Thanos: Cosmic Powers

Cosmic Powers (1994) #1-6

by Ron Marz, Ron Lim (Artist), Tom Grindberg (Artist)

Collects Secret Defenders #12-14, Cosmic Powers #1-6.

The ever-scheming Thanos forges unlikely alliances! But what secret mission could lead Rhino, Super-Skrull, Titanium Man and more to join Thanos's new team of would-be Defenders? That's exactly what the Silver Surfer and Captain Mar-Vell's son, Legacy, need to find out! To face the Galactus-level threat of the terrible Tyrant, who will join Thanos's cause? Legacy? Terrax the Tamer? Jack of Hearts? What about Ganymede, last of the Spinsterhood and sworn enemy of Tyrant? Where do the loyalties of Morg, Herald of Galactus lie? And most important: Does Thanos carry a world-shaking secret agenda? The battle begins as the cosmic firmament holds its breath. But in a war between two evils, either outcome may result in death!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2015

About the author

Marz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.

Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.

His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).

Photo by Luigi Novi.

Reviews

[˗ˏˋ n a j v a ˊˎ˗ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Thanos series, another Thanos adventure, full of action and peculiar creatures!
If you're into seeing big deviants crushing and smashing each other and never getting enough of that, this is just yours!

[gxvault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of thanos, plenty of cosmic!
Now this is something to re-read anytime soon, it was a good book, good art and writing!
Can't get enough of "Thanos" remember: Knowledge is power.

[Brian Barr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. That was the weirdest Thanos collection I ever read. The whole book has a super 90’s X-Force/Image Leifeldesque feel, featuring bulky guns held by bulky guys who want to destroy everything. The best issue was drawn by Ron Lim from Infinity Gauntlet and made the collection worthwhile with a Samurai-style Thanos. Storywise, the plots weren’t Starlin-level, but they were okay and I do like Ron Mars. I wouldn’t pay full price for this- luckily, I got it during a sale.

If you’re looking to read Thanos comics, I’d suggest anything by Jim Starlin. I also like what Donny Cates has done with the Thanos mythos recently. Cosmic Powers is worth owning if you love Thanos and don’t mind a weaker work with him, or if you are nostalgic about 90’s extreme Image art like Youngbloods, Prophet, or something.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was pretty good. It includes many of Marvel's cosmic characters, although many were what you'd call B-listers, but good characters nonetheless. The story was more coherent than some of these cosmic type adventures, and the art was good to very good. Overall really one of the more underrated Thanos stories.

[Timo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tämmöistähän se oli 90-luvulla. Yritetään olla isoa kosmista oopperaa useilla henkilöillä ja syvällisesllä tasoilla. Turha se olisi ollut enemmän panostaa tarinaan.

[William Cardini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Grindberg draws four of the nine issues collected in this book. I love his superhero artwork, it's amazingly ugly. His figures are impossibly bulky and stretch in weird, fluid ways. They just seem so big and imposing and in your face which is great for bruisers like Thanos, Terrax, Morg, and Tyrant. Surprisingly he can also draw attractive women. Overall his renditions of characters look more alive than the stiff figures of more popular artists like Ron Lim and Rob Liefeld.

Ron Marz wrote the story. He's no Jim Starlin but he can write some fun SF battles. Thanos: Cosmic Powers continues some storylines that Marz was writing in Silver Surfer at the time and features several characters created by the two Rons (Marz and Lim): Ganymede, Morg, and Tyrant.

This book is mostly just a slugfest but sometimes that's all I want from superhero comics.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A creative take on several lesser known cosmic characters. There is a 3-comic intro, and then the 6-book series of Cosmic Powers, each issue focusing on a different character, but all tying together into one story. Different artist for each book, so that was cool too.
A worthwhile read, but not required reading for Thanos fans (which is what brought me to the series). I did like the 'purpose' of the story, that Thanos felt he had allied himself with too many heroes, and wanted to get back to being evil. Creative!
All said, worth the read, but not required.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my interview with Ron Marz himself! https://youtu.be/BHYPDZ5FX2A

[Devero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un volume che raccoglie storie molto anni '90, con tutti i difetti del fumetto di quel periodo e pochi pregi.
Ron Marz come scrittore è certamente un antesignano della tecnica di allungare il brodo nella narrazione fumettara. Questo volume ne è un chiaro esempio. Stan Lee o Roy Thomas o Kaningher o Drake o qualunque altro scrittore degli anni 60, 70 e 80 avrebbero scritto le stesse storie in meno della metà delle pagine, senza sovrabondare con inutili splash page. I personaggi non sono granché caratterizzati, e se per qualcuno di essi, decisamente noto, la cosa ha senso, per altri qualche parola in più avrebbe dovuto spenderla.
Dal punto di vista grafico, mentre Ron Lim nel complesso è sempre almeno sufficiente, Tom Grindberg, che in questo periodo scimmiottava con pessimi risultati Mike Mignola, è semplicemente inguardabile.
Il volume non arriva alle 2 stelle. Un a e mezza possono bastare.

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah. This whole thing felt very slapped together. A whole bunch of characters show up but most of them do not seem to have a real reason to be there. And then it becomes a series of one-off stories in the five-part miniseries. They don't seem to come together either. Maybe I was bound to be disappointed because I was convinced no one could write Thanos like Starlin. (And Thanos is kind of a background character for a lot of the book anyway.)

[EG · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Thanos being Thanos, and going on yet another mad adventure. What's not to enjoy? While short, it was a nice read...the characters were nicely drawn, and there's actually a bit of a bitter, yet truthful moral regarding power revealed at the end. I shall say no more. If you love Thanos comics this is definitely worth a look!

[Matt Sautman · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story for Thanos: Cosmic Powers is fun based on its premise of notable cosmic villain Thanos forming an intergalactic team to challenge a new cosmic villain, this story and its art suffers from 90’s extremities that date Thanos: Cosmic Powers in a way that separates it from earlier Marvel stories that feel timeless.

[Doppelganger · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the Marvel Universe and enjoyed the Infinity Saga, this is a tale that does not disappoint! It's rife with quality artwork, and good Marvel story telling that includes many a surprise plot twist. I doubt any fan of the mad titan would be disappointed in this read.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fine work by Marz and the illustrators: Ginber,Moore, Smith, and Eaton. The story is basically Secret Defenders with Thanos leading instead of Doctor Strange, although the book is based on the six issue Cosmic Powers, it begins in Secret Defenders.

Great story and fine art.

[Carlos Solis · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can skip all the S. Defender issues, i like the last 6 issues the best.
Cosmic Poweres #1-6.
Im still confused about the ending, some one give me your assessment...

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 3 out of 5]

a decent story that's told pretty well, but overall, not really exciting

[Ellison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mindless 90s trash with SOME nice pictures.

[ISMOTU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel space faring quirkiness at the height of the 90’s.

[Joseph Huerell · Rating 4 out of 5]

That’s okay story.

[Anna Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read anything about Thanos, even though I know him as a character, never really knew any of his timeline. this was a great read. I kind of want to go out and find the individual issues now to add to my collection!

[Richard Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok story involving Thanos and a bunch of other cosmic characters in the Marvel universe. I enjoyed reading it for the nostalgia, as I read all of these when they were originally released, but probably not since.

It's also another book to have Ron Lim sign at WonderCon this year. :)

[Adan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is super 90s, complete with terrible, Liefeld-inspired art and character design, and a ridiculous story that makes only a tiny bit of sense. The only reason it didn't get one star was because of that Thanos issue. That one was actually alright.