10 Comic Book Catastrophes That Killed Millions

3. Thanos Deletes Half Of Existence - The Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet Thanos Snap
Marvel Comics

Death toll: Even more billions

Never one to be outdone, the Marvel universe€™'s primo despot Thanos managed to outdo the death toll of Annihilation: Conquest by a significant margin, and a good couple of decades before the Phalanx arrived on the scene to mess up the Kree to boot.

Everyone knows his deal, right? Basically, Thanos fancies Death. Like, the actual physical manifestation of death, the Marvel Universe€™s Grim Reaper. What with being the physical manifestation of death and all Thanos figures that only widespread murder is the only thing that will impress her, which is what usually fuels his desire to collect all those Infinity Stones, stick them in a glove, and wield ultimate universal power.

All-powerful and desperate to win the affections of Death, once Thanos collects all the stones in the 1991 limited series The Infinity Gauntlet he clicks his fingers and erases half the sentient life in the universe. Just like that. Poof. Gone. Like it never even happened. Besides, well, all the billions across the galaxy, amongst the €œdead€ in this instance are most of the X-Men, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four.

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Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/