What a disappointment
I felt Marvel took a huge step backward in terms of Thanos' character development during the Annihilation Wave series. Since the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos had been somewhat of an anti-hero, teetering between ruthless protagonist and evil psychopath. Culminating with his own self-titled mini-series, the titan had grown into the role of amoral protector of the 616 universe, with just enough redeeming moments to separate him from the true villains; a bad guy that readers love to root for.
In any case, I just couldn't understand how Marvel could relegate this character I'd grown to love into a hired thug. The thought that Thanos; the guy that stopped Mjolnir with a gesture, the guy that beat the Silver Surfer to the brink of death with ease, the guy that became god of the Marvel universe THREE TIMES, would take orders from a weakling like Annihilus (ulterior motives aside) was simply ridiculous. And, adding insult to injury, Thanos dies at the end of the series in the most anticlimactic way imaginable. Killed, not in a cataclysmic showdown with Galactus, but by a sucker punch from Drax the freaking Destroyer.
Obviously, I was thrilled to hear that the mad titan was going to be resurrected in The Thanos Imperative. My excitement, however, quickly turned to disgust after reading through all 6 issues. The premise is interesting enough, and throughout the story there are several "wow, this is gonna be awesome" kind of moments. The problem is that these moments quickly fizzle out, as the writers never seem to capitalize on the most exciting possibilities. For instance, at the conclusion of the 2nd issue we see the Galactus Engine come through the fault from the cancerverse, and the sole figure standing in it's way is Arishem the Judge (leader of the Celestial Host). I couldn't wait for issue #3, but once I had the opportunity to read it I found that the battle I was waiting for wasn't there (in fact, Arishem doesn't even appear again in the entire series).
Interestingly enough, for a story entitled The Thanos Imperative, Thanos himself only features prominently in two of the six issues. The bulk of the dialogue comes from inconsequential characters like Quasar, Queen Medusa of the Inhumans, the Shi'ar gladiator, and of course, the lamest superhero team in the history of comics, the Guardians of the Galaxy (sorry Power Pack, you're a close second).
On a positive note, Thanos' fate at the end of the series is unclear, which at least leaves open the possibility for him to make a quick return. If you're a Thanos fan, do yourself a favor, dust off your old copies of the Infinity Trilogy, because as the name implies, they are INFINITELY more interesting than this garbage...
