Death Watch!

This story continues from Avengers Annual #7…

Plagued with dreams from Master Order and Lord Chaos telling them of the battle between Thanos, Captain Marvel, and the Avengers over the fate of the galaxy, Spider-Man, and the Thing are compelled to investigate these dreams by taking a ship out into space.

There, they find Thanos' ship and they board it. Once aboard, they are attacked by the hordes of Thanos. While deep within the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock's soul meets with Gamora and Pip. While in the real world, Thanos joins the fight which takes Spider-Man and Thing into the room where the Avengers and Captain Marvel are being held in stasis. During the fight, Spider-Man frees the Avengers leading to an all-out assault on Thanos.

Overpowered, the heroes prove unable to defeat Thanos until Spider-Man manages to free the Soul Gem, causing the soul of Adam Warlock to appear from it and turn Thanos into stone. After rejoicing over their victory, the heroes have a funeral and bury Adam Warlock on an asteroid in space. While Adam's soul finds peace within the Soul Gem, Thanos finds himself in a living hell made of stone.

Recurring Characters

Thing, Spider-Man, Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Beast), Captain Marvel, Moondragon, Warlock, Thanos, Master Order, Lord Chaos, Gamora, Pip the Troll

Continuity Notes

• This issue follows the events of Avengers Annual #7, the dream Peter has is a recap of the events of that story.

• Although Thanos is turned to stone here, he is restored to normal in Silver Surfer (vol 3) #34.

• Adam Warlock, Gamora and Pip's souls were transferred into the Soul Gem in Avengers Annual #7 they are reborn into new bodies in Infinity Gauntlet #1.

• The dates on Adam Warlock's tombstone read 1967-1977. The years on this tombstone should be considered a Topical Reference relative to the date of publication per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Although the dates state that Warlock had been alive for 10 years, this is more reflective of the numbers of years of publications between his birth in Fantastic Four #66 (published in 1967) and his "death" in Avengers Annual #7 (published in 1977). As the Timescale is measured the actual period of time that has passed is two years of Marvel time. Publications released in 1967 fall under "year two" of the modern age and those published in 1977 fall under "year four".