8. Jim Starlin Shows Too Much Favoritism to His Characters
Writer Jim Starlin had every Marvel hero and villain at his disposal for The Infinity Gauntlet, but rather than try and build his story around popular characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine or Captain America, Starlin opted to focus almost exclusively on characters he either created or had extensive experience writing. Thanos was created by Starlin in 1973, and is unquestionably the protagonist of the entire series, while Adam Warlock, a lesser-known character that Starlin built a short-lived series around in the mid-to-late 1970s, leads the band of heroes. Warlocks right-hand-man throughout the mini is Silver Surfer. At the time The Infinity Gauntlet was published, Starlin was scripting Marvels Silver Surfer series. Thanos is arguably the most popular character of the bunch, but Surfer has long had the stigma of not being able to carry a solo series for extended periods. Meanwhile Warlock hasn't been a relevant Marvel character since the 70s. Sure, prior to the series, Warlock had some experience battling Thanos, but so did the likes of the Avengers and Spider-Man. Warlock is only considered an authority in The Infinity Gauntlet because Starlin tells the audience he is an authority. It seems odd that Warlock is the one calling the shots in this story.
Mark is a professional writer living in Brooklyn and is the founder of the Chasing Amazing Blog, which documents his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the Superior Spider-Talk podcast. He also pens the "Gimmick or Good?" column at Comics Should Be Good blog.
