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What Abnett and Lanning have done for the mighty Marvel Cosmic landscape, few others can match. While civil wars raged and sieges were laid, others were fighting back conquests and courting realms of kings. Let us now take a look at the finale for Marvel’s latest cosmic offering, The Thanos Imperative.

The Thanos Imperative

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artists: Miguel Sepulveda
Color Artist: Jay David Ramos
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover: Aleksi Briclot

Who would have ever thought that the return of Captain Mar-vell and Thanos would have looked like this? Here we have some of the most prominent good/evil characters, but in reverse roles. The return of Captain Mar-vell, now dubbed Lord Mar-vell, brought about one of the worst threats the universe has seen. The Cancerverse, where Lord Mar-vell resides, is a universe where Death is gone, and only a spreading cancer of “life” and its evil gods reign. That universe is now full to the brim, and Lord Mar-vell looks to spread the influence of these gods into our good ol’ 616 universe. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the whole reason for this story: the return of Thanos, the very mad Titan.

Now I really, really want to just spill all of the beans on this one, but I won’t. It is truly an epic story, which brings together a lot of what has been built over the years. When you think about some of the other great sci-fi stories out there, the lines of good and evil are usually easily distinguished. When Abnett and Lanning decided to blur these lines a bit, they created a story that had you rooting for the good guys, but also a little part of you that wished the bad guy was actually good. Having worked on distinguishing who were the major powers of the universe, none of it mattered when they all had to come together to fight this galactic threat. Following both battle fronts was a lot of fun. Seeing Silver Surfer, Galactus, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, and other cosmic powerhouses trying to support each other and keep morale up while fighting the hordes of the Cancerverse was an amazing backdrop to where the true fight lay. Nova and some of the Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to use Thanos to foil Lord Mar-vell and the many-angled gods’ plans. Genius.

I want to make a couple points about the art in this series as a whole. At first, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I thought that Paul Pelletier in some of the earlier cosmic books would have been a better fit, but by the end of the series I was loving everything. At first a lot of the art seemed “grainy,” but that started to lighten up as the series went on. By issue #6, the characters and environments were drawn with clarity and explosiveness. Certain close-ups and splash scenes were amazing to take in, requiring more than just a glance. The covers throughout the series by Aleksi Briclot were all amazing, and I also want to make note of the amazing lettering job that VC’s Joe Caramagna does, giving some characters some real unique properties.

The brilliance of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning really came to a head in this series. Each issue had its moments of suspense and action, but I think that this is best read when you have all six issues together. Reading them one-by-one only had you demanding more. I have been a Mar-vell fan for years, and although I long for his return, this appearance was enough to whet my appetite, for now. Abnett and Lanning  started with building characters and teams, to races and societies, and have now mashed it all together for one epic story.

What is the future for the Marvel cosmos?

The main ongoing titles, Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy, have no future solicits to speak of. A one-shot (shown below) will wrap up The Thanos Imperative. A few announcements and tidbits about a mini starring Rocket Raccoon and Groot launching in January have been made, but so far that is about it. No new title launches and even the current ongoings have disappeared. This may strike fear into the heart of some fans, but worry not True Believers, because I have a feeling there is much more to come.

The threat of Lord Mar-vell and the Cancerverse has been defeated…but who is left to pick up the pieces? Who will hold the shattered civilizations of the Marvel Universe together in this bleak new age…and is anyone left to guard the galaxy? Find out next month as Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Miguel Sepulveda present the stunning epilogue to our latest and greatest cosmic saga!

Mike Parente
mike@comicattack.net