Vulture has a long interview with Jim Starlin ahead of the release of Avengers: Infinity War and he tells why he's at odds with Marvel, again: "The Creator of Avengers: Infinity War Villain Thanos Hates Marvel Comics’ Guts"
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This is not rich for me.
I loved Starlin's early stuff but hasn't he made an awful lot of money at Marvel retreading the same stories time and again since.?
Does this mean the latest 'Infinity Siblings' which was billed as first of a new trilogy will now be a stand-alone?
(I actually liked it as it was a great vessel for underused Eros/Starfox - but sorry Jim -- no read plot!)
It's mentioned in this article, or some other one I read, that Starlin has finished writing all three books of this new trilogy "out of respect for Alan Davis."
Or maybe out of respect for a paycheck. OTOH, he's apparently making good bank from the movies. Maybe he never has to work again.
Point being, all three books will be published. The second one will be out in December.
And, yes, count me among those who kinda lost interest in Starlin's work a decade or so ago when he kept telling the same damn story over and over, with mild variations. I do think, now that I'm reading a lot of them back to back to back (for column purposes) that both Thanos and Warlock have changed under his aegis -- well, despite doing the same things over and over. But there has been some mild character growth, which I didn't notice when I read "Infinity This" and "Infinity That" years apart..
I don’t necessarily think it’s a fair criticism to say that Starlin has recycled the same plot for years, but I’m not prepared to offer a rebuttal at this time. There are really two different Thanoses at Marvel: Starlin’s and everyone else’s. I follow Starlin’s but not anyone else’s. Nevertheless, Starlin does manage to play in Marvel’s sandbox by writing current (i.e., “movie”) versions of the characters rather than “his” versions. (I’m referring to the Guardians of the Galaxy in particular.) Not that I have applauded ever decision Starlin made with the characters. I hated it when he turned Drax into a big, dumb moron. But Starlin’s “movie version” of Drax is as good as if not better than any other writer’s I have read.
I'd be interested to hear that rebuttal -- I'm writing a Thanos column today and it would inform my opinion. A lot of Thanos stories are ones where he gets godlike power usually killing Earth's super-heroes in the process, but loses the power and the Reset button is hit. In between, there's a lot of metaphysical jibber-jabber. I don't want to hammer on that, so I'd be pleased to see another side to it.
Aren't the majority of the surviving "Big Name" Bronze Age creators mad at Marvel now? Or go through "mad " phases? Especially with their characters appearing in movies. TV shows and cartoons with little or no recognition or recompense?
"I'd be interested to hear that rebuttal..."
I read your "reading assignments" for the the upcoming Avengers movie and had planned to sift through my "cosmic" box to offer an alternate list, but I didn't get around to it. I have been meaning to do a big ol' honkin' Starlin re-read at some point, but I couldn't get it done in time for your column.
Okay, Cap… here’s a list of comics (all from this century!) in which Starlin does not recycle the same plot.
Infinity Abyss #1-6 (2002)
Marvel: The End #1-6 (2003)
Thanos #1-6 (2004)
Infinity Revelation OGN (2014)
Thanos vs. Hulk #1-4 (2015)
Infinity Relativity OGN (2015)
Infinity Entity #1-4 (2016 – Alan Davis art)
Infinity Finale OGN (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy #1-5 (2017 – Alan Davis art)
Infinity Siblings OGN (2018)
There is also Thanos Annual #1 (2014) which recaps some of those “recycled” stories with a twist. It features Thanos from two different eras interacting. The Thanos from near the end of Infinity War interacts with his earlkier self from after his first major defeat at the hands of Captain Marvel and the Avengers. It also “foeshadows” Infinity Abyss and the non-Starlin “Annihilation” series (both of which had already been published by that time). I plan to go add some detail to these series in your “reading assignments” discussion sometime this week (if not today).
I'd love to hear it. I've read most of your list, but I don't remember most of it.
I re-read your column “Reading Assignments for Infinity War” and decided not only that that’s not really the place to offer an “alternate reading list,” but also that one isn’t really even necessary. If the purpose of the column is to point non-comic book readers to the source material for the new Avengers movie, then Infinity Gauntlet is it, no question. (I always make mental notes of such lists in case “muggles” ask, but they never do.) I have been wondering why Marvel changed “Infinity gems” to “Infinity stones” and I finally figured it out: it’s because of the movie.
I think some level of my mind was aware there was an Avengers movie opening this month, but I didn’t really think about it until I saw some previous for it on TV last Thursday. Then I saw the review you posted Friday. (I didn’t read it because this is a superhero movie I might actually go see, but I haven’t even seen Black Panther yet.) I have a somewhat cynical view of Hollywood and the way I see it is like this: however derivative the movie may or may not be, it can’t be seen (in Hollywood’s own eyes) as being derivative. Infinity gems would be owe too much to the source matetrial, but Infinity stones? Totally original.
You suggested once before that I review the Warlock/Thanos OGNs. I wasn’t in the mood to then, but I think I am now. Look for them in “What Comic Books Have You Read Today?”
One of my wife's hobbies involves semiprecious stones. They are sometimes referred to as gems or gemstones. I think that when the general public hears the word "gem" they think of diamonds and rubies. I would guess that's the reason. When they published Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in the U.S they changed it to "...Sorceror's Stone" for the same reason.