10 Comics You Must Read Before Avengers: Infinity War

10. Infinity Gauntlet (Obviously)

Marvel Comics

By far the book every Marvel fan should have at the top of their reading list before next April, Jim Starlin and George Perez's Infinity Gauntlet arc serves as the inspiration to the upcoming Infinity War, at least on a base level.

Focussing on the Mad Titan as he attempts to win the affections of Death herself, Thanos takes control of the Infinity Gauntlet and promptly eradicates half the sentient life in the universe. Big name heroes perish in an instant, and it's left to Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Nebula, Adam Warlock and the rest to bring him down. It has time travel, action, drama and death, and stands today as the most epic Marvel tale ever told.

We know not yet just how much of the book Infinity War will adapt, but it seems to be inheriting its ethos quite unashamedly. If the grave inflections of that recent trailer didn't already convey the gravity of the threat at hand, then the film's release surely will, as we're sure to be in for a death - or two - along the way.

As for the book itself, it has everything a cosmic Marvel fan could want, and a brilliant ending that sets up yet another seminal storyline (Infinity War), in its wake.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.