When I wrote about Dark Knights: The Wild Hunt a few weeks back, most of my praise of the book stemmed from it's total embrace of the absurdity of superhero comics to tell an engaging story. Now, with Donny Cates's run on Thanos with God Country collaborator Geoff Shaw coming to an all-too soon close with issue #18 next month, I can happily say that this is that times 1000, and it totally works.
Cates's run, titled "Thanos Wins", reminds me somewhat of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Old Man Logan, in that it uses the storytelling device of being set far in a likely alternate timeline to go absolutely nuts. "Thanos Wins" depicts the titular antihero being dragged into a distant future where he has finally prevailed over the heroes of the Marvel universe and has seemingly wiped out all life in the galaxy. All that remains is an older, world-weary version of the Mad Titan, an insane Ghost Rider (whose true identity I will not spoil) that works as his herald, and a pet Hulk to whom they apparently fed most of the surviving heroes.
Yeah, this comic really doesn't mess around. While the previous run by Jeff Lemire and depictions of the character in other comics by the likes of Abnett/Lanning, Starlin, and Hickman often gave Thanos a sympathetic or at least tragic backstory, Cates's Thanos relishes in sheer savagery and domination over others. At no point do you ever forget that Thanos is the villain, and the comic is violent and shocking, but it never feels over-the-top.
Okay maybe it's a little over the top at points.
While Cates is working on Thanos and Doctor Strange, and Strange is also very good, Thanos absolutely feels like the one that's more fun for him to write and Shaw to draw. The sheer amount of insanity thrown at the reader in every issue feels like it could have gone for thirty issues rather than a mere six, and it's all brought to life with an epic flourish, courtesy of Shaw. The Cosmic Ghost Rider in particular has one of the best character designs I've seen in years, and the antagonist of the story (whom the younger Thanos has been summoned to assist in the fight against) has a warped, but deeply familiar design that makes him all the more menacing.
With Infinity War on the horizon, there's inevitably going to be a glut of lists recommending endless Thanos stories, and I'm hoping that this one doesn't get passed on as a great showcase of Thanos as the ruthless, terrifying butcher of worlds that the film seems to be playing him up as. It's an absolute shame this run is coming to an end so soon, because it could've been one of the greatest cosmic stories ever told. Instead, it's just an immensely entertaining take on one of Marvel's greatest villains done by one of the best up-and-comers in comics at the moment, and an excellent jumping-on point for anyone wanting to check out the character before Infinity War drops.
Although the saga will be continuing with this guy's upcoming miniseries, so there's still hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment