Infinity Crusade #1-6

Infinity Crusade #1-6

Originally released in 1993

Written by Jim Starlin

Art by Ron Lim

While I've read Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War, I hadn't read the third part of Jim Starlin's Infinity trilogy, Infinity Crusade.  The trilogy centers around Adam Warlock and Thanos - when Adam Warlock got ahold of the Infinity Gauntlet, he used it to cast off his good and evil aspects so that he would use his omnipotence with pure logic.

In Infinity War, this backfired, as his evil side (the Magus) manifested himself physically and tried to conquer the universe.  Now his good half, the Goddess, has made herself known, and she's gathered various cosmic containment units (the Cosmic Cube, but in different shapes - wish-granting devices, though individually, they have their limits) for her own plan.

In order to buy herself the time that she needs, she brainwashes several of Earth's heroes who have particularly strong religious faith or mystical aspects. (Though in some cases, like with Captain America or Spider-Man, it's left ambiguous what that faith is) Reading this, I was quickly concerned that the book would be strongly anti-religion, treating those who follow such beliefs as being easily tricked or manipulated.  It doesn't go that far, though.

Many of Earth's heroes get involved, though there's some debate at first on whether they should.  The Goddess has stopped all crime and wars, so isn't that a good thing? However, her ultimate plan is to cleanse the universe with the fire of every star going supernova (that is not hyperbole), so any moral debate goes out the window.

Despite the sheer number of heroes involved, it's ultimately the Thanos and Adam Warlock show featuring Pip the Troll. (There are a LOT of tie-ins, but for simplicity's sake, I just stuck with the Infinity Crusade series) The series does a better job with using Earth's heroes, though - unlike Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War, where the involvement of the heroes ranged from minor distraction at best to completely useless at worst, Professor X plays a crucial part in the victory.

Compared to the Magus in Infinity War, the Goddess's plan is relatively straightforward - the only thing that she needs is time to carry it out. However, it requires her entire focus to carry out, so Moondragon serves as her chief enforcer.  This means that the Goddess doesn't have moments of implausibly claiming that every single action of the other characters went exactly as she planned it, no matter how implausible, unlike the Magus in Infinity War.  However, it also means that she gets less focus as a character. (Though maybe that's fixed in the tie-in issues)

Mephisto plays a small role, making a deal with Thanos and Adam Warlock in exchange for helping them.  He mostly seems to be involved in this plot so that Thanos can one-up him in the end, though his blatantly evil nature leads to some funny moments.

Adam Warlock's team, the Infinity Watch, plays a role in this event, though they're split up due to Gamora and Moondragon being brainwashed by the Goddess.  From what I've seen, people complain about how Drax was turned into dumb comedic relief in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that's a step up from how he's portrayed here - at least in the MCU, he can form proper sentences. (He's pretty funny, though)

The art is consistent from the other two Infinity __ stories, which helps to make it feel like one big storyline. (It's a welcome change from some books changing the artist every two issues) The scale isn't as big or ridiculous as Infinity Gauntlet, which is sort of indicated early on when Adam Warlock goes to talk to Eternity (the embodiment of the universe) only to find that Eternity doesn't find the Goddess's plans to beneath his notice. (Though this is before the full extent of them is revealed)

As a result, a lot of the main story consists of heroes fighting heroes while the Goddess charges up her power in order to carry out her plan, and Adam Warlock and Thanos try to figure out how to stop the Goddess.  It feels like a step down from the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, though it's still enjoyable.

Out of the characters involved in this story, Thanos is the one who seems to get the most development.  Between Infinity War and here, he's helped save the universe multiple times now, so some characters like Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer question if he's becoming a better person. Naturally, he denies it, relishing in his cruel and murderous ways, but the possibility is raised for that development to happen further down the line.

Looking at this trilogy as Thanos being its central character, it's interesting to see how he develops, from killing half of the life in the universe and becoming a god in order to please Death, to willingly giving up a power that could devastate the universe, even if he claims it's because the power in question has limits. With Adam Warlock's good side serving as the villain, Infinity Crusade seems to be based around the phrase "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions" - Adam Warlock's good side is as destructive as his bad one.