Infinity Gems - Publication History

Publication History

The Soul Gem first appears in the The Power of Warlock, with all six appearing during the second Thanos War storyline in an Avengers and Marvel Two-In-One annual, with Thanos harnessing their latent energies to power a giant gem to extinguish every star in the universe.

In the third volume of the Silver Surfer title, the character refers to the gems as Soul Gems. They are gathered by the Elders of the Universe, who intend to use their combined power to drain Galactus of his lifeforce and then recreate the universe with themselves with the oldest beings in it (Galactus having lived in the Universe that existed prior to the birth of the current Marvel Universe). This plot is thwarted by the Silver Surfer with several Elders and the gems lost in a black hole, while Galactus consumed other members of the Elders. However in a follow-up story, because the Elders of the Universe were barred from entering Death's realm due to prior machinations of the Grandmaster, Galactus soon found himself being poisoned from within by the Elders he consumed. Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman journeyed through the black hole to recover the gems, where Invisible Woman became possessed by the sentient Soul Gem and had her evil Malice persona awakened. She was later subdued and the gems were returned to successfully extract the Elders and save Galactus. The gems then fell back into the possession of the Elders before the beginning of their most famous story.

In the limited series Thanos Quest Thanos refers to the entire set as Infinity Gems for the first time. Thanos systemically subdues the Elders one by one to gather all six gems. Once reunited under his control he sets the gems into a gold glove, which he refers to as the Infinity Gauntlet. This series also reveals the origin of the Gems, with Thanos explaining to the Elder of the Universe the Runner that the set are actually the remains of a once omnipotent but lonely being (later revealed to be Nemesis). Unable to endure eternity alone, Nemesis eventually commits suicide, although a fraction of her being remains and becomes the Infinity Gems.

Thanos becomes omnipotent and challenges the Silver Surfer and Drax in the former's title, handling the heroes with ease. He also reclaims his ship Sanctuary II from his alleged grand-daughter Nebula and burns her nearly to death but uses the gems to keep her alive in immortal agony. He is then joined by Mephisto as an advisor as he sets about dominating reality, while the Silver Surfer makes his way to Earth to warn Earth's superheroes of the threat of Thanos and the gems, thus setting the stage for the Infinity Gauntlet limited series.

In the Infinity Gauntlet limited series Thanos exerts his will over the universe (by erasing half the population of the universe in a tribute to Death), He goes on to decimate Earth's heroes in combat (issue 4) and then battles Marvel's pantheon of cosmic entities and defeats them all by turning them to stone (issue 5) but eventually loses the Gauntlet to the space pirate Nebula when he uses the gems to supplant Eternity and forsakes his physical form. Nebula's attempt to wield the Gauntlet fails due to her inexperience and Adam Warlock's knowledge of the Gems' "sentience"; the character is debilitated after undoing an action performed by Thanos, who is defeated by Earth's heroes. with Adam Warlock ending up as the new possessor of the Gauntlet. However, Warlock is judged unworthy of the power of the Gems by the Living Tribunal and manages to talk Adam out of using the gems with then disbanding the gems allowing Living Tribunal to dictate the gems cannot be used together.

In the Warlock and The Infinity Watch title the Gems are distributed by hero Adam Warlock to the group "the Infinity Watch" with himself as guardian of the Soul Gem, Gamora guardian of the Time Gem, Pip the Troll guardian of the space gem, Drax the Destroyer guardian of the Power Gem, Moondragon guardian of the Mind Gem and an unknown member (later revealed to be Thanos) guardian of the Reality Gem. During the course of the series several enemies attempt to steal the gems. An early encounter sees the creature the Man Beast abduct the members and use the combined Mind, Power, Space and Time Gems to create a monstrous energy humanoid called the Infinity Thrall, although both are eventually defeated by Adam Warlock. The cosmic entity the Living Tribunal then declares that the Infinity Gems can no longer be used in unison.

This decree is overturned — courtesy of the machinations of Warlock's evil alter ego, the Magus — in the Infinity War limited series. The character unites the Gems and plans universal conquest until tricked and defeated, with Warlock revealing that the Reality Gem was a fake. The Gems then feature in the Infinity Crusade limited series.

Following the cancellation of the Infinity Watch series, in the one-shot title Rune/Silver Surfer the Gems are stolen by the extradimensional vampire Rune and dispersed throughout the alternate universe Ultraverse. The Asgardian god Loki enters the Ultraverse and collects the Gems, also discovering the existence of a seventh Gem - Ego. The character learns the Infinity Gems were originally part of a gestalt being known as Nemesis. The Ego Gem, possessing the Avenger Sersi, merges with the other Gems to reform Nemesis and battles superhero teams the Avengers and Ultraforce, before being dissipitated once again.

In the mainstream Marvel Universe the cosmic entity Galactus collects all six Infinity Gems in the Thanos ongoing series, intent on ending his need to consume planets. He is seen taking the gems off a vampiric skeleton (presumably Rune) that he retrieves through an interdimensional portal. Galactus's plan fails, however, and instead allows a deadly inter-dimensional parasite access into the Earth-616 universe (it was this parasite mentally influencing Galactus's actions all along; as Thanos noted he could have simply used the Gems to finally wish away his hunger). After the threat is averted, the Gems are scattered with the exception of the Soul Gem, which the Titan Thanos retains for Adam Warlock.

The Gems feature briefly in the JLA/Avengers limited series, when the Infinity Gauntlet is found by DC Comics villain Darkseid as it is placed on Apokolips, who discards it upon discovering that the Gems do not work in his own universe. The Flash is able to retrieve it.

Following a story in the She-Hulk ongoing series, in which Titania gets possession of the Power Gem, all six Gems feature in the New Avengers: Illuminati limited series and become the possessions of the superhuman group the Illuminati. Reed Richards of the Illuminati attempts to will the Gems out of existence to prevent further misuse, but the entity the Watcher Uatu reveals that the Gems must exist as part of the cosmic balance. The Gems are then separated and each is placed in the care of an Illuminati member, who vow never use them or reveal their location.

The Gems are reunited in the humorous Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers limited series, with the pets of various heroes finding the Gems and being forced to use them to battle Thanos. Lockjaw, pet of the Inhumans, then gives the Gems to Reed Richards.

The gems were part of the ongoing Avengers series during the Heroic Age. Although The Hood managed to collect the Gems of Power and Reality in time to defeat the formidable Red Hulk, his subsequent attempts to acquire the others resulted in the Red Hulk stealing the Power Gem from him while Thor beat him to the Space Gem, although he was able to acquire the Mind and Time Gems. He subsequently used the Gems to take him to the Soul Gem in the astral plane. Fortunately, the Hood was delayed by an illusionary Thanos that Doctor Strange had created long enough for the Avengers to catch up with him. After a climactic battle, the gems ended up with Iron Man who after sending the Hood back to jail, seemingly wished the gems out of existence. However it was revealed that the gems were back with the Illuminati and Captain Steve Rogers (replacing Black Bolt), who all vowed to hide them more securely than before.