? Crypt Raider | Main | Isthmian revisited ?
February 09, 2004
Thanos #6
Thanos, the Mad Titan, starred in a tale that helped define the cosmology of the Marvel multiverse. Following the failure of his bid to woo Lady Death by assembling the Infinity Gems and later the Infinity Gauntlet he was left at loose ends. Now he has returned in his own series and aims to make right some of the mad slaughter for which he is responsible. His new adventures brought him into conflict with Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds. Galactus' misguided attempt to assuage his diet of crunchy inhabited planets almost resulted in reality itself being eaten by a rather poorly thought through villain of the piece, an interdimensional entity named Hunger. Thanos saves the day and, not content with having saved reality, proceeds to hector Galactus on his behaviour. I do not believe I will be alone in inferring a message intended to bridge the gap between the Marvelverse and another plane of reality. Thanos may be a Mad Titan but I am not certain he deserves to be a mouthpiece for the disputes of a universe beyond his own.
Galactus: Then speak.
Galactus: What wisdom?
Thanos: That no matter how awesome the entity, it has a social contract with the rest of the universe. You currently consume without any regard to the effects of your ravaging. The inhabitants of the heavens have little sympathy for your gluttony. The time with come when they will join forces to put an end to the peril that is you.
Galactus: I am to be lectured by one who once slaughtered half the universe merely to impress Lady Death?
Thanos: But my victims did not remain dead. Seeking to rid yourself of your gruesome hunger was the proper thing to do, Galactus. Your error lay in seeking this end without considering the price others would pay for your salvation.
Galactus: I am Galactus. Mine is a manifest destiny. The very fates have declared that others must die so that I may live.
Thanos: That is indeed a dubious claim many would challenge.
Galactus: Then what would you have me do, Titan? Embrace your former icy lover?
Thanos: No. Live, but realize that your monstrous ego almost destroyed you and the universe. Your narrow vision nearly proved your end. You have been given a second chance, Devourer. There are certain immutable laws in the universe. One is that anything that grows too big... eventually collapses in on itself. Continue on as you have and a day of reckoning will find you. All things inevitably come to an end, Galactus. As mighty as you are, you cannot stand against an entire universe. Stay your course and this alliance will come to be. They will be forced to destroy you, Devourer. And know you this, Galactus, on that day... I will stand with your enemies.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at February 9, 2004 06:11 AM
Comments
Huh. To be honest, I didn't see the moderately obvious "parallel" here. But I tend to read things a face value.
If meant to be the clumsy lecture it seems to be ... well, I'm not sure I'd care to be on the side of the Mad Demi-God of Titan, either. After all, he manages to, even in his "kinder, gentler" state, alienate a whole passel of people, not to mention blow up a couple of planets ...
Posted by: *** Dave at February 9, 2004 07:29 PM
Hmm. Anthropologists are often believed to read too much into social phenomena and this could be the case here. But I wonder... Who else has castigated for acting on "a unilateral basis" claimed to be justified by a "manifest destiny" only to be "humbled" for their "monstrous ego." To me this looks remarkably pointed. And then there is the theological component to Thanos' rant. This could be a Congregationalist warning against hubris.
Posted by: Flea at February 10, 2004 01:34 AM