Review: Thanos- The Infinity Relativity

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s main conflict is exciting and has a level of strategy to it that is fun to see play out. The volume significantly advances the narrative of the series and builds even more anticipation for the next volume. The artwork, mostly, looks good.

Cons: The volume starts a little slow and takes a while to get interesting. The artwork is a bit lackluster in some places.

Overall: Though not quite as successful as its predecessor, this collection manages to provide a mostly satisfying continuation to the current storyline. It escalates the drama unfolding around Adam Warlock and Thanos by revealing more about their situation, tossing them into a wonderful conflict, and closing on a note that leaves the reader dying to learn more. The downside is that the narrative starts slowly and the artwork isn’t as good. However, readers who enjoyed the first volume will still find plenty to love in this one.

Story

Thanos: The Infinity Relativity, by Jim Starlin, succeeds in continuing the intriguing narrative that started with The Infinity Revelation (Review). There is plenty of action and tension as the stability of the universe is threated by powerful forces. However, the real reason to read the book becomes apparent as the volume answers more questions about the fate of Adam Warlock and Thanos, while continuing to bring additional mysteries to the surface. The only significant negative is that it takes awhile for these positives to kick in, forcing the reader to slog through some lackluster opening pages. In my opinion though, the journey is worth it, as I left this volume hooked even more than before and ready to read whatever comes next.

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The Infinity Relativity starts out a little slow. The first quarter of the book focuses on recapping events from the past, making sure readers are acquainted with the book’s characters, and introducing a few new plot threads. In some places, this feels like a bit of an information dump and, in other places, it is just a little boring.

Luckily, things improve dramatically as the collection progresses. The narrative shifts to a full scale battle against Annihilus for the fate of the universe. There are clever tactics used on both sides and the entire battle feels like a chess match between titans. It is also constantly peppered with fun action scenes, where the characters have opportunities to show off their fighting prowess or their unique abilities.

While all of this is going on, The Infinity Relativity continues to look forward and build up anticipation for the next installment. A few interesting pieces of the mystery are pushed forward through the progression of the read and through a few mind-blowing moments, as readers learn that this version of Adam Warlock is now the reconstituted vestige of a universe and witness Thanos retreat into death in order to escape an inescapable situation. However, there is still plenty of mystery out there to be unveiled and the fate of the protagonists is left in jeopardy. This leaves the collection on a cliffhanger and wonderfully primes the series for a finale in the next volume.

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Art

In most places, the artwork in The Infinity Relativity looks positive. Jim Starlin’s work is generally pleasing and creatively depicts the distant reaches of space. It is also laid out in a way that allows action to flow, allows reactions or panel designs to tell pieces of the story, and imbues the book with additional creativity.

However, there are also places where the art falters. Though Thanos and Adam Warlock, the book’s main characters, always look good, other characters do not share this trait. The members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and a few background characters look a little off on several pages. There are also places where the pencils and the colors do not suit one another well, making the visuals feel more flat and boring than they should. In general, this comic still looks alright but there are more artistic flaws in it than there were in the last volume.

Continuity

Thanos: The Infinity Relativity continues the story from Thanos: The Infinity Revelation (Review).

There story here continues in Thanos: The Infinity Finale (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Many events from Adam Warlock’s life are mentioned near the beginning of this comic.
  • His “birth” occurred in Fantastic Four #66-67, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 7 (Review). 
  • His pursuit of Lady Sif and fight against Thor was shown in Thor #163-166 collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 8 (Review).
  • His encounter with the High-Evolutionary, his time on Counter-Earth, and his fight against the Magus are detailed across Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 1 (Review) and Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 2 (Review).
  • He entered the Soul Gem after his fight with Thanos in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Adam Warlock Vol. 2 (Review) or in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 17 (Review).
  • He returned to the world of the living to fight Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet (Review) (Reading Order) event.
  • He assembled and adventured with the Infinity Watch across the Warlock and the Infinity Watch series, collected in Infinity Watch Vol. 1 (Review) and Vol. 2 (Review).
  • He fought the Goddess during the Infinity Crusade (Review) (Reading Order) event.
  • He fought the Thanos Clones in the Infinity Abyss event, collected in Guardians of the Galaxy: Road to Annihilation Vol. 1 (Review).
  • The fight against Akhenaten took place in Marvel Universe: The End (Review).
• Annihilus’ most recent attack on the positive universe is mentioned a number of times. This is detailed in the Annihilation (Reading Order) event.
• Adam Warlock was killed by Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 #19, collected in Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 (Review).
• Thanos’ recent fight with the Hulk is mentioned. This happened in Thanos vs. Hulk.