As far as event comics go, Infinity Gauntlet is easily one of the best. It's big, bombastic, and the stakes — the fate of existence itself — couldn't be any higher. Thanos wipes out half of the life in the universe before the second act even really gets going. This arc has everything great about event comics distilled into six crazy issues, so as big as it is, it's surprising how quiet and understated the book's finale is.

Thanos has, at this point, spent most of his life yearning for the ultimate destruction of the universe all to please Death, a mistress who has never and will never truly want him. By the end, it's taken its toll. Thanos is seemingly vaporized in an explosion, but it turns out to be a ruse of his own design. He's later discovered by Adam Warlock, living a quiet life of solitude on a forest planet. Having tasted ultimate power while holding the Gauntlet, Thanos now sees that it will never make him happy. Rather than give in to death or continue his pointless crusade, he removes himself from the game entirely. In the book's closing moments he quietly reveals that he thinks, in the long run, this is a far greater victory than he thought possible. It doesn't last, but for a short time, the greatest villain in the Marvel Universe finds true peace.