Thanos.

Not in a comic book.

Not played by Josh Brolin in an “Avengers” movie.

Nope. Thanos in a paperback novel: “Thanos: Death Sentence” by Stuart Moore.

Well, kinda Thanos.

He’s Thanos – the expected Thanos – in the opening pages. 

Thanos possesses the Infinity Gauntlet again. 

He wipes out all of the Marvel heroes, worlds, etc. Marvel movie watchers may be surprised to learn that in the comics, and apparently in paperback novels, Thanos is hard to kill even when he’s dead and he repeatedly attains the Infinity Gauntlet. 

Usually he attains the Infinity Gauntlet in pursuit of his love – a feminine personification of Death – which is why Thanos wants to kill so many people in the comics rather than the, um, more altruistic reasons he gives for annihilation in the movies.

Moore swoops readers straight into an Infinity Gauntlet battle with the opening sentence witnessing the fall of the Mighty Thor. The author handles this opening salvo of the book with plenty of action and mayhem and resolves it in a powerful way.

Actually, he handles all of the book with a deft hand, creating a compelling novel about the Mad Titan. But Thanos isn’t quite himself for about three quarters of the book. He becomes an alien thief, a rebellious Kree and a farming family man.

Yep. Thanos isn’t exactly Thanos for the majority of the book. Readers looking for non-stop universe-conquering, cosmically powered Thanos may be disappointed with “Thanos: Death Sentence” but for readers looking for a different perspective into the characters and the Marvel Universe should find the book a “Death Sentence” worth reading.