Thanks to Marvel’s Avengers movies, the entire world now knows Thanos, the Infinity Stone-loving conqueror. But not many know that in his very first comic book appearance, one tiny error meant readers got to know Thanos… a lot more intimately than they ever expected.
The first appearance of Thanos is surprising for a few reasons, not the least of which his wardrobe malfunction. While the villain might seem like one of Marvel’s most important today, his introduction came in the pages of Iron Man #55 — in a story that had almost nothing to do with Tony Stark. The armored hero randomly receives a psychic distress call from the original version of Drax the Destroyer (long before he was reborn as the version adapted for Guardians of the Galaxy). And just that easily, Iron Man is thrust into Drax’s mission to murder an alien named ‘Thanos.’ But it’s the villain’s costume that winds up being the most shocking twist.
The story establishes Drax’s desire to kill Thanos, with Tony as lost as the reader — recognizing only that Drax is a noble hero, and Thanos himself is largely absent from the story. Instead it’s two of Thanos’ henchmen who do the villain’s bidding until Iron Man and Drax join forces. But their victory is cut short when Thanos himself arrives to stomp Iron Man’s gauntlet… and give Tony Stark (and readers) more of an eyeful than they’re prepared for. Take a look:
The comic panel of Thanos announcing himself by name is historic, considering the Infinity Gauntlet future ahead of him. And while this version of Thanos resembles Darkseid more than he would in later appearances, writer and artist Jim Starlin did set the basic mold for the villain’s signature armor and helmet. Of course, the coloring decisions — choosing to make all of Thanos’ legs the same color as bare skin — puts an unintetionaly twist on the outfit altogether. Effectively having Thanos debut in less a suit of armor, and more of a bottomless tunic, sporting only a matching codpiece. Thankfully, this issue doesn’t give readers a look from the backside (leaving that to imagination). But it does raise the question: how would Infinity War and Endgame have changed if Thanos was sporting low-coverage bottoms the entire time?
In the villain’s next appearance (and all others afterwards) the coloring is corrected, making it clear that Thanos is wearing pants the same color as his tunic, with the purple tones of his skin reserved for his face, and on rare occasion, his arms. Ironically, the comparison between Thanos and DC’s Darkseid reveals the Lord of Apokolips to be a far more modest despot, having the good taste to cover himself with a tunic falling mid-thigh. That said, you can’t argue Thanos made a memorable debut — for Iron Man, most of all.