Review: The Thanos Imperative
Quick Summary
Pros: The concept for this event is unique and helps develop an interesting and exciting storyline. The event has a nice combination of suspense, fun, and clever twists. The epilogue works well in setting up the next story.
Cons: The conclusion has a moment where the logic doesn’t exactly add up.
Overall: This is a worthwhile volume where intense bouts of action meet a novel storyline concept. It has a variety of space-bound heroes take on Lovecraftian threats from another universe, with a nice subversion of the standard hero/villain dynamic to keep things interesting. The resulting war is full of exciting battles that showcase ideas that can only exist on the cosmic side of the Marvel universe. Those interested in fun and tense battles in space should check this event out.
Story
The Thanos Imperative is a volume of action and excitement, all based around a very unique concept. In it, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning craft a cosmic event where life and death are in a struggle for power, yet even this straightforward fight is not as it seems. Though the concept isn’t the volume’s only positive, as the action and excitement of the story is more than enough to make this volume worthwhile all on its own. Throw in some Lovecraftian influence and a variety of narrative twists and the story simply gets that much better. This is an entertaining volume that works well on its own but works especially well as a sequel to Realm of Kings, Marvel’s previous cosmic event.
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The most instantly recognizable positive aspect of The Thanos Imperative is its unique concept. In this event, Abnett and Lanning set up a war between life and death where the reader ends up rooting for death. It is a unique subversion of the typical hero/villain dynamic that ends up being surprisingly compelling. Plus, a little bit of Lovecraftian horror influence makes things even more interesting and injects a foreboding sense of doom into the volume’s concept.
However, The Thanos Imperative isn’t just neat concepts, as it is also filled with plenty of excitement. It has some of the premier members of the cosmic Marvel Universe gather together for a number of epic battles. These battles are consistently entertaining and showcase grand ideas, such as a reanimated version of Galactus taking on an army of Celestials. The entirety of this event is exciting and remains enjoyable throughout the read.
Part of this excitement can also be found in the sudden twists and unexpected reveals that Abnett and Lanning have made a staple of their greater cosmic narrative. Notable twists occurring here include Drax’s death, the evil Scarlett Witch’s betrayal, and Thanos’s false betrayal. Abnett and Lanning have a unique ability to write these twists in a way that makes them feel both natural and unexpected, which often isn’t the case for comic book twists. The end result is a collection that keeps you on your toes since you’re never quite sure what is going to happen next.
The only significant flaw in The Thanos Imperative is the logic of the book’s conclusion. In this conclusion, Thanos allows Mar-Vell to almost kill him so that the personification of Death will arrive and kill Mar-Vell. However, it is never explained why this did not happen when the Cancerverse’s first Avatar of Death was killed. As a whole, the conclusion to this event still reads well, especially regarding Star-Lord and Nova’s sacrifice and the formation of the Annihilators, but this logical inconsistency is still a minor annoyance.
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Art
The artwork in The Thanos Imperative looks good in most places but contains a few odd elements that prevent it from being something truly special. Miguel Sepulveda does a wonderful job in crafting a universe packed with interesting characters and locations. Creativity and good levels of detail are the main factors here that help further bring this world to life. Plus, Sepulveda’s splash pages typically look great and highlight some of the epic moments in the collection’s story. However, there are a number of small places where faces end up looking flat or inconsistent. Overall, this is still a nice looking book but it is not without flaw.
Continuity
The Thanos Imperative directly continues story elements from the Realm of Kings event.
The conclusion of this event directly leads to the creation of the Annihilators series.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Plot threads involving the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thanos are directly continued from the conclusion of Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning Vol. 2 (Review).
- Plot threads involving Nova and Namorita are directly continued from the conclusion of Nova by Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 2.
- The Annihilation War is mentioned a number of times. This war took place across Annihilation Book 1 and Annihilation Book 2.
- The events of the Annihilation War also explain the previous “death” of Thanos and Quasar.
- The Phalanx invasion is also mentioned. This invasion occurred in Annihilation: Conquest Book 1 (Review) and was repelled in Annihilation: Conquest Book 2 (Review).
- The original Captain Marvel’s death is referenced a number of times. This took place in The Death of Captain Marvel.