Many people met him for the first time during his mid-credit appearance in the record-breaking officially-third-most-successful-movie-ever The Avengers, but even for those of us who've been familiar with the character for a long time, there's still one question to be answered about Thanos: What makes him tick? A new mini-series aims to answer that for everyone.Joe Keatinge, known for his Image series Hell Yeah! and Glory, takes on the mantle of Thanos' biographer in the five-issue Thanos: Son of Titan later this year. "It is about how Thanos came to be," he told USA Today. "I don't go Forrest Gump on it, but aspects of the Marvel Universe have been born that directly turn Thanos into who he is... He ends up at the point where he's worshiping Death and destroying universes. How do you get to that head space where you're like, 'This is what I want to do with the rest of my life?'"

For the editorial team behind the comic, Thanos' appeal is the depth of his villainy. "He's our Darth Vader, our Sauron," explained associate editor Sana Amanat, "with a wonderfully massive and abrasive ego." Editor Steve Wacker went even more classical in his comparisons: "He's just an evil guy. He wants to rule over things. He wants power. It's just so over the top and operatic - it's as if Shakespeare wrote an opera."

The five issue series launches in October, with art by Journey Into Mystery and 2000AD artist Richard Elson. A month earlier, Marvel is reprinting two Thanos stories written by the character's creator, Jim Starlin, as Thanos: The Final Threat and Thanos Quest to further feed the renewed hunger for the Mad Titan, who's also appearing in Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley's Avengers Assemble. Clearly, it's time to start the "Everything's Coming Up Thanos" meme.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, clearly

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