him personally as her mate, she points out to him, again through her minions, with his newly achieved status of omnipotence, Thanos is not her equal, but her superior, and that it would therefore not be fitting for her to address him directly. Thanos destroys the minion in a fit of anger and stalks from Death's throne room, trying to comprehend his miscalculation, and finally wondering, while shedding a tear, how becoming God could prove such a hollow victory.
which brought together all the pre-Infinity Gauntlet issues dealing with Thanos' return:
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
published from September to October in 1990 by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The series was written by Jim Starlin
Jim Starlin
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...
, and drawn by Ron Lim
Ron Lim
Ronald "Ron" Lim is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California.-Biography:Ron Lim's first published work was an independent comic book entitled Ex-Mutants, which he worked on from 1986-1988....
.
The storyline is a continuation of the events - involving resurrected Starlin-character Thanos
Thanos
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in comic books and other media published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin....
- featured in the title Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
. The storyline leads directly into three consecutive limited series, The Infinity Gauntlet; Infinity War
Infinity War
The Infinity War is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 1992. The series was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Ron Lim, Ian Laughlin, Al Milgrom, Jack Morelli and Christie Scheele....
and Infinity Crusade
Infinity Crusade
Infinity Crusade is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 1993. The series was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Ron Lim, Ian Laughlin, Al Milgrom and Jack Morelli....
.
Plot summary
Recently resurrected by Death in order to wipe out half of the population of the universe, The Titan ThanosThanos
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in comic books and other media published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin....
discovers the true nature of the six Infinity Gems
Infinity Gems
Infinity Gems, sometimes referred to as the Soul Gems, are six immensely powerful gems featured in the fictional Marvel Universe. Whoever holds all six gems in the Infinity Gauntlet gains omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and God-like power, and has absolute dominion over the universe...
after gazing into Death's Infinity Well. Convincing Death that possession of the gems will aid him tremendously in his quest, he gains her permission to seek them out from the cosmic entities that currently possessed them.
In Part One of the Thanos Quest, Thanos first travels to the Nexus of Reality where the concept being the In-Betweener
In-Betweener
The In-Betweener is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Warlock #10 The In-Betweener is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Warlock #10 The...
is being imprisoned by Lord Chaos and Master Order; after freeing him from the sphere in which he is being incarcerated, Thanos forcibly takes the Soul Gem from the In-Betweener, whose powers are useless at the heart of the realm of Chaos and Order.
Thanos next seeks out Champion
Champion of the Universe
The Champion is a fictional character, appearing in Marvel Comics universe. He is not necessarily a villain but has played the role in the past through his impetuous and arrogant actions. He first appeared in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7.-Fictional character biography:The Champion is one of the...
on a planet called Tamarata, where he has been testing his combat prowess against the planet's numerous armies. Challenging him to single combat, Thanos tricks Champion into destroying the planet and stranding himself in space. He then offers Champion transportation to the nearest planet in exchange for Champion's Power Gem, to which Champion agrees (believing that the gem has never functioned, but not realizing that he has tapped into its power reserves subconsciously.) Thanos upholds his part of the bargain, but jettisons Champion into the unnamed planet's atmosphere, leaving him to plummet to the planet's surface. His reasoning is that he had never promised Champion a "soft landing."
Thanos's next target is the Gardener
Gardener (comics)
The Gardener is a fictional character, one of the known Elders of the Universe in the Marvel Comics universe.-Fictional character biography:...
who has been in possession of the Time Gem and has used its powers to create a garden of unparalleled beauty. After a short and seemingly peaceful discussion, the Gardnener attempts to use the power of his gem to strangle Thanos in various items of vegetation; using the Power Gem, Thanos breaks free and turns the Gardener's creations against him before taking the gem.
In Part Two, Thanos contacts the Collector
Collector (comics)
The Collector is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe.-Fictional character biography:Taneleer Tivan is one of the Elders of the Universe and is close to his fellow Elder En Dwi Gast . He apparently came to self-awareness billions of years ago, on the planet Cygnus X-1...
, with whom he has apparently had an amicable past and who has been monitoring his activities since Thanos's encounter with Champion. Thanos informs the Collector that he will soon be coming into possession of a treasure so rare that the Collector will gladly part with his gem in trade for it.
Thanos then seeks out the Runner
Runner (comics)
The Runner is fictional character that appeared in publications from Marvel Comics. He is one of the Elders of the Universe.-Fictional character biography:...
, who has been using the Space Gem in order to make himself the fastest being in existence. After the Runner destroys Thanos's craft, Thanos reveals to him that he has discovered the true nature of the Infinity Gems; thet they are, in fact, the physical remnants of a godlike being that existed before the creation of our universe, and who committed a form of cosmic suicide out of loneliness. He then uses the Time gem taken from the Gardener to turn the Runner first into an extremely old and decrepit man, and then into an infant. With the infant Runner in hand, he teleports back to the Collector's ship and proceeds to trade the Runner for the Collector's gem, which Thanos demonstrates to the astonished Collector has the ability to control reality. The collector begs Thanos to leave, which he does, but only after allowing the Runner to revert to his normal age and form to take out his anger on the Collector.
Thanos's final target is the Grandmaster, a consummate gamesman. With the final gem, the Mind Gem, imprisoned in a random teleportation device that will only deactivate with his death, he informs Thanos that he cannot have the gem until he bests him in a game of his choosing. The two then compete in a virtual reality combat game, which Thanos seems to win until it is shown that the Grandmaster had sabotaged Thanos's weaponry. However, Thanos then reveals that the body with which the Grandmaster had been competing was merely a robotic clone of Thanos; its destruction being inconsequential, the real Thanos proceeds to destroy the gaming equipment, killing the Grandmaster and freeing the Time Gem.
Thanos returns to Death's sanctum with the Infinity Gems in his possession, boasting of his achievement and his newfound status as Death's equal. Death congratulates his accomplishment, though still speaking through her various minions. When Thanos demands that Death address him personally as her mate, she points out to him, again through her minions, with his newly achieved status of omnipotence, Thanos is not her equal, but her superior, and that it would therefore not be fitting for her to address him directly. Thanos destroys the minion in a fit of anger and stalks from Death's throne room, trying to comprehend his miscalculation, and finally wondering, while shedding a tear, how becoming God could prove such a hollow victory.
Collected editions
The series has been reprinted a number of times, first in a 2000 one-shot and then as part of the Rebirth of Thanos trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
which brought together all the pre-Infinity Gauntlet issues dealing with Thanos' return:
- Silver Surfer: Rebirth Of Thanos (collects Silver SurferSilver SurferThe Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
#34-38, The Thanos Quest mini-series, and "The Final Flower!" from Logan's RunLogan's RunLogan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching a particular age...
#6, 224 pages, April 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2046-7)