The Infinity Gauntlet (Secret Wars) Issues 1 to 3

The Infinity Gauntlet (Secret Wars) Issues 1 to 3

Written by Gerry Duggan and Dustin Weaver

Art by Dustin Weaver

Like many of the Battleworld stories being published, the titles are very misleading. While Marvel was never clear about what they would be putting out, they did promote each storyline with the lettering from those great crossovers. There are some great storylines in the Battleworld universe, but many readers have come away dissappointed. Many of these readers, myself included, expected stories from those crossovers. While many of them have nothing to do with those crossovers, there are a few that stand out. Infinity Gauntlet is one of those.

The story centers around a family, the Bakians, that consist of a dad, two daughters, granddad, and even a dog. In this part of Battleworld, giant bugs have invaded Earth and killed most of the population. The mother of the Bakian clan, Eve, is off fighting the bugs with an atrophied Nova Corps. This provides tension within the family. While Anwen, the eldest child, is resentful that her mother went off to fight, while the youngest, Fayne believes that her mother is right around the corner. Menzin Bakian, the father is ambivalent about her return. Some moments he is hopeful and in others, he becomes fatalistic. Issue one does a great job of introducing the entire clan.

Issue number two comes right into the action as the Eve Bakian returns to save her family and bring them into the Nova Corps. This is my favorite part of the series so far. The Bakian battles hordes upon hordes of bugs. At one point, Eve uses the Infinity gems she possesses to defeat their opponents. This issue also introduces Gamora and Peter Quill (Star Lord) who are also in search of the Infinity gems. Finally, the reader is introduced to Thanos and his scheme to acquire the Gauntlet.

The third issue dials back the action a bit. Thanos is continuously defeated when trying to acquire the Infinity Gauntlet from a yet unnamed Nova. He jumps back in time to try again. This time, he decides to take a more diplomatic approach by befriending the Bakian clan before they reunite with Eve Bakian. Thanos gains their trust and watches as they find more gems and meet up with Gamora and Peter Quill.

Readers might wonder why members of the Guardians of the Galaxy are teaming up with Thanos. It seems that in this Battleworld reality, no one knows about this version of Thanos. It also seems that in this region of Battleworld, the humans are used to interacting with beings from other planets.

Again, I must point out that this Infinity Gauntlet storyline is completely different from its predecessor. So if you are looking to see your favorite heroes and villains battling for control of the Gauntlet, it's not going to happen. Instead we are introduced to a new family, particularly one of color. Dustin Weaver's artwork does a beautiful job of fleshing out the Bakian clan.

I think any parent can relate to this story. The stakes are high. Eve Bakian is not just fighting off an international menace or two, she is fighting to keep her family together. While the foreshadowing isn't clear, it looks like Thanos will be facing off Anwen. Black girls are magic.

I haven't seen anything that states that any of the Bakian clan will be returning with their own series or part of a superhero group. This is dissappointing. This story, like many other Battleworld stories, is compelling and one can't helped but be attached to the characters. Hopefully, they will pop up in future stories as guests.