In an effort to reclaim the Infinity Gems, Thanos realizes that he has to put the hurt on a few furry, feathered, and scaly creatures. As usually happens, overconfidence leads to Thanos' undoing. Really, you'd think he'd be a little more humble nowadays.

The story in between the covers of this issue is par for the course with this series -- a series my kids have devoured (no, not literally) and I have enjoyed. This is good, fun comics. No resurrected, half-decayed heroes of yesteryear. No murderous rampages from the villain. This issue has a few characters in some pretty distressing situations (think Mufasa from "Lion King"), but the Infinity Gems make everything all better.

Eliopoulos and Guara have crafted a fun story that I can easily see myself and my kids going back to time and again. This isn't the second coming of "Maus" or anything like that, but the characters used here are recognizable to most Marvel fans. The adventures of Lockjaw, Lockheed, Redwing, Ms. Lion, Zabu, Hairball, and Throg (Thor-frog) offer a chuckle or two and more than a little fun. The team name of "Pet Avengers" is recommended from the most unlikely member of the herd, and judging from the teaser image at the end of the issue, President Obama's pooch appears to be joining the team.

Guara needs to be sainted for his ability to give us a threatening Thanos on the same page as a believably rendered Throg. Not only does he do a great job drawing the characters of this series, but Guara does not hesitate to detail the living heck out of these pages, and the book is better for it. Take a peek at the interior art in CBR's preview right here. While Marvel seems to realize the potential this brand has, they would be foolish to try to push this team forward without more art from Guara.

The conclusion of this story was never really in doubt, but Eliopoulos gave the readers the funnest route to get from beginning to end. If you missed out on this title in floppy form, do yourself (and the next generation of comic book readers you might know) a favor and track them down or look into the collection.