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| "The Infinity Crusade" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Infinity Crusade 1 (Jun 1993), art byRon Lim | |||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | June – November1993 | ||
| Genre | |||
| |||
| Main character(s) | The Avengers Avengers West Coast Fantastic Four X-Men X-Factor New Warriors Alpha Fight Infinity Watch Adam Warlock Thanos Goddess | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer | Jim Starlin | ||
| Penciller | Ron Lim | ||
| Inker | Al Milgrom | ||
| Colorist | Ian Laughlin | ||
| Volume 1 | ISBN 0-7851-3127-2 | ||
| Volume 2 | ISBN 0-7851-3128-0 | ||
The Infinity Crusade is a six-issuecomic booklimited series published byMarvel Comics in 1993. The series was written byJim Starlin and penciled byRon Lim, Ian Laughlin,Al Milgrom andJack Morelli and also the third and final chapter of the Infinity Saga.
It is a sequel toThe Infinity Gauntlet andThe Infinity War, both from the same creative team. The series depicts the final battle between Earth's superheroes andAdam Warlock's good side.
The main story alternated betweenThe Infinity Crusade #1-6,Warlock and the Infinity Watch #18-22, andWarlock Chronicles #1-5.
Additional tie-ins to the story includeAlpha Flight #122-124,Avengers West Coast #96-97,Cage #17,Darkhawk #30-31,Deathlok vol 2, #28-29,Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #54-56,Iron Man #295,Marc Spector:Moon Knight #57,Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16-17,Silver Surfer vol 3, #83-85,Thor #463-467, andWeb of Spider-Man #104-106.
All of these titles were published between June and November 1993.
When heroAdam Warlock takes possession of theartifact theInfinity Gauntlet, he expels the good and evil aspects of his being to become a totally logical being, who can therefore use the Gauntlet wisely. This act not only freed the incarnation of his evil aspects, Warlock's old foethe Magus, but also created an incarnation of his good aspects,the Goddess. During the events of theInfinity War, the Goddess steals the five cosmic containment units (also known asCosmic Cubes) collected by the Magus. She eventually collects a total of thirty, and uses these to form a "Cosmic Egg" capable of fulfilling wishes.
Using the Egg to create a planet calledParadise Omega, the Goddess kidnaps andbrainwashes many of Earth's superheroes to act as her army. The heroes chosen are susceptible, as they are either especially religious, mystically inclined, or have had a near-death experience. The characters, led by the heroineMoondragon, are told to defend the Goddess while she meditates on how to rid the universe of all evil.
HeroesMister Fantastic, theandroidVision, andIron Man investigate the disappearance of their allies and find Paradise Omega. They retreat when attacked by the brainwashed heroes, and contactProfessor X, leader of theX-Men, who attempts to speak with Moondragon viatelepathy. This results in a telepathic attack that leaves Professor X in a coma. The TitanThanos is seen as a threat by the Goddess, and is her first target to be attacked, but is inexplicably saved by his enemy Adam Warlock. The Devil,Mephisto, offers his knowledge of the Goddess to Thanos and Warlock in exchange for one of the cosmic containment units, to which they agree.
Armed with Mephisto's information, Warlock and Thanos plan to defeat the Goddess. Thanos gathers the heroes of Earth and theSilver Surfer, who, while initially serving the Goddess, has shaken off her control. The Surfer destroys Paradise Omega's defences, enabling the heroes to land and battle their friends in what becomes a battle to the death. Thanos, boosting his own telepathic powers with those of the comatose Professor X, attacks the Goddess at the moment she activates her plan. Rationalizing that evil will continue to exist whilesentient life exists, the Goddess uses the Egg to rewrite existence so that the universe is completely without sentient life.
This, however, proves to be an illusion created by Warlock moments before the Goddess acted to trick her, thus exposing her true goal to her army and depriving her of their loyalty - and the will needed to override the containment unit's safeguards against universal destruction.[clarification needed] Caught off-guard, the Goddess is attacked simultaneously by Thanos, Warlock, and Professor X, the three striking her on the spiritual plane as the units cannot affect the soul, and she is absorbed into theSoul Gem. The heroes return to Earth, with their battle undone by the Cosmic Egg, before Thanos ordered it to destroy itself, to ensure that its power could never be used by another. Thanos takes a cosmic containment unit for Mephisto and then destroys Paradise Omega. Mephisto receives his payment but realizes the unit is non-functional, as he failed to specify that the artifact mustwork.[1]
The series and several tie-ins are collected into twotrade paperbacks: