The Mad Titan sets off on another quest for the Infinity Stones in Thanos Annual #1, but this one may be a little trickier than the others…

If you’re thinking “Thanos wants the Infinity Stones” is a rote and done-to-death plot at this point, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. But the first installment of this nine-part series introduces a novel twist on the formula by utilizing the newest lineup of the Infinity Watch — a group of six characters who all have one of the gems incorporated into their bodies. Who better to gatekeeper the Infinity Stones than people who literally are Infinity Stones?

This story specifically follows the most recent run of Thanos, wherein he turned Death —his sexy bony girlfriend— into an Infinity Stone. When he learns his new “Death Stone” doesn’t grant him automatic kills against adversaries like he thought it would, he deduces he needs the other stones for it to work properly and therefore must steal them back. Hijinks ensue!

We only see some of the Infinity Watch in this first issue, but the few that appear have a fun chemistry that I’d like to see continue. Ripley Ryan —AKA Star, aka the human Reality Stone— is probably the most well-known of them all thanks to her stint as one of Captain Marvel’s latest enemies, but the Prince of Power (an iconic Al Ewing invention, in my opinion!) is a niche fave who is set to show up later in the narrative. And that’s saying nothing of the surprise host of the Death Stone who appears in the first of several planned backup stories throughout the event, whose identity may surprise you…

But as much as I liked this issue, I do have some quibbles. The main one is their continued (and frustrating) publication strategy of selling a series as separate one shots rather than a straightforward limited series, which allows them to sell each individual issue as a new #1 despite being parts of a connected whole. They really need to stop doing this! The next issue of this story is Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and while I’m sure it won’t be totally false advertising, it’ll definitely confuse some people who are Spidey completionists. My other criticism is Salvador Larroca’s art, which —like most of his output— is workmanlike and not especially interesting to look at despite the material given to him, especially compared to Sara Pichelli’s backup art. But that’s just my taste.