In “The Infinity Siblings,” brothers Thanos and Eros embark on a time-traveling escapade fueled by an encounter with time-lord Kang the Conqueror. At its conclusion, Thanos encounters a future version of himself that seems to embody the personae of death, infinity and other cosmic beings.

In the second part of the trilogy, “Thanos: The Infinity Conflict,” future Thanos urges current Thanos to hurry the process along … to become future Thanos sooner.

Having been entrusted with the care of the Reality Gem, Thanos has discovered he is bored with the concept of controlling others — an effort he has long pursued via the Cosmic Cube, the Infinity Gauntlet and other means. Instead, he wants a new reality — one where can simply be — be all things. So, he endeavors to become death, become Galactus, become … everything.

Only constantly killed and resurrecting Adam Warlock, Eros and Pip the Troll have any chance of stopping the Mad Titan and it ain’t looking too good for them.

“The Infinity Conflict” is the latest prestige format graphic novel penned by Jim Starlin, the man who created Thanos 40-some years ago. Starlin has written several Thanos/Infinity titles in recent years.

Starlin has been the artist and scripter on several of these stories as he was for “Infinity Gauntlet,” “Captain Marvel,” “Adam Warlock” and several other classic Marvel titles.

He is not the artist in the latest series. Alan Davis handles the art chores and does a fine job here.

Long-time readers will be glad to see the facets of Thanos that made him such a major bad guy in the Marvel Universe. This the Thanos who is as much philosopher as cosmic powerhouse, as much strategic chessmaster as brawler. The Thanos who at one point is worthy of being entrusted with an Infinity Gem but who may be tempted to use it for some grand plan of self-aggrandizement.

But Thanos and Starlin are not lost in the haze of a loopy, too metaphysical storyline here either — a trait that Starlin has visited too often in some of these more recent “Infinity” titles.

Of all the “Thanos/Infinity” titles of the past few years, “Thanos: The Infinity Conflict” is the most enjoyable as Thanos unfurls a new grand scheme that does not involve gathering the Infinity Stones.

Readers must be warned that these “Thanos/Infinity” volumes are not full stories. “Infinity Conflict” is the second part of a three-part story arc. Reading the full work can be an expensive proposition. Each hard-cover volume is listed as $25. All three parts could have easily been published in a thick trade paperback that would likely only cost $25.

But for Starlin/Thanos fans, the price of admission for this book may well be worth it. Hopefully, the concluding chapter, “Thanos: The Infinity Ending,” scheduled for release in late September, will prove as intriguing as this volume.