Previous Page   Next Page
#1
#2
#3
#4
Selector

Infinity Abyss (2002 series) #3

on-sale: Jul 17, 2002
Jim Starlin

Infinity Abyss (2002 series) #3 cover

Story Name:

Memory disorders


Synopsis

Infinity Abyss (2002 series) #3 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
A group of beings vaguely like Thanos have a cunning plan. X disguised himself as the real Thanos and tricked Pip The Troll and Moondragon into bringing Adam Warlock out of the cocoon he'd been in for 2 years. Adam and Pip have gone to Monster Island which is the last place Adam remembers being. And X has now revealed his true self to MD before taking control of her mind. Gamora met another 'Thanos' (Armour) leading a Nihilist Cult. Then she went to Thanos' base planet where she met the real deal recovering from being attacked with a black hole. Meanwhile Captain Marvel and Dr Strange have been separately investigating white cubes of nothingness, and Spider-Man's Spider-Sense has led him to a great danger in an upstate New York farmhouse ...

Funko Pop! Marvel: The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Human Torch
Give that special marvelite a timely gift
... where he now sees a perfectly ordinary family with 2 very young twin daughters. But there's a hint he's in the right place when alien soldiers teleport into the back yard and start shooting at him. He's busy beating them up when CapM 'rescues' him having followed a link here from 1 of the white cubes. And his cosmic senses correctly predict that the aliens will now be swallowed up by a new cube. Warlock, narrating from the end of the series, tells us that the parents in this family are Brian and Debby Langunn.

Meanwhile Armour-Thanos in his spaceship contacts the base-ship to tell Mystic-Thanos that he's detected an intruder in original-Thanos' home and he thinks it's Gamora. Mystic tells him to kill her, and also reports that they've detected occult energy on 1 of the energy trails and they think it's Dr Strange. Hulk-like Warrior-Thanos says he'll go and crush him, but as usual X-Thanos stops him. Instead he'll send his new thrall Moondragon (who's switched from an all-white outfit to a black and purple costume) via a portal that Mystic creates.

Near the end of last issue Thanos told Gamora to look in a particular room, and she was astonished at what she found. We now see a roomful of containment tubes with (dead) Thanos-like beings inside. But some of them are broken and empty. Thanos (now seemingly fully-recovered from the black hole incident) tells her a story:-

After he gave up the idea of conquering the universe to gain Death's affection (the Infinity Gauntlet event) he considered what he was going to do with his life, in particular how to survive his growing list of enemies. He created these unique blends of android, clone and mystical doppelganger. (Apparently he'd been dabbling in the occult for over 3 centuries.) They would hopefully be allies, and he could also use them to test other potential allies. 1st he sent a low-level model to against Ka-Zar (in the 1997 KZ series). Then a higher-powered model against Thor (in #20-25 of his 1998 series where it was killed by the Thunder God). A 3rd attempt also involved Thor (and some other Avengers) which also failed (the Av: Celestial Quest limited series). He claims that all the failures were due to the clones favouring destruction (sometimes massive) over cunning. The end result was merely more enemies, so he decided to close down the project.

But then someone blasted in through the roof of his base (while he was away) and activated 5 of the replicants. His records show that all 5 had his pre-IG nihilistic outlook and intend to end all life in the universe. 3 of them rival his own power and 1 is a lower-level model (strangely Armour not Warrior). But the 5th, Omega, frightens even him. And their liberator has modified their programming to believe that Adam Warlock is the key to the oblivion they seek.

But on with the plot. Stephen Strange is following a trail of links between white boxes through mystic dimensions when Moondragon psychically attacks him.

But enough of that. Adam and Pip are on Monster Island in the ruins of the castle that used to be the base for their Infinity Watch. After some banter about clothing styles and outlook on life (pleasure vs futility) Pip draws them back to their search for clues to the identity of Atlez who mentally contacted Warlock here. Adam realises the contact came from far away, even beyond infinity. And this makes him think of Eternity. So he asks Pip to use his teleportation to take them both where Adam has been before.

And now this. What appears to be Galactus destroys a 3rd Kree world to empower him for what will be necessary.

But back to Gamora and the real Thanos who's continuing his explanation. X was designed to test Prof X's mutant telepathy. Warrior was aimed at the Shi'Ar Gladiator. Mystic's purposed target was Strange. Armour was intended for Iron Man. But he's interrupted by an alarm before he can describe Omega. It's Armour's spacecraft but he'll leave Gamora to deal with the intruder because it's important that the  clones don't learn that he survived the black hole. Gamora (uncharacteristically) declares she's no match for the foe so the Titan tells her to lure him to basement level 4 where she'll be able to gate out before Thanos remotely destroys him. Gamora asks why she should trust him and he replies that she's important to his plan. On the other hand if she fails he'll just have to destroy the whole base with her in it.

Meanwhile MD has DrS in the clutches of a stone golem. She declares her intent to plunder his mind for her master, to see what little he has discerned of the plan. But Strange dispels the golem as an illusion. His fellow ex-Defender says she had hoped to recruit him to the cause, but now she will show no such mercy. A mental battle then ensues, seemingly through multiple mystic planes intended to drive Stephen mad. But he dispels this illusion too and responds with the illusion of multiple hims besieging her. Now it's her turn to do the dispelling. Finally they face each other in direct mental conflict. Each defends their very identity by summoning memories of their closest friends and allies. But in the end it's just will against will ... and Moondragon crumbles. But then the exertion takes its toll on the victor too.

But when Adam and Pip reach their destination (in the realm of abstract entities) Warlock is astounded to perceive Eternity merged with Infinity. And they don't seem happy to see him.

And somewhere the mysterious alien Atlez muses that space and time are beginning to break up, the messenger approaches but is damaged, and the forces of oblivion are so powerful.

THE AVENGERS OMNIBUS VOL. 1 [NEW PRINTING]
Give that special marvelite a timely gift


Characters
Good (or All)
ADAMWARLOCK
CMARVGVELL
DOCTORSTRANGE
ETERNITY
GAMORA
MOONDRAGON
PIPT
SPIDERMAN
THANOS
Plus: Infinity.


> Infinity Abyss (2002 series) comic book info and issue index



GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS OMNIBUS VOL. 2
Give that special marvelite a timely gift

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Jim Starlin
Al Milgrom
Christie Scheele
Jim Starlin (Cover Penciler)
Al Milgrom (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Jack Morelli.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.



Review / Commentaries


Infinity Abyss (2002 series) #3 Review by (August 15, 2025)
In this issue we learn about the Thanosi, although Jim Starlin never calls them that. The plural form (which sounds like Greek but isn't) was invented by Snood of the Unofficial Marvel Appendix, but it entered official Marvel in the 2003 Spider-Man Encyclopedia. Combining Starlin's nomenclature with the Thanosi name the Ka-Zar villain is called the Low-Level Thanosi and the Thor version is the Higher-Powered Thanosi, while the 5 in this series are just the Thanosi with individual names. It is generally accepted that the Thanos in the X-Man/Hulk 1998 Annual is also the Ka-Zar Thanosi. No particular name has been given to the Celestial Quest version, and Thanos doesn't so explicitly name that event. And Death herself names the Thanos there as the real 1.

It is also accepted that Starlin invented this idea because he thought Thanos in those stories wasn't worthy of the Thanos he had left. Ie his Thanos no longer sought universal destruction or even conquest. His Thanos was a nuanced char as likely to be fighting alongside heroes than against them. The only apps he accepts since Ka-Zar are Captain Marvel (2000) #17-19, and he drew the 1st 2 issues of that and probably had a say in the plot and dialogue. If he'd noticed the 1-page app in Deadpool (1997) #33 I'm sure he would have dismissed it as being too silly to be the real Thanos.

Most Thanos apps immediately after Starlin left Marvel last time were written by his protege Ron Marz. And most others treated Thanos respectfully. The last 1 before Ka-Zar was Fabian Nicieza's Captain Marvel (1995) #5 and his continuation flashback in CM(1999)#14.

Infinity was last seen in the Avataars: Covenant Of The Shield mini-series.
Her brother Eternity was there also but he since appeared in Avengers Infinity #4, X-Men Forever #6 and the Celestial Quest series with a Thanos.

What appears to be Galactus isn't.

Rick Jones doesn't feature in Captain Marvel's brief appearance.





Thor

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.9.10 (Aug 14, 2025 - VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2025 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved