Review: Silver Surfer Epic Collection- Thanos Quest
Quick Summary
Pros: The Silver Surfer shines as this book’s protagonist and Thanos shines as its antagonist. The stories here explore interesting questions about morality and society. The narrative is exciting and continuously engaging. The entire collection is an important piece of Marvel history. The artwork looks good and complements the story.
Cons: A few of the shorter stories are just alright.
Overall: This is an awesome collection of comics. This volume follows the Silver Surfer on a journey of discovery, starts a plotline with Thanos as the universe’s most powerful villain, and radically alters the Marvel universe as it does so. Meanwhile, solid artwork and great writing enhance the whole experience. Readers who like Thanos, like the Silver Surfer, want to read Infinity Gauntlet, or are generally interested in the history of Marvel’s cosmic universe should not miss this volume.
Story
Silver Surfer Epic Collection: Thanos Quest, by Jim Starlin, Ron Marz, and Alan Grant, is a great volume and an excellent piece of Marvel’s cosmic history. This collection tells several great Silver Surfer stories, taking him on adventures that explore real-world problems and also taking time to explore the Surfer as an individual. Then, it goes on to focus on Thanos in a way that makes for a well-written and exciting narrative. All of this also refines elements of the Marvel universe that have a big impact on future stories, specifically Infinity Gauntlet. Overall, this is a great collection of comics and one that should not be missed by fans of epic cosmic adventures.
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The first half of Thanos Quest mostly focuses on the Silver Surfer and his space-hopping adventures. The vast majority of these are fantastic and hit hard with some great messaging. The opening chapter has the Surfer question the morality of a mercy killing and causes him to wonder if his strict moral code is getting in the way of actually doing what is good for the people around him. Then, the next major story arc tells an amazing and off-beat story that works as a criticism of capitalism, political corruption, the widening of the wage gap, and the perils of emphasizing efficiency over humanity. There is a lot to unpack within these stories and their unique approach makes this process even more enjoyable.
These chapters also take a great look at the Silver Surfer as a character, something that felt a bit missing in the previous volume. These stories question why the Surfer is doing what he is doing and look at how his internal guilt has an impact on this. Later on, readers also get a chance to peek into the Surfer’s past, which shows how his father’s guidance and his unorthodox society turned the Surfer into the person he is today.
The other half of the volume switches the focus over to Thanos, who takes over as the main villain in this collection. Thanos is written incredibly well throughout this volume, with dialogue that emphasizes his over-confidence and actions that back up this confidence. His amazing powers and clever use of these powers also position him as a unique villain, one who cannot be defeated in conventional ways. This creates a tense narrative and leaves the volume on an awesome cliffhanger. Plus, all of this works as an important piece of Marvel’s cosmic history, refining characters, expanding the Infinity Gem’s abilities, and leading to the Infinity Gauntlet event.
The only real downside to Thanos Quest is that a few of the early stories are just alright. The Surfer’s battle against Lifeform ends with a great message but is not that great outside of that. Meanwhile, the Surfer’s participation in the “Fight Game” works as a criticism against exploring humanity but isn’t that entertaining. Luckily, these negative elements are extremely minimal and do not have a large impact on the appeal of the collection as a whole.
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Art
The artwork in Thanos Quest mostly looks great and is a worthwhile complement to the story. Ron Lim’s visuals are creative and allow the weird characters and locations of this book to stand out in a positive way. They are also sharp and detailed enough to allow emotion to show and action to flow. On top of all of this, the layouts are all expertly done and help punctuate important moments in the story. I also really enjoyed Tom Vincent’s colors through the Thanos Quest issues and thought that the visual changeup taking place there helped emphasize the importance of those issues. The only downside is that the “fight game” chapter doesn’t look the best and there are a few points in other chapters where characters look a little contorted. However, most of the book looks great and maintains a level of quality that makes for a better reading experience.
Continuity
Silver Surfer Epic Collection: Thanos Quest continues the story from Silver Surfer: The Rebirth of Thanos (Review).
The story here continues in Silver Surfer Epic Collection: The Infinity Gauntlet (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Silver Surfer Annual #3, is also part of the “Lifeform” crossover story arc.
- The Silver Surfer was freed from Earth in Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #1, collected in Silver Surfer Epic Collection: Freedom (Review).
- Mantis died in Silver Surfer Vol. 3 9, collected in Silver Surfer Epic Collection: Freedom (Review).
- Thanos tried to take over the universe two times before. The first was in across the “Thanos War” event (Reading Order). The second was across Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 2 (Review) or in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 17 (Review).
- The In-Betweener was imprisoned in Silver Surfer #18.
- Silver Surfer #46 references numerous pieces of Adam Warlock’s past. These include:
- His creation in Fantastic Four #66-67, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 7 (Review).
- His first meeting with the High Evolutionary in Marvel Premiere #1, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 1 (Review).
- His meeting Gamora in Warlock #9, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 2 (Review).
- Drax once destroyed a ship Gamora was piloting. This happened in Warlock #15, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 2 (Review).