The Infinity Gauntlet #3

History

The Infinity Gauntlet was written by Jim Starlin, whose history with Thanos dated back to the character's 1973 creation, and grew organically out of sixteen months of buildup Starlin had been building across Silver Surfer beginning in 1990, capped by The Thanos Quest limited series. George Pérez, fresh off a decade of defining DC work that included Crisis on Infinite Earths, was recruited to pencil the series after editor Craig Anderson learned Pérez's DC contract was lapsing — Pérez agreed to work from Starlin's full scripts, a method he found creatively constraining. Issue #3 was the final issue Pérez penciled without any co-penciler involvement, as his simultaneous commitment to DC's War of the Gods was already creating schedule strain that would cause him to depart mid-way through issue #4, at which point Ron Lim — already deeply familiar with the material from penciling Silver Surfer alongside Starlin — took over. Marvel originally intended the series to ship bi-weekly, but deadline pressures shifted it to a monthly schedule, with issue #3 carrying a September 1991 cover date.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First full appearance of Terraxia (dubbed 'Terraxia the Terrible'), a purple-skinned being created by Thanos using the power of all six Infinity Gems as a devoted companion intended to make Mistress Death jealous; she was co-created by Jim Starlin and George Pérez.
• First appearance of Master Hate (also known as Sire Hate), the abstract cosmic entity who is the embodiment of hatred and counterpart to Mistress Love; also co-created by Starlin and Pérez and first identified in the Marvel Database as debuting in this issue.
• The issue's story is titled 'Preparations for War!' and was written by Jim Starlin with pencils by George Pérez, inks by Josef Rubinstein, colors by Max Scheele and Ian Laughlin, letters by Jack Morelli, and edited by Craig Anderson under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco.
• Issue #3 is the last chapter entirely penciled by George Pérez in the series; Pérez drew the first three issues in full before a combination of schedule overload and creative dissatisfaction led to Ron Lim completing the miniseries from issue #4 onward.
• Adam Warlock privately confesses to Silver Surfer that the assembled hero force — including Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and dozens more — is intended only as a diversion and 'sacrificial lambs,' not a genuine threat to the Gauntlet-wielding Thanos.
• The Living Tribunal declines to intervene on behalf of the assembled cosmic entities (including Eternity, Galactus, Kronos, Epoch, Lord Chaos, Master Order, Mistress Love, and Master Hate), stating that no cosmic crime is being committed — setting up the catastrophic battle of the following issue.
• Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists discover during this issue that Thanos's earlier force wave has knocked Earth out of its orbit, adding a slow-motion extinction-level threat on top of the superhero assault storyline.
• In 2011, a Marvel Universe toy two-pack featuring Thanos and Adam Warlock included a reprint of The Infinity Gauntlet #3 as a pack-in comic, making it one of the series' issues specifically chosen for post-publication promotional reprinting.

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

Key issues in The Infinity Gauntlet

★

#1 Key event — Thanos wields the Infinity Gauntlet

★

#2 1st appearance — Epoch

Variants (1)