Originally posted by leonidas
just finished revelation. i was like, meh. i thought the explanation for some of thanos' behavior was....pretty ridiculous. that type of broad ranging explanation rarely DOESN'T feel very contrived imo. his explanations for thanos' behavior did nothing but devalue those appearances in my eyes. the whole story itself seemed to be nothing more than a reason to give thanos yet ANOTHER apparent, though more subtle, power up and to give warlock a similar power up. i am curious about the ultimate purpose of the merging of those 2 universes, but not overly so. it all seemed to happen so quickly and easily, with the only ramifications being a replacement warlock and the death of an alternate thanos.
Revelation was a complete disappointment for me and the whole thing felt contrived from start to finish. As you said it seemed like it was largely just another excuse for powering up his characters, mainly Warlock this time, yet again. The actual story was just... weak.
Starlin has lost it. How can he write a hundred pages and not have a single moment of any real drama or excitement? How can he make concepts such as destroying and creating universes feel so utterly pointless, repetitive, and mundane? Under Starlin, Thanos and Warlock seem to inhabit some sort of bizarre alternate Marvel Universe (the Stupidverse?) where all other characters are weaker, dumber parallel versions of their normal selves. Abstracts are petty and foolish, characters who should put up a fight are disposed of in seconds, experienced characters act like they are clueless rookies - all to serve the plot. Nothing challenges Thanos or Warlock and every 'obstacle' is overcome with hardly a thought or effort. Everything falls into their lap. No attempt is made at drama, clever plotting, or any characterization beyond the same tired, recycled Thanos-Warlock conversations.
Basically it was 100 pages of self-indulgent Starlin wankery.
