Blog

Thanos Imperative #4
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Miguel Sepulveda
Cover: Aleksi Briclot

**Contains Spoilers**

“Thanos Imperative pt 4”: If you have not experienced any of the cosmic greatness that has come out of Marvel in the past couple of years, then you are definitely missing out! From Annihilation to War of Kings to the current ass kicking Thanos Imperative, Marvel is definitely making a statement with this branch of their characters.

Last issue, Drax the Destroyer went two for two in killing Thanos, which put a serious monkey wrench in Star-Lord’s plan to use him against the evil version of Mar-Vell. To everyone’s surprise, his body painfully reformed due to the fact that Death rejected Thanos, and he’s pissed off because for all intents and purposes he has officially been dumped by the woman he loves. Too bad Drax couldn’t leave well enough alone and decides to go for a three-peat, but this time Thanos shows us what Drax looks like on the inside in a pretty gruesome fashion.

The team of Nova, Gladiator, Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Ronan the Accuser, and Quasar have invaded the Cancerverse and begun the assault on Mar-Vell, and are trying to rescue Nova’s girlfriend Namorita. Things actually seem to be going pretty well, even when the Revengers (Cancerverse version of the Avengers) show up to kill Nova and his crew. Well into the battle, however, Mar-Vell single handedly turns the tide of the fight, and things go to Hell in a hand-basket dipped in gasoline!

Abnett and Lanning are the cosmic dream team, and Thanos Imperative #4 continues to thrill, excite, and just plain dominate just like the previous issues. The dialog in this issue is some of the best that I’ve read, and I love how they have Nova and Quasar play off of each other at times. They create moments where you really believe that these guys are true friends; for example, their response to Surfer’s “Deadpan trash talk” was hilarious. It flowed and still kept the pacing of the story. Abnett and Lanning keep the action going in this issue, but it’s still very much a character driven story. We all know that no matter how many explosions and fights you have, if the writer can’t bring you in with quality character dialog, then the story blows. That is definitely not the case with Thanos Imperative.

Miguel Sepulveda’s artwork has helped bring the “HOLY $#&!” moments throughout this series in great detail. With the assist from Jay David Ramos and Wil Quintana, this is one of THE best looking books coming out of the Marvel camp. From the group shot of Nova and his crew charging into the Cancerverse to the demise of Drax, these guys are determined to draw the hell out of this book! Each panel is filled with galactic eye candy, but there were a couple of minor issues I had with the artwork. The first was the Silver Surfer’s board and Ronan’s hammer in the bottom of the picture posted above. It looks like they were outlined but never finished before the book went to print, and you can still make out some hash marks as well. The second would be that I noticed the Cancerverse characters are inked a bit heavier than the others, and it kind of takes away from the detail in the faces and bodies. It’s a small issue, but it’s just an issue to me; hell, for all I know that may be a cosmetic choice by the artists.

Definitely pick this up in trade form if you have not been keeping up with what has been going on in Thanos Imperative. Abnett and Lanning are delivering a great science fiction story with flavor and style, and making space a great place to be right now!

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net