Marvel Universe: The End #4 p. 15 and 16

2003
20" X 15.5".
The classic 'Cosmic Marvel' art team of Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom reunited to work on Marvel Universe: The End, a saga looking at a potential ending of the Marvel Universe in the far future.

Starlin's legendary creation, Thanos, in battle with Akhenaten, an Egyptian Pharaoh circa 1300 BC who was chosen by the Celestial Order to receive a huge portion of power from the Heart of the Universe.

Note: The two boards are taped together on the back with masking tape.

Jim Starlin is the legendary creator chiefly responsible for the cosmic expansion of the Marvel Universe, starting with his introduction of Thanos and Drax in Iron Man #55 (1973). Starlin then continued his epic "Thanos Saga" with a great run on Captain Marvel #25-34 and then continued it with his revival of Warlock in 1975. He concluded his initial story in 1977 in Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2. Starlin would return to Thanos and most of the characters he loved in the early 90s with the immensely popular Infinity Gauntlet series and its many sequels. His work inspired the epic MCU films, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game.

Al Milgrom is best known for inking Jim Starlin on his 1970s Warlock stories and for being the lead artist on long runs of Avengers and West Coast Avengers in the 1980s. He also drew such high profile projects as Secret Wars II and the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series. Milgrom also both wrote and drew a strong run of stories for Spectacular Spider-Man. He's also known for his 10-year stint as the editor of Marvel Fanfare. Milgrom, who is now 70, currently focuses mainly on commissions for fans of his past work and he regularly makes appearances at comic book conventions around the country.

The mad Titan known as Thanos first appeared in Iron Man #55 (1973) and then went on to appear in a series of cosmic stories by Starlin known as "The Thanos Saga" that appeared in 1970s issues of Captain Marvel, Strange Tales and Warlock. The story ended in 1977 with the apparent death of Thanos, but he returned with a vengeance in 1990 and has been a consistent presence in Marvel's comics ever since. Thanos is now, of course, a world famous character due to his role as the featured villain in the enormously successful movies, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game.