Thanos Annual #1

History

Writer Derek Landy was tasked by editor Nick Lowe with spearheading the Infinity Watch event, building directly on Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari's 2023 Thanos limited series, which established the Death Stone's creation. The main story is drawn by Salvador Larroca (pencils, inks) with colors by Guru-eFX and letters by Cory Petit, while the backup — launching the 'Death Stone Saga' thread that runs across all nine annuals — is drawn by Sara Pichelli with colors by Mattia Iacono and letters by Travis Lanham. Announced in March 2024, the issue shipped June 26, 2024, with multiple variant covers including incentive editions by Frank Miller, Rose Besch, Skottie Young, Chad Hardin, and a connecting Infinity Watch variant by Mike McKone.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published June 26, 2024; written by Derek Landy; main art by Salvador Larroca (pencils/inks/colors by Guru-eFX/letters by Cory Petit); backup art by Sara Pichelli (colors by Mattia Iacono/letters by Travis Lanham); edited by Nick Lowe.
• First appearance (future version) of Hector Bautista in his costumed identity as Overtime, the Time Stone bearer, per the Marvel Database character listing for this issue.
• The backup story, 'The Death Stone Saga' Part 1, reveals Phil Coulson — killed prior to Secret Empire by Deadpool on a false Captain America's orders — as the Death Stone's resurrected host, effectively bringing the character back to Marvel continuity as a cosmic avatar of Death.
• Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond, Mephisto's simulacrum who retains memories of the Heroes Reborn reality) appears in the backup pursuing the Death Stone, motivated by a desire to restore the Mephisto-created reality in which Coulson's Squadron Supreme ruled.
• The Death Stone is established as a seventh Infinity Stone, created by Thanos by trapping the entity Lady Death within an artificial gem — a concept originating in Christopher Cantwell's preceding Thanos miniseries.
• Stone-to-host assignments confirmed or referenced in this issue: Time Stone → Hector Bautista/Overtime; Reality Stone → Ripley Ryan/Star; Space Stone → Quantum; Power Stone → Prince of Power/Otherone (Apex); Soul Stone → Ward/Multitude; Death Stone → Phil Coulson.
• This issue is the first of nine core annuals comprising the Infinity Watch event, with the complete saga collected in the trade paperback Infinity Watch: Power Corrupts (ISBN 9781302960384).
• Key Collector Comics classifies the issue's primary story significance as the identity reveal of Phil Coulson as the Death Stone host, noting no other key designations for the issue.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Variants (6)