The Thanos Imperative #1

**** (four of five stars)

Summary
In a flashback to the Annihilation War, Peter Quill tells Nova to scream in the face of Death if he ever runs into her or the other Abstracts (Eternity, Death, Oblivion, etc.)  In the present, an enraged Thanos has escaped his bonds and is trying to kill Star-Lord and only stops when Rocket Raccoon threatens to paralyze him and put him in a cryogenic pod, cursing him to endless life.  The Guardians of the Galaxy's telepaths then contain him, but the Guardians' discussions of what to do with him are cut short when they get distress signals from the Kree and Shi'Ar as the Fault explodes.  In the Fault zone, creatures from the Cancerverse attack the assembled ships, sending the Kree, Nova Corps, and Shi'Ar scrambling to repel them.  On a starship later revealed to be Thanos' flagship, Sanctuary, Lord Mar-Vell instructs Evil Quasar to take the Revengers to find the Avatar of Death, which will read as an "anomalous figure."  On Knowhere, Star-Lord and Thanos agree that the only way to save "our" reality is bring death to the Cancerverse.  To that end, they accompany Thanos into Cancerverse, only to come face to face with that Universe's version of the Defenders just as Thanos falls unconscious as he becomes overwhelmed by the amount of life in the Cancerverse.  Meanwhile, Nova and Quasar join the fight on the Resolute Duty (the Corps' starship), though fail to prevent the Revengers from kidnapping Namorita.

The Review
I decided to do full-blown reviews of each of "The Thanos Imperative" issues to commemorate the end of Marvel Cosmic, a series of series and mini-series that have given me great enjoyment over the last few months.  DnA set up a really high-concept story here, with an alternate Universe -- the "Cancerverse" -- threatening to take over "our" Universe.  The characters from "our" reality are essentially fighting for death, since the inhabitants of the Cancerverse has "conquered" death (by surrendering themselves to demonic powers).  Enter Thanos, the Avatar of Death in "our" Universe.

The Good
1)I loved how DnA set the tone for this series with the conversation between Nova and Quill during the Annihilation War.  Anyone who's read this blog for a while knows that "Annihilation" is just about my favorite story of all time, in part because DnA did such a great job showing the relationships between the characters and how those relationships sustained them at their darkest moments.  By starting the series with that flashback, DnA set the stage for a similarly relationship-driven story.  I can't wait!

2) No one does "heroes with their backs to the wall" better than DnA.  I thought they did an amazing job of portraying the panic the Kree and Shi'Ar felt trying to repel the "extrinsic entities" that came pouring from the Cancerverse via the Fault.

3) I also thought DnA did a great job with Thanos, portraying his anger at being denied death.  It's hard to write Thanos as not just a  completely insane nut-job, but DnA manage to treat him with a certain dignity.

4) With the kidnapping of Namorita, DnA seem to be setting up a scenario whereby the people who have returned from death will somehow help in the ritual that the Many-Angled Ones' servants want to perform to eradicate death in "our" reality.  It should be interesting to see how that goes and who exactly will be involved.

5) I loved the Cancerverse's Defenders!  I so didn't see that coming!  (Though, I thought the Cancerverse Iron Man killed the Cancerverse Hulk?  But, then again, if no one can die in the Cancerverse, so I guess that answered my question.  But, if Iron Man didn't kill him, then why did they make sure a big deal about it in "Realm of Kings?"  Why remove his heart?)