Thanos Rising #5 Review



detailI may be in the minority here, but I really, really enjoyed Thanos Rising. At first, it was pretty easy to dismiss the series as the first couple of issues portrayed Thanos as a helpless and whiney boy. Not willing to give up, I promised myself that I would stay to the end. And I am glad I did. Just a warning, THERE ARE SPOILERS here. I highly recommend you pick up this series and read it first. If you don’t care, then continue on.

As the series moved along, this new take on the origin of Thanos began to make more and more sense. We saw this little, seemingly innocent boy slowly become evil. We learn why the evil and madness of this monster exists in five great issues.

The horrible things that Thanos has done over the course of his life was due to the manipulation of a woman who convinced him to go on murderous rampages throughout the galaxy, even coercing him to murder his own children. In “Sixth Sense-like” fashion, it was revealed that this woman, who now goes by the name Death, was but a ghost, something that only  Thanos can see. To put it simply, Thanos was driven mad by a death itself.

In this final issue, we see Thanos bring his genocidal rampage back home to Titan,  the moon of Saturn. Just before killing everything on the moon, Thanos confronts his father who is wrought with anguish over what his son has done. In a poetic twist, Thanos’ father constructed a weapon designed to take the life of his son, but he is unable to do so. Only then does the father of Thanos convince him that the reason Thanos is doing what he is doing is not because he is to marry Death, in fact Death is but a figment of his imagination.

Finding out he is alone pushes Thanos over the top, killing his father and decimating the planet, but not before Thanos’ father futilely begs God to kill his son.

This is pretty deep stuff, folks. And totally not what I expected out of this mini-series. For those who decided to stay to the end, kudos. You did yourself a favor. If you haven’t, I just spoiled things, but I did warn you. Still, it’s worth a read.

Score: 8.9

 

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