Silver Surfer #45: Review

Jan 1991

Jim Starlin, Ron Lim

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Story Name:

Thanos vs Mephisto

Review & Comments

Rating:

Silver Surfer #45 Review by Rob Johnson (December 4, 2020)

When Mephisto has the Gauntlet with the Infinity Gems he is the 1st to actually refer to it as the Infinity Gauntlet.

The rules of narrative decree that Thanos will regret keeping Mephisto and Nebula around, as we'll see in the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series.

Nebula will be back in IG#1.

Mephisto and Thanos will skip next issue as we find out what happened to Drax and Silver Surfer. And there's the return of Adam Warlock and friends.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Silver Surfer #45 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Thanos has the 6 Infinity Gems (Thanos Quest mini-series) which make him the most powerful being in the universe. Last issue he seemingly killed Silver Surfer and Drax The Destroyer. But Mephisto has been watching from Hell and schemes to get the Gems for himself.

Now as he stands over the 2 lifeless bodies Thanos lets us know he's actually captured their souls in Adam Warlock's Soul Gem. Then he teleports away (and that's all we'll see of the duo this issue).

The villain rematerialises inside his flagship Sanctuary III where he asks Captain Styx how things are progressing with a task he was set. Styx says they've spread the word of Thanos' return from death (#34) and many beings have rallied to his flag. And also many others have been press-ganged into service. They've also acquired a fleet of warships that could take any planet and take on most larger forces. Thanos wants more recruited but considers this enough for his personal guard. Styx worries that the men were expecting to seek plunder by attacking planets but his leader conjures up a huge mound of gold and gems and tells him to divide it up among the men - and never question 1 of his decisions again.

Then the Mad Titan detects a stowaway aboard and teleports himself and Styx to investigate. They discover crewman Mantrax tending to the severely burned body of Nebula (see #38) who claimed to be Thanos' granddaughter and had commanded this ship while its master was dead. Thanos thought he had killed her but Mantrax explains that the ship automatically doused her flames, and he's been looking after her ever since. But it's no use and she's dying, which will be a relief from her great pain. And he also thinks she's brain-damaged. Thanos senses that this is all correct, but he decides to revive her in this state and keep her alive and ambulent. And of course Mantrax has to die.

At this point Mephisto shows up and informs Thanos that there are things he does not know, even in his exalted state. The Mad God tells Styx to give Nebula some quarters and then asks the devil what he means. Last issue and in Thanos Quest we learned that the Infinity Gems are what remains of a being who was once the whole universe but then committed suicide out of loneliness. Mephisto now reveals that before that it had created the devils and demons like himself. It didn't know anything about good and evil but they all turned out evil. He didn't like the result and destroyed them all. However when his suicide gave birth to the current universe Mephisto and pals were reborn into it. But Thanos deduces that the being made sure that the Gems could not be detected by demons.

Mephisto now claims to have observed Thanos' omnipotence and wishes to be 1st among his servants. Thanos denies the need for such lackeys, but the devil says he can suggest uses for the Infinity Gems that Thanos might not think of, because he witnessed how the original being worked. For instance Thanos could simultaneously connect with every mind and soul in the universe. The Titan is intrigued by the idea and proceeds to do it. His mind is flooded with sensations and ideas that would boggle any but him.

Meanwhile as Thanos stands rapt Mephisto removes the Gauntlet with the Infinity Gems embedded. He puts it on ...

... and it starts to strangle him. He removes his hand from it but it continues. He tries to destroy it with the Fire Of Hades but to no avail. Then we see it is Thanos wearing the Gauntlet and doing the strangling. He knew well enough not to trust the devil.

Mephisto pleads to be still allowed to serve Thanos. Thanos says he could mould the demon's mind to ensure his faithfulness, but Mephisto says that would destroy the unique perspective he offers. And besides it has just been proven that mighty Thanos has nothing to fear from him. The Mad God agrees to keep him on as a sort of court jester. But the devil still schemes.

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