Thanos - Thanos Rising
Thanos Rising issues #1-5 have been thoughtfully compiled into one graphic novel titled, simply, Thanos Rising. The collection is an enthralling origin story for the villain called Thanos- often referred to as "Thanos the Destroyer" or "The Mad Titan".
Thanos was born to an affluent and influential family on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Upon seeing her son's physical mutations, his mother tries to murder Thanos but is stopped in the act. Thanos returns home with his father while his mother takes up residence in the local mental health ward- muttering nonsense about seeing death in her son's eyes and the imperative act of putting him down.
Thanos quickly develops his scientific mind and reveals himself as the smartest person in school. He is widely accepted by his peers due to his genius level intellect and is soon befriended by a mysterious dark haired girl. This girl, with whom Thanos falls in love, encourages evil deeds and pushes Thanos to commit his first murder- slaughtering Iguana like creatures before, finally, working his way up to "experiment" on human beings. Thanos kills a young couple before exacting mortal revenge on his Mother and, guilt ridden, fleeing Titan.
At this point in his life, Thanos spends his days searching for love and fulfillment. He creates many offspring, breaks many hearts, and travels the cosmos with a gang of pirates. Thanos becomes the captain of his own pirate vessel after a disagreement with the ship's captain turns violent. Thanos leads his gang from world to world in search of plunder and murder. Remembering the mischievous girl from his childhood, Thanos returns to Titan.
The girl reveals herself as Death and promises to belong to Thanos so long as he murders enough people. The Mad Titan visits every world on which he has created an offspring and murders them all. He murders their mothers too. To fulfill the wishes of his beloved Death, Thanos leads his men back to Titan. When they arrive, Thanos murders every citizen of Titan (including his Father) by himself.
Thanos leaves what remains of Titan and leaves Death behind- realizing that, no matter how many worlds he has conquered, he has always been alone.
