Thanos’ First Solo Story From Logan’s Run In 1977

Thanos was created by Jim Starlin as an Iron Man protagonist, in The Invincible Iron Man #55 from 1973. An Eternal-Deviant warlord from the moon of Titan, his hunt for the Infinity Gems turned him into one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, and inspired the MCU use of the character in Guardians Of The Galaxy and the Avengers.

But long before that, Scott Edelman and Mike Zeck wrote a solo story for Thanos for the first time that appeared in, of all places, the backup strip of the comic book adaptation of the movie Logan’s Run. An editorial note gives the explanation, “Ya see, when tight deadlines – brought on by further contractual negotiations with Hollywood – made us limit ourselves this issue to a twelve-page epilogue, we decided to treat you to this brief cosmic confrontation between Drax and his eternal enemy, Thanos! enjoy, people!”

The real reason was that Marvel was in negotiations to continue Logan’s Run past the adaptation into an ongoing series, and deadline hit before any new stories were approved or could run. Mike Zeck had done a Thanos/Drax the Destroyer story based on a Scott Edelman script as a try-out for Marvel, but wasn’t intended to be published. However, it was the right length and science fiction, so it made the grade.

The strip sees Thanos try to destroy a planet by burning their religious relics, with Drax The Destroyer moved to destroy him. And a copy is currently up for auction from Heritage Auctions, CGC slabbed at 9.8 and currently has a bid total for $105. The current Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction has been moved to Monday & Tuesday for this week. Session 1 will start at 6:00 PM on Monday and Session 2 will be 6:00 PM Central Time, Tuesday, November 15.

Logan’s Run #6 (Marvel, 1977) CGC NM/MT 9.8 White pages. Backup feature is first solo Thanos story (art by Mike Zeck). Paul Gulacy cover. Tom Sutton and Terry Austin art. Overstreet 2022 NM- 9.2 value = $65. CGC census 11/22: 112 in 9.8, none higher.

Affiliates of Bleeding Cool buy from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.