Four issues in, and while I'm really enjoying it (Starlin's pacing is dynamite -- he keeps the action and the plot going without a single lull), I'm not seeing what's so special about it yet. I first became interested in this run in 2014 when it made the #1 spot in The CCF Top 100 Comic Book Sagas, but whatever made this series that special, I'm not sure it's happening yet. So far, Thanos feels like a pretty generic would-be conqueror type. Sure, he's got Death by his side, but Starlin hasn't really played up the uniqueness of that situation yet (and I'm not sure we're even supposed to realize that's actually Death yet). Captain Marvel and Rick Jones aren't exactly winning me over with their characterizations either.

I'd say the two highlights for me thus far are (finally) learning how Tony Stark puts on his armor:



and Starlin's brilliant art in general:


(from Captain Marvel #27)


But Thanos as a villain and this particular storyline? Neither is particularly memorable for me yet. Hoping that will change soon though. This is still a very addictive read that I hate putting down, but addictive isn't the same as memorable.

I think I may have said before that I slightly resented the way this storyline was shoe-horned into some of my favorite mags way back when. I lacked the sophistication and resources to stay abreast of the developments. I can't imagine how the average fan could have followed it as originally presented, across multiple titles over a three-year period.

That being said, it reads much better as a collected whole. It goes without saying that Starlin's art is of consistently high-quality throughout. I still think the writing is somewhat labored and over-wrought, but this is Comics (an anagram for "Cosmic," as Starlin cleverly taught us ), and my imagination may be too stunted to properly appreciate the grandeur. 

Shax, the true Thanos saga and his awesomeness begins in the Warlock series. He gets a lot of dept as a character when he helps Adam Warlock against the Magus. I wouldn't want to spoil anything, so we can talk when you reach those stories.

I hope to get there tonight!

As I said, Thanos may have been more interesting in his early days, but to me he has always just been a pale Darksied ripoff, and has only gotten worse in recent years as he has become Jim Starlin's pet character: all-powerful and completely unbeatable.

But, in the interests of full disclosure, so-called 'cosmic' stories have never really been my cup of tea. Give me street-level characters any day.

I too wouldn't mind hearing your opinions foxley. Especially since I'll be the ying to your yang in commenting on it that might balance each other's views on both sides. I'm sure I've made it know I am an unapologetic Starlin fan which extends to Thanos and Warlock. :-)

Much as I'm usually a floppy purist, this was one time where it just made more sense to me to get the trades. Not only was it cheaper, but it made the reading order (nearly) effortless (I'm still reading across two trades to get the FULL Warlock story as part of the full Thanos story ).