The Thanos Imperative #3

Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy learn that the Cancerverse has been created by the assassination of death's avatar, a revelation that shapes Lord Mar-Vell's unholy quest in the main reality. 
 

The Good   

This issue's doing some serious conceptual reconfiguration for the cosmic characters. The explanation of the new universe's divergence, the specifics of Thanos' death avatar crusade, Drax's hostility toward him, Nova's plea to the Kree empire for a task force... all of it gives me a real charge. This feels like a genuine space opera, not just capes in the galaxy. I'll also say that Sepulveda and Ramos may have finally hit their stride with the ink-less-but-colored art in this issue. Maybe the pencils got tighter, maybe the colors were sharper, but I wasn't actually aware about there being a difference this time until I went back over the issue. 

The Bad   

Considering that this story's only six issues long, I'm starting to feel there are too many characters to cover, here. Sure, it's an epic, but between all of the alternate reality versions of characters scattered throughout here, I got seriously confused by the part where Nova reports to the Kree empire. I wasn't sure, at first, if these were supposed to be the 616 proper versions or the Cancerverse versions. Also, now that my suspicions regarding the naming of the Cancerverse, I have to question if it's in good taste. 

The Verdict - 4.5/5  

Book for book, this has been one of the best weeks for comics in recent memory. It's doubly enjoyable for the fact that these books haven't really been treading the same ground. This book, in particular, is a testament to Marvel's success at retooling and revamping their cosmology into a space opera that can go toe-to-toe with any other brand of galactic adventure.