Thanos' Popularity Increasing Since his first cameo following the credits in the first Avengers feature film, Thanos' popularity has increased significantly. The brain-child of writer/artist Jim Starlin, Thanos has certainly come a long way since his first appearance in Iron Man #55. On a side note, creator Jim Starlin has often stated that Jack "the king" Kirby's Darkside was the inspiration for his own celestial villain. This post will outline many of this beefy villains key appearances, just in case you want to pick up some of these issues and brush up on your Thanos lore, as he gears up to be the main antagonist in more than one Marvel movie. How Thanos Was Introduced by Marvel Thanos' first tryst with the Marvel universe extended over five titles, including the Iron Man comic book mentioned above. The plot line would then pit Thanos against Captain Marvel (which was a bi-monthly series) in issue #s 25-33 of C.M's self titled comic book (1973-1974). Following/ during this, Thanos then appeared in Marvel Feature #12 (1973), Daredevil #107 (1974) and finally Avengers #125 (1974). Thanos was a Marvel mainstay during the 1970s, being featured once again in a second extended story arc from 1975-1977. This arc took place in Strange Tales #s 178-181 (1975), Warlock #s 9-11 (1975-1976), Marvel Team-Up #55 (1977), Avengers Annual #7 (1977) and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7. Thanos also made an appearance in a back-up story in Logan's Run #6 (1977). The character went on an eight year hiatus following a cameo in the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel in 1982. Following this break, Thanos was resurrected in Silver Surfer vol.3 #34 - and he stuck around until issue #50 (1990). During his run with the Surfer, he also appeared in Thanos Quest 1-2 (1990) and the popular Infinity Gauntlet #s 1-6 (1991). The Infinity Gauntlet cemented Thanos as a Marvel Universe heavy hitter, and he has appeared consistently in a plethora of titles, including his own, since then. And … [Read more...]