THE COMPLETE THANOS READING ORDER
This is a list of every canonical, more-than-trivial,
in-main-Marvel-universe appearance of Thanos that I know of, as well as a few
appearances by fake Thanoses, out-of-continuity Thanos stories by Jim Starlin,
and some other significant things. Most of it is available on Marvel Unlimited;
the parts that aren't are generally not especially relevant to the Thanos-curious, aside from Starlin's three Thanos
graphic novels. (Which actually are
on Unlimited, but nearly impossible to navigate to.)
If you're wondering what the sources for "Avengers:
Infinity War" are, it appears to draw on the plot of Infinity Gauntlet (1991), with some elements from Infinity (2013) thrown in.
% indicates that Jim Starlin wrote it or drew it or both
@ indicates that it's a tie-in in which Thanos doesn't
actually appear
REPRINTED AS "AVENGERS VS. THANOS" (EXCEPT FOR ^)
% Iron Man #55
^ Avengers #118 (Thanos only appears in one panel)
% Captain Marvel (1968) #25-30
% Marvel Feature #12 (takes place midway through Captain
Marvel #30)
% Daredevil #105 (a brief but interesting flashback)
Daredevil #107 (only a couple of panels)
% Captain Marvel (1968) #31-33
Avengers #125 (simultaneous with Captain Marvel #33)
^ [Thanos Annual #1 takes place here, but hold off on it
until much later]
Logan's Run #6, 2nd story (reprinted in Infinity #0, as well
as in Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos)
% ^ [Thanos does not appear in Strange Tales #178-181, but
read them here anyway]
% Warlock (1972) #9-11
% ^ [Thanos does not appear in Warlock #12-14, but read them
here anyway]
% Warlock #15
% Avengers Annual #7
% Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2
% Marvel Graphic Novel #1 ("The Death of Captain
Marvel")
REPRINTED AS "SILVER SURFER: REBIRTH OF THANOS":
% Silver Surfer (1987) #34-38 [Thanos doesn't appear in #36
or 37]
% Thanos Quest #1-2
% Silver Surfer #44-47 [Thanos doesn't appear in #46]
Spider-Man (1990) #17 [what is probably a dream vision
rather than the actual Thanos]
Cloak & Dagger (1990) #18 [Thanos on only one page]
% Silver Surfer #48-50 [Starlin writes #48 and #50]
Quasar #24 [Thanos on two pages]
THE INFINITY GAUNTLET
Note 1: The Infinity
Gauntlet is a "hub-and-spoke"-style crossover--Thanos doesn't appear
in most of the tie-in issues, and you can just read the six issues of Infinity
Gauntlet itself--which are what's in the paperback--without reading the
tie-ins, which are listed here for the sake of completeness.
Note 2: Avengers &
the Infinity Gauntlet (2010) is an out-of-continuity retelling of this story.
% Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #1
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #31
@ Silver Surfer #51
@ Incredible Hulk #383
Quasar #26
@ Quasar #27
% Infinity Gauntlet #2
@ Silver Surfer #52
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #32
@ Silver Surfer #53
% Infinity Gauntlet #3
@ Silver Surfer #54
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #33
@ Silver Surfer #55-56
% Infinity Gauntlet #4
@ Incredible Hulk #384
Silver Surfer #57-58
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #34-35
% Infinity Gauntlet #5
Silver Surfer #59
% Infinity Gauntlet #6
@ Incredible Hulk #385
@ Sleepwalker #7
INFINITY WAR
Note: Infinity War is
also a "hub-and-spoke"-style crossover--Thanos doesn't appear in most
of the tie-in issues, and you can just read the six issues of Infinity War
itself without reading the tie-ins. They're listed here for the sake of
completeness. The Infinity War paperback includes Infinity War #1-6 and the
relevant issues of Warlock & the Infinity Watch and Marvel Comics Presents,
i.e. the parts of the story written by Starlin.
% Infinity War #1
% Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7
Fantastic Four #366
@ Spider-Man #24
@ Daredevil #310-311
@ Nomad #7
@ Deathlok #16
@ Ghost Rider #35-38
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #42
@ Silver Surfer #67
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #43
% Infinity War #2
@ Fantastic Four #367
@ Silver Surfer #68-69
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #44
@ Marvel Comics Presents #112
% Infinity War #3
Fantastic Four #368
Wonder Man #13
@ Quasar #37
@ New Warriors #27
% Marvel Comics Presents #108-111
% Warlock and the Infinity Watch #8
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #45
% Infinity War #4
Quasar #38
Wonder Man #14
@ Marc Spector, Moon Knight #41-43
@ Silver Sable & the Wild Pack #4-5
@ Guardians of the Galaxy #27-29
% Infinity War #5
Quasar #39
% Warlock and the Infinity Watch #9
@ Darkhawk #19-20
@ Sleepwalker #17-18
@ Quasar #40
Fantastic Four #369
% Infinity War #6
@ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #46-47
% Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10
@ Wonder Man #15
Fantastic Four #370
@ Alpha Flight #110-112
Quasar #42
% Marvel Holiday Special 1992 (6th story)
% Warlock Chronicles #2
INFINITY CRUSADE
Note: This was a
45-part crossover, but Thanos only appears in the 10 issues listed below. The
Starlin-written core of the story is collected in two volumes.
% Warlock & the Infinity Watch #19
% Infinity Crusade #3
% Warlock Chronicles #3
Silver Surfer #83
% Warlock & the Infinity Watch #20
% Infinity Crusade #4
Web of Spider-Man #106
Silver Surfer #84
% Infinity Crusade #5
% Infinity Crusade #6
BLOOD AND THUNDER
Note: This was a
13-part crossover, collected as Thor: Blood and Thunder. Thanos appears only in the 5 issues listed below.
Thor #470
Silver Surfer #88
% Warlock Chronicles #8
% Warlock & the Infinity Watch #25
Thor #471
Secret Defenders #11-13
Quasar #59
Cosmic Powers #1-6
Silver Surfer #98
Cosmic Powers Unlimited #1
Warlock & the Infinity Watch #40-42
Lunatik #1
Green Lantern/Silver Surfer #1
DC Vs. Marvel #1-4 [no
Thanos in #1]
Spider-Man Team-Up #2
Rune/Silver Surfer #1
Silver Surfer: Dangerous Artifacts #1
Captain Marvel (1995) #6
[Captain Marvel (2000) #14 includes a tiny flashback with
Thanos that happens right after the above]
X-Men/Incredible Hulk '98
Deadpool (1997) #33 [just one page]
Captain Marvel (2000) #6 [a one-panel flashback]
[Thor (1998) #20-21, Thor 2000, Thor #22-25--not the real
Thanos]
Deadpool (1997) #64 [another cameo]
% Captain Marvel (2000) #17-19 [Starlin art in 17-18]
[Avengers: Celestial Quest #1-8--not the real Thanos]
% Infinity Abyss #1-6
% Marvel: The End #1-6 [explicitly not in continuity, but
good stuff]
% Thanos (2003) #1-12 [Starlin writes and draws 1-6]: reprinted
as Thanos: Redemption
GLX-Mas #1
[She-Hulk (2005) #12-13--not the real Thanos either]
ANNIHILATION
Note: A bigger story
than this, but these are the Thanos-relevant parts.
Annihilation: Prologue
Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4
Annihilation #1-6
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #24-25
THE THANOS IMPERATIVE
The Thanos Imperative: Ignition
The Thanos Imperative #1-6
The Thanos Imperative: Devastation
[Avengers (2012) #7-12--the real Thanos doesn't appear, but
the real Infinity Gauntlet does]
Avengers Assemble #1-8 (Thanos not in #1, #5)
Deadpool Vs. Thanos #1-4
% Thanos Vs. Hulk #1-4
% Thanos Annual #1
% Thanos: The Infinity Revelation
New Avengers (2013) #3
Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #5-6
Thanos Rising #1-5
INFINITY
Note: The Infinity
paperback includes Infinity 1-6, New Avengers 7-12 and Avengers 14-23. The Nova
and Mighty Avengers issues are tangential to the main story.
Infinity #1
Nova (2013) #7-9
New Avengers #9
Mighty Avengers (2013) #1-2
New Avengers #10
Infinity #3-4
New Avengers #11
Infinity #5-6
New Avengers #12
New Avengers #15
New Avengers #19
New Avengers #23
Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #18-20 [a flashback to just
after The Thanos Imperative]
Legendary Star-Lord #3-4
Avengers World #18-19
Avengers World #21
TIME RUNS OUT/SECRET WARS
Note: Why you'd want
to only read the Thanos parts of this excellent story is beyond me, but here's
where he shows up. The Thanos in the 2015 Secret Wars/Infinity Gauntlet/Siege
sequence is not quite the canonical Thanos, but don't let that stop you.
New Avengers #24
Avengers (2012) #38
Avengers #40
Avengers #41
Avengers #44
Secret Wars (2015) #1-5
Infinity Gauntlet (2015) #1-5
Siege (2015) #3-4
Secret Wars #6
Secret Wars #8
The Ultimates (2015) #7
Civil War II #1
The Ultimates #8-11
Guardians of the Galaxy (2015) #19
Thanos (2016) #1-present
OVER IN THE STARLINVERSE
Note: Jim Starlin's
version of Thanos seems to have diverged a bit from the one who appears in
other comics; these titles take place at least partly in an alternate timeline,
it appears.
% Thanos: The Infinity Relativity
% The Infinity Entity #1-4
% Thanos: The Infinity Finale
% Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy #2
