Fans of the Infinity Gauntlet rarely speak highly of its two sequels, Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, and with good reason. Despite having the same creative team (Jim Starlin and Ron Lim) and continuing the story of many of the same characters (Thanos, Warlock and the Avengers), both of these series are far inferior to the original Infinity. It might be unfair to judge a storyline based on the shortcomings of its sequels, but when reading all three minis in succession, The Infinity Gauntlets flaws become more pronounced and exposed. All three stories suffer from poor characterization, lazy plot devices and unsatisfying resolutions, yet the Infinity Gauntlet is put on a pedestal, probably because its the first and thereby feels fresher and more unique. Perhaps if Infinity Gauntlet wasnt published during the peak of the comic book boom period in the early 1990s, Marvel wouldnt have tried to milk every cent it could out of the property and passed on War and Crusade. But thats not the case, and the three stories are connected well enough that its dishonest to heap praise on Infinity Gauntlet without at least acknowledging its unsavory similarities with War and Crusade.
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.
