The Infinity Gauntlet comicbook storyline was the main inspiration for the 23 movies that led to Avengers: Endgame.
The comicbook was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by none other than the legendary George Perez. However Perez left midway mostly due to having a high workload since he was also penciling Wonder Woman for DC Comics and was acting on the side.
In a 1994 interview, Starlin claimed Pérez was also acting at the time, and that it was a bigger contributor to the scheduling problems than the comic workload. Marvel feared that Perez leaving and artist Ron Lim taking over would mean a drop in sales. However with each issue sales figures rose and Perez realized that he missed tens of thousands of dollars in royalties. However he was still happy to leave the title when he learned of the sequel. The sequel was to become known as “The Infinity War”.
The Infinity Gauntlet saga
The Infinity Gauntlet differs much from the movie counterpart. In the comics Thanos still wants to annihilate half the universe but his motivations are different. Thanos wants to win over the affection of Mistress Death. It is Mistress Death who burdens Thanos with the task of killing half the universe. Thanos tries everything to win over Death’s love but fails until he is told by the devil called Mephisto that it may have to do with the fact that he has not completed his task.
Mephisto’s role is questionable at the start. It looks like he is helping Thanos controlling the infinity gems but what he wants is to steal the glove all for himself.
Meanwhile, Silver Surfer, who tried to stop Thanos, is trapped by Thanos in the soul gem and meets up with Adam Warlock. Warlock is a pivotal character in the Infinity Saga. Warlock listens to Surfer’s story and what Thanos is up to. He promises Surfer that he will come to his aid before pushing out the Surfer out of the soul gem.
Adam Warlock soon follows with fellow companions Pip the Troll and Gamora. Together with Earth’s mightiest heroes they thwart Thanos plans and restore order to the galaxy.
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The Sequels
When Adam Warlock gained control of the Infinity Gauntlet and became a godlike person he found that in order to serve the galaxy in the best possible way, it would be through logic. So he rejected his evil side and his good side. The two parts of Warlock became lives of their own. The masculine part became the person known as Magus and was a megalomane who wanted to subject the universe to his will by using Cosmic Power Containment Units and schemed his way into getting the Infinity Gauntlet.
Again with the help of Adam Warlock and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and find a surprising ally in Thanos, they thwart the plans of the Magus who is transported into the soulgem’s Soulworld only to find out that he is less than a being. He’s only half a man.
In Infinity Crusade we meet Adam’s good side who calls herself Goddess. She managed to steal the Power Containment Units and wants to unite the world and rid it of all evil. She gathers heroes who are deeply religious or have had a near death experience or have mystical powers. Her plan is to destroy all sentient life because without sentient life there is no evil.
Adam Warlock, Silver Surfer and Thanos thwart her plans.
The Infinity Trilogy
While I was a big fan of the Infinity Gauntlet , the sequels felt unnecessary and should have never been published. The Infinity Gauntlet was solid writing, had a good build up and Thanos / Adam Warlock were more than one dimensional characters. Also, at heart the Infinity Gauntlet is a lovestory about rejection since Mistress Death not only rejected Thanos’ love but even betrays him when she attacks him when the cosmic entities attack Thanos in order to stop him.
The sequels just didn’t have all that. It lacked character build up, I mean I still don’t know who the Magus or the Goddess are. And what they wanted was so superficially written that we never know. In my opinion, Marvel should have just stuck with the Infinity Gauntlet but then there is that proverbial cashcow and Marvel went ahead anyway. I guess money talks.
