As Nebula stated of Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, “My father is many things. A liar is not one of them.” This is true of almost every incarnation of Thanos, including his comic book counterparts. Even so, people would do well to avoid making deals with the Mad Titan – as the Collector discovered in the original comic book miniseries that revealed just how Thanos acquired the Infinity Stones.

Although audiences only saw Thanos threaten an illusion of the Collector to get the Reality Stone in Avengers: Infinity War, in the comic book miniseries The Thanos Quest, readers see precisely how Thanos got the Collector to give up his Infinity Stone (called the “Soul Gems” or “Infinity Gems” in this version). Surprisingly, Thanos seemed to use diplomacy to get the gem – although the Collector soon learned just how duplicitous even an “honest” Thanos could be.

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In the second issue of The Thanos Quest, Thanos, who has already acquired the Soul, Power, and Time Gems, contacts the Collector, offering to do business with him. Knowing that the Collector is obsessed with owning the rarest and valuable items in the universe, Thanos offers to trade the Collector something of even greater value than the Reality Gem for the gem itself. Although the Collector is skeptical, Thanos soon shows he truly is a man of his word.

Thanos then turns his attention to the Keeper of another Infinity Stone, the Runner. Like the Collector, the Runner is an Elder of the Universe, obsessed with the pursuit of a single goal – in his case, speed. He apparently acquires a limitless source of speed thanks to the Space Gem, which allows him to warp space around him and teleport him instantaneously to wherever he wants to go in the universe.

Although his power apparently gives him an edge over Thanos, the Mad Titan simply uses his Time Gem to age the Runner a million years, leaving him too frail to move, speak, or hear. After taking his Space Gem for himself, Thanos then regresses the Runner to a near-fetal state and delivers him to the Collector – pointing out that the Collector could add the now-helpless Runner to his zoo of rare curiosities.

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Agreeing that this is indeed a valuable commodity (and showing that the Collector has no problem with displaying his own family members in his collection), the Collector agrees to give Thanos the Reality Gem, believing it is nothing more than a worthless piece of glass. Thanos quickly dissuades him of this notion, however, when he uses the Reality Gem to temporarily warp the Collector’s realm into a grotesque funhouse mirror version of itself. He then leaves – but then reveals that his forced regression of the Runner was only temporarily and that the Collector’s “prize” will soon attain full maturity.

Furious that the Collector was going to add him to his zoo, the Runner beats the Collector to a bloody pulp – not unlike how the MCU version of Thanos (apparently) strong-armed the Collector to get the Reality Stone from him. Oddly enough then, while MCU Thanos regularly uses brutality to get what he wants, his comic book counterpart prefers using trickery – but is fine with outsourcing beatings to others.

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About The Author


Michael Jung
(700 Articles Published)

Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

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Michael’s background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

Visit Michael Jung’s website for information on how to hire him, follow him on Twitter Michael50834213, or contact him directly: michael(at)michaeljungwriter(dot)com.

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