The Infinity War

Comic Info

The Infinity War #2

Reprints The Infinity War #1-6, Marvel Comics Presents (1) #108-111, Marvel Holiday Special 1992 #1, and Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7-10 (June 1992-January 1993).  The forming of the Infinity Watch has broken something inside of Warlock and released a being he long thought dead.  The Magus is back and the embodiment of Warlock’s evil side has plans for the universe.  Sending out doppelgangers to kill and replace the heroes of Earth, the Magus has his sights set on bigger targets.  Warlock and the Infinity Watch discover that the only hope for defeating the Magus could be teaming with the being that almost destroyed them…Thanos!

Written by Jim Starlin, The Infinity War is a Marvel Comics cosmic event series.  Following the events of The Infinity Gauntlet and stories in Warlock and the Infinity Watch, the series features art by Ron Lim, Tom Raney, Angel Medina, Larry Alexander, and Shawn McManus.  Also included in the volume are stories from Warlock and the Infinity Watch, Marvel Comics Presents, and a short story from Marvel Comics Holiday Special 1992 #1 (January 1993).

The Infinity War was peak 1990s.  Unlike The Infinity Gauntlet which seemed relevant, inventive, and compelling, The Infinity War felt like a money grab based off of the success of The Infinity Gauntlet.  While the long-winded series trucked on, multiple crossovers appeared in a majority of Marvel’s titles at the time.  The Infinity War in some ways is a disservice to Marvel Comics now.

The reason it is a disservice is simply because of the title.  Comic book sales often struggle and despite a massive boom in collectability due to the theatrical releases, it doesn’t always pay off in comic book sales.  While the title of the collection is The Infinity War, it really doesn’t have anything to do with Avengers:  Infinity War and potential new readers who might go to pick it up simply because of the title.  The Infinity Gauntlet (which is at least closer to Avengers:  Infinity War storyline) is a much better series…and the start of the Infinity “trilogy”.

The Infinity War #5

Despite this, the story is pretty rocky.  You have a number of elements coming into play including the doppelgangers, Doom and Kang’s quest, and Galactus and Dr. Strange that seem kind of tangential to the main storyline.  They kind of play out over the course of the six issues, but it also seems like some of the time could be better devoted to the main story.

The collection also oddly collects four issues of Warlock and the Infinity Watch, a short four part story occurring in Marvel Comics Presents, and a really short story from a holiday special.  The stories however are collected at the end of the collection when shoehorning them into The Infinity War might better serve them…they come off as filler for the collection.  I do have to admit I like in the “Yule Memory” Thanos sets up a Christmas tree (on a foreign planet) for Gamora and gives her a doll he probably wrapped…remember that next time you watch Avengers:  Infinity War.

The Infinity War has a lot of the problems of 1990s series.  Marvel feels like it was pumping out so much in an attempt to overwhelm the new companies like Image and Valiant while still fending off DC.  It isn’t the worst “event series” you’ll read and even compared to the follow-up “Infinity” series, it is better.  Unfortunately, ok doesn’t necessarily mean good nor does it mean great.  The Infinity War is followed by The Infinity Crusade which was released in a two part collection.

Related Links:

The Infinity Gauntlet

The Infinity Crusade—Volume 1

The Infinity Watch—Volume 1

Warlock by Jim Starlin:  The Complete Collection