Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet #1-4

Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet #1-4

Originally released in 2010

Written by Brian Clevinger and Lee Black

Art by Brian Churilla

I've read this comic before, but it was around the time that it came out, fourteen years ago, so I'm revisiting it today.  It's a light-hearted all-ages take on the classic Infinity Gauntlet storyline by Brian Clevinger, who also wrote the comic Atomic Robo and the webcomic 8-Bit Theatre.

The scale is much smaller than the original, focusing on a group of heroes as they investigate the source of half of all sentient life disappearing rather than a grand cosmic conflict where Earth's heroes amount to little more than an ineffective distraction.  Spider-Man is the focus, with this being early in his career, so he's filled with youthful energy, isn't taken seriously by other heroes, and is really bad at teamwork.

Most of the Avengers disappear, along with half of the Fantastic Four, and there are still plenty of problems on Earth due to half of the population vanishing, so they can only send a small team to investigate the cause.

However, there's one more person who's joining their little group, whether they want him to join or not:

Doctor Doom is a ton of fun in this book, with his dynamics with Spider-Man and the Hulk being highlights.  Clevinger does a great job with portraying him as this intelligent but egotistical ham whose flair for the dramatic can override his common sense.

It seems like Brian Clevinger had the most fun with writing Doctor Doom and Spider-Man (though for the most part, who wouldn't?) - they're just great.

The team needs transportation, so they turn to U.S. Ace, who drives a transport truck through the stars and has a CB radio in his skull that gives him a telepathic link to his vehicle.  This is apparently a real Marvel character, and not one who was made up for this comic.

Earth isn't the only planet that was affected - the Kree and Skrull empires also lost half of their populations, and naturally, they blame each other... until humans show up, at which point they turn their anger on the Earth.

Trying to escape uses up most of the space truck's fuel, so they have to stop at a space truck stop, which contains a space restaurant that's owned by U.S. Ace's parents. It's as cliche of a truck stop diner as you can think of, though the customers are various aliens.

Spider-Man's the viewpoint character (due to his lack of experience with space travel) and one of the main sources of humour, though everyone aside from Thanos has their moments. I remember feeling like Ms. Marvel was underdeveloped when I first read it, but going through it again, she's consistently trying to keep the team on task and working together.  That's just easier said than done given who she's working with.

After fending off a group of space pirates who roam the galaxy in space zeppelins, the makeshift team tracks down Thanos. One downside due to the series' shorter length and shift in focus is that Thanos is nowhere near as fleshed out as he was in Infinity Gauntlet.

This humour of the series holds up well, and it works as a continuity-light retelling of a classic Marvel story. In hindsight, it works even better as an introduction to Marvel for more casual fans - two years later, Thanos would make an appearance in the Avengers movie, skyrocketing him to main villain status within Marvel, and in that same year, Carol Danvers would take on the role of Captain Marvel, giving her a much larger role in the Marvel universe. (at the time that this book came out, from what I recall, she was relatively obscure compared to the rest of the team)

I had a great time reading this, and I wish that Brian Clevinger had gotten more work with Marvel. (though he's been working on Atomic Robo since 2007, so that seems to be working out for him) I'd recommend this for people who are just getting into Marvel, since it works well as a crash course on some of its key heroes and villains, or fans of goofier comics in general.