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Infinity War #3: Review

Aug 1992
Jim Starlin, Ron Lim

Story Name:

Nefarious Rhapsodies

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Infinity War #3 Review by (February 15, 2010)
Hulk is a bit more cooperative in this issue; I guess a gamma bomb will do that.


Comments on tie-ins by Rob Johnson:-

Fantastic Four #368 weaves its way throughout this issue beginning with Invisible Woman handling the gamma bomb explosion and Magus & the Thanos Doppelganger rescuing the Iron Man and Mr Fantastic Dops and ending with the expeditionary force leaving to chase Thanos and Warlock.
But in between Human Torch is attacked by several Dops, including his own and Wolverine's (previously killed), and we learn that there is an inexhaustible supply of these replacements.

Wonder Man #13 continues from IW#2 with the rest of its contents ranging through the same parts of this issue as the above.
The extra part is WM learning that Wolverine saw Hawkeye and Spider-Man beaten up by Dops in IW#2 and he recruits Hercules and Thor to go with him to find them. Herc and Thor take the 2 heroes to hospital while WM has trouble fighting *his* Dop. (Several other issues mention this event but all mistakenly say it was Hulk instead of Herc.)

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41 also continues from IW#2 but only has a small part in this 1. Its most significant contribution will be to next issue.
After a quick coverage of the opening moves as in the above 2, MK is given access to the Internet where he contacts his Shadow Cabinet. Then an alarm goes off and MK joins the other left-behind heroes facing an army of Dops near the end of our issue.

Silver Sable And The Wild Pack #4 is another issue that also has ties to our last issue where SS went for her annual dinner with Dr Doom but was met by his Dop because Doom was off with Kang.
Back in Symkaria the Wild Pack have lost contact with their boss and go to investigate. Meanwhile Silver escapes from her robot guards and defeats some Doombots.
The issue will continue alongside IW#4.

Alpha Flight #110 is the last of the issues that overlap with IW#2 as well as this issue.
Now we pick up the main AF team after the gamma bomb explosion, and some of them are invited to join the expeditionary force.
Meanwhile Gamma Flight confront the Ska'r released by Omega Flight.

In New Warriors #27 Speedball has been sent out for pizzas and meets Rage who wasn't invited to the big meeting. They both fight their Dops. Rage absorbs his Dop and masters it because he is used to controlling his dark side. Speedball saves his mom from his Dop but in the process his superhero-hating dad finds out about his secret identity (his mom already knew).

Nomad in his #7 doesn't fight his own Dop but Gambit's who tried to catch a flight to Louisiana but got to Los Angeles by mistake. (I don't know how this gels with the Gambit-Dop who arrives at FF HQ in our #3 and is still there in #4. But we've already established there can be multiples of the same Dop.)

Quasar #37 isn't bannered as a tie-in but it certainly is. Q gets a message from Captain America asking him to find out what's happened to Eternity. (I don't know how Cap learned about Eternity's problem. But Hulk says he went to recruit Dr Strange but found him absent. Maybe Rintrah told Hulk about Galactus and Eternity.) The Contemplator helps Q get to the Dimension Of Manifestations but there are multiple avatars of each cosmic entity scattered around, all created by a being called Anthropomorpho. He directs them to a recent version, which is in Warlock's trial in W & Infinity Watch #1. They try to talk to Eternity but another being called Anomaly won't let them. Eventually they find the most recent version where Eternity is comatose. Anomaly interferes again but Q defeats him by giving up. Then he contacts Cap to tell him about Eternity's state.

Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #45 begins with the part of our #3 where Galactus & co near their destination, but detect Doom and Kang following them. Then Magus blows Galactus' spaceship up.
DrS faces Death who tells him that the cosmic-powered beings Galactus, Nova and Silver Surfer aren't quite dead yet and Big G would eventually reform himself and then the others including even Strange. But Death intends to stop that to prevent them from helping her paired opposite Eternity. There follows a mental duel which includes flashbacks to many bad episodes in Stephen's life, intended to wear away his will to live. It turns out that it is *his* will that is keeping Galactus together until he can resurrect himself. And his will triumphs and Galactus recreates his ship and it's occupants. (That last bit will be seen in IW#4.)

The next few issues occur while Thanos, Warlock & the Infinity Watch are resting at the energy relay station while Thanos' travelling 'throne' prepares for the next leg of the interdimensional journey.
There's a Thanos tale included in Marvel Comics Presents #108-111. Only the last 2 issues have an IW. Death drags his spirit into her realm for revenge for his abandoning his love for her. 1st he has to fight a load of corpses called the Legion Of The Doomed. Then Death meets him herself and for the 1st time speaks to him directly. She sends him back to life to kill Warlock. He intends to do so but then changes his mind.
This is followed by W&IW#8 which is also not bannered. The chars pass the time doing stuff:- Gamora's time gem shows her the future with Magus with the Infinity Gauntlet and Warlock crucified (again). Thanos messes with Moondragon's composure. The Thanos-Dop plans to steal the power from Magus. Gamora spars with Thanos. The issue ends with the arrival of the expeditionary force of superheroes.
In Q#38 Quasar leaves Contemplator exploring the Dimension Of Manifestations and reaches New York in time to join the expeditionary force. When they reach their destination the heroes try to attack the Watch but Quasar erects a quantum bubble to keep them apart while he and Cap decide what to do. Moondragon stops Prof X from scanning their minds, while he stops her from controlling his side's. Thanos breaks the Watch free and battle commences. Quasar takes on Warlock who tries to explain about Magus. Contemplator sees an earlier event in the Dimension Of Manifestations where Magus was getting Anthropomorpho to create the Dops. He contacts Q to tell him about it which causes Q to let Warlock win. The battle will continue in IW#4.

In Guardians of the Galaxy #27 the GOTG have come from the future to the 20th Century on a mission but new member Talon reveals he's an Inhuman and been struck by an Inhuman disease, so they take him to Attilan on the Moon. The Inhumans have just learned of the explosion at FF HQ and are suspicious when these unknown chars teleport in, especially because Major Victory has Captain America's shield. The usual fight ensues until it stops, and both sides explain what's happening. Talon is cured but Dops of some Guardians and Inhumans attack, so they all have to fight *them*. Then GOTG teleport to Avengers Mansion to find out what's going on.
In GOTG#28 Dr Octopus organises a group of minor criminals (including Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara)) to invade Avengers Mansion while the team are away, to loot advanced tech for him. But the GOTG teleport in and defend the place. YJ helps them. Starhawk is confronted by his Dop and tries to merge with him  but has to call on his wife Aleta (who shares his body) for help. The GOTG win but Ock has sneaked in with another set of villains.
Then in GOTG#29 YJ helps them fight Ock and his 2nd bunch. Meanwhile a string of Starhawk-Dops keep attacking Starhawk until he reluctantly lets Aleta take over their body. Heroes and villains are attacked by their Dops until they gang up against them. But then replacement Dops arrive. (The battle only ends because the supply of Dops is disrupted (by Galactus in IW#4).)





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Infinity War #3 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro
The Magus’ scheme continues. On Earth, Invisible Woman managed to contain the gamma bomb blast with a force field, and Thor sends the fallout into space. Suddenly, Magus and his duplicate Thanos appear from a time portal and rescue the Reed and Iron Man impostors, convincing the heroes that Thanos and probably Adam Warlock are behind the threat. The heroes assemble an expeditionary force which is transported by team mystics to find Thanos. Immediately after they leave, however, the heroes remaining behind are attacked by an army of doppelgangers. Meanwhile, Galactus, tracing the energy emanations, has his ship destroyed by the Magus, and Doom and Kang the Conqueror, who were pursuing, continue on the quest. Thanos and the Infinity Watch (Gamora, Pip the Troll, Moondragon, Drax the Destroyer), unaware they have been preceded by Doom and Kang, follow the energy trail to a relay point on a deserted planet. As they ponder their next move, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by the hostile team of Earth heroes.

Also in this issue: Hulk, Captain America, Dr. Strange, Shaman, Black Cat, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Dr. Druid, Agatha Harkness, Quasar, Silver Surfer, Nova, Eternity, the Living Tribunal, an many others (from the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, X-Factor, New Warriors, Alpha Flight).


Ron Lim
Al Milgrom
Ron Lim (Cover Penciler)
Al Milgrom (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

> Infinity War: Book info and issue index

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