Warning: SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy #6
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos has been the big baddie for the last several years. Not only did he defeat the Avengers the first time they took him on, he snapped half of the universe out of existence. It took a lot of power, and sacrifice, to ultimately defeat him. But in Marvel comics, the Guardians of the Galaxy just showed how easy he is to beat... when you're not trying to build a movie universe around him.
If you missed it, Thanos was killed by Gamora, then brought back in the body of his brother, Eros. Hela, the Asguardian Goddess of Death teamed up with Thanos before his passing to make sure this would happen. Hela starts the process of transferring Thanos from his brother's body back to his just as the Guardians show up to stop her.
One would assume that it would be a long, and drawn out battle, considering just how strong and powerful Thanos is famed to be. Add in the fact that he has both the Black Order and the Dark Guardians at Hela's side, and the Guardians have too many distractions to focus on what they actually need to do... right? Well, when the Guardians come in swinging, they show Marvel's movie stars how it's really done.
Gamora says she will handle her father, which she has already done once before, and rushes off. Peter Quill tries to stop her when he realizes she plans on killing her Uncle. "If you kill him, you're doing what we fought to stop. It's not your Uncle's fault he was manipulated like this." He goes on to explain that if she's kills Eros, she is just like them -- everyone else who planned to hunt her down and kill her because she MIGHT become Thanos. Gamora is un-phased by this attempt to stop her - and lets Peter know if she had been in his shoes, she would have killed herself in a heartbeat. As she plunges her sword in to Eros, the process of transferring Thanos to his body is halted. Eros realizes that it was him along, as he dies. And Thanos' body is resurrected - sort of.
The process was not completed so Thanos is a bit of a staggering zombie. His words are slurred and garbled, but that doesn't stop him from coming after Gamora and Quill. Hela shows up just in time to see her love in this state -- and yells to Gamora that she ruined him. She pulls out Proxima Midnight's Black Hole Canon, aiming it at Star-Lord and Gamora. Beta Ray Bill comes to the rescue, sending the the blast off course with Stormbreaker -- directly at Thanos.
Thanks to Lockjaw, the team is transported to safety, as a Black Hole swallows Thanos and the whole station. Since the job is done, most of the team decides to leave the Guardians. While this was a very abrupt end to this run, at least we have a lot to look forward to in the next Guardians of the Galaxy issue.
Rocket Raccoon has been missing since the beginning of this series, and Guardians of the Galaxy #7 has promised us his return. Will he be alive? And why did he leave the Guardians in the first place? Find out on July 24th when the next issue is released!
Guardians of the Galaxy #6 is on sale now from Marvel Comics, and at your local comic shop.