(Marvel Comics, 2013)
Review by Shawn Warner
WRITTEN BY: Jason Aaron
ARTWORK BY: Simone Bianchi
COLOR ARTWORK BY: Ive Svorcina
LETTERING BY: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Thanos’ superior intellect was fueled by an inquisitive restlessness that led to macabre experimentation at a young age. As a young adolescent he was creating an ever widening chasm between himself and his classmates. This is evident when dissecting a lizard for class he is instructed to label all the major organs and organ systems Thanos not only completes the assignment before anyone else he also catalogues the stomach contents, extrapolates its life history and determines the cause of death of the creature. Left feeling less than fulfilled he tells his teacher that there is nothing more he can teach him and exits the classroom never again to return.
Cythera is waiting for him outside the classroom. She has been the only thing capable of holding his attention since they were children. He even thought at one time of asking her to be his girlfriend. He takes her to his personal laboratory where he has rows of glass tanks filled with myriad specimens; just about every creature indigenous to his world is represented there in his tanks. Thanos, wishing to impress Cythera, shows her a live cave ape strapped to an operating table that he plans to dissect. All of his searching for answers has led him to this. By 12 he had explored every inch of the frozen moon where he was born, by 13 he had walked upon the burning core of Saturn and by 15 he had mapped the stars of a thousand galaxies, but the cosmos offered no answers to his many questions. Neither does cutting the cave ape up offer any answers in the twisted mass of meat and marrow. In the end he is left only with a butchered ape and the knowledge that they too suffer and die like everything else he has cut apart. Cythera prompts Thanos into thinking he has been looking in the wrong places for answers all this time. He misreads this and makes a fumbled unwanted attempt to kiss her. Her refusal is all he can take, something snaps inside him.
Thanos decides then that his next experiment is to be conducted on two of his classmates, Sogarth and Loktus. He spies the two young lovers as they are trying to steal away a few moments of privacy for themselves. Thanos captures them and brings them back to his lab where he cuts them apart in the very same fashion as he did the cave ape. In the centuries since the founding of The City of Eternals on Titan this was the first recorded instance of murder. In fact the very concept of murder did not even exist; it was Thanos who invented it.
The murder sends shockwaves through the people of Titan. Thanos and his family, including his newly returned mother, discuss the matter around the dinner table. Things get rather uncomfortable when Thanos and his mother are left alone. She insists that she knows what he is however to this Thanos assures her that not only does she not know but he himself does not know what he is.
Cythera and Thanos are together at the side of a grave that the young mad Titan is digging. She taunts him about the zealous manner in which he has taken to his new obsession, going so far as to accuse him of enjoying the slaughter, this angers him he proclaims himself a scientist and no butcher. Thanos expresses his regret not only at having ever involved her in his quest for answers but in ever searching for those answers to begin with. He vows that once these bodies are buried that he will never kill again. Two weeks later Thanos and Cythera are again at a fresh graveside. This time he admits through his shame that he did indeed enjoy the killing. Cythera tries to ease his guilt by telling him that there is no shame in being true to his nature. This display of understanding prompts Thanos to express his true feelings for Cythera. He asks her to run away with him. When she refuses, Thanos tells her he could force her but she stands her ground revealing to the little boy-god that he is not worthy of love. She further stomps upon his shattered heart by telling him that he has found the only love he will ever know, the killing.
Thanos sits in his lab speaking to his victim who is strapped to the dissecting table. He is surrounded by his tanks and specimens and tools of his sinister trade. He has killed seventeen people at this point, children mostly boys and girls from his school, even a couple of professors, he boasts to his captive. Does this in fact make him a monster? He puts the question to his victim as he raises the razor sharp knife above her. He apologizes to his victim, who we now see is his mother, as he brings the knife down to kill. His search for the answer that has eluded him is now within his reach, he believes.
Jason Aaron is without question one of the best writers working in comics today and Thanos Rising is a prime example why. Thanos is a psychotic killer but Aaron has given him an origin that evokes sympathy. This is the story of a child that longs for the love of his mother, love that she is not willing to give. However it is beyond the withholding of love that drives Thanos to kill it is his mother’s absolute hatred of him. Aaron gives this reprehensible creature a heart and makes you actually feel for him before he drives him beyond the pale, beyond sympathy. Thanos is evil personified. He is Darth Vader and Osama Bin Laden burning a flag made of puppies with Lee Harvey Oswald but still that question lingers; would he have been this monster had his mother loved him?
Aaron does such a great job with not only the characterization but the dialogue as well. The characters speak in their own unique voices adding dimension to the story that could other fall flat. Although they are not human in the biological sense Aaron gives these characters very human voices and emotions allowing us to become emotionally invested in them. I love where this story is going. I never really thought of Thanos as having such a deep, multi-layered back story but this is just awesome writing. If you are reading Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder, then you. Know what I am talking about. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
The art work is done by Simone Bianchi. You might know him by the millions of incredible covers he has done, especially some of the Wolverine covers. In the first issue of Thanos Rising he used a more painterly approach on this second issue he employs a more traditional comic book style but still very innovative. I think he is about the best cover artist working today so when I see his name attached to a complete series I pay full attention. Bianchi has set the bar high even for himself bringing a mind-blowing mix of extreme realism and Salvador Dali-like surrealism to his work. He uses each page like an individual canvas, every single one is a complete work of art unto itself as well as part of a larger work. Simone Bianchi is an all-around phenomenal artist. His work is brimming with life and electricity. So that is another reason to add this book to your pull list.
I am enjoying Thanos Rising thoroughly. It delivers on every level, fantastic art and solid captivating writing. That’s worth $3.99 every time. So until next week, see you at the comic book store.
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Follow Shawn Warner on Twitter: @shawnwarner629
BAG & BORED 
Nice review!