Sort of. It's maybe more akin to Neuro-Linguistic Programming, with a little bit of possession thrown in.

"New Avengers" #10 is also where we learn what happens to members of the Black Order when they fail Thanos. By the way he treats the Black Dwarf I'm guessing Thanos' punishment for those who disappoint him is a severe beating and not death. Is that correct?

It certainly seems that way, at least in this instance.

Can you talk about why that is? The standard super villain reaction when a subordinate fails them is to terminate that subordinate.

As we've seen previously, the members of the Black Order and Thanos' crew as a whole are not intimidated by the prospect of death. It's almost something to be sought out or earned. At Corvus Glaive's merest order the soldiers accompanying him to his meeting with the Inhumans in "Infinity" #2 were quick to kill themselves in order to carry out Thanos' grand plan and his agenda for Earth.

So the idea that Thanos would kill the Black Dwarf or anyone who might displease him among his own crew would be like giving them a big chocolate sundae. That's not the way they go about things. Death is a reward not a punishment.

In this issue Namor reveals to his teammates that Atlantis has been destroyed. In that same scene he appears to set aside his grief and pain over the destruction to help tackle a larger emergency, but is Namor done settling the score for Atlantis? We know in "New Avengers" #9 he directed Thanos' forces to Wakanda, but does that make things even in his mind?

All I can say is that Atlantis and its destruction at the hands of Wakanda are not forgotten. They are very much at the forefront of his mind, even now.

Later in the issue Doctor Strange discovers the whereabouts of Thanos' son, which means the Ebony Maw uncovers that information as well. Does all of the Black Order know Thanos' son is part of the reason why their master has come to Earth? Or is this something the Maw becomes privy to because of his hold over Strange?

I think the Black Order knows why Thanos is here. Certainly Corvus Glaive went to Black Bolt to demand the tribute and has gone to other worlds to demand similar tributes as we've seen in the past. So they definitely have a good understanding as to what this is all about.

Let's move onto "Infinity" #3 where the Builders make the surprising move of starting to accept surrenders instead of continuing to simply destroy planets. Can you talk about why they've done this? Or is this something that will be revealed as the story goes on?

I don't think blowing up planets was necessarily their goal in any of this. It was sometimes a necessity, but it was not their preferred method of getting what they wanted.

I think this is consistent with what they have been doing. I don't think we've seen any indication that the worlds they've destroyed so far have been ready to surrender. We've seen them attack and destroy worlds that have gone down fighting, but we've not seen the Builders bombard a world that was ready to acquiesce.

So the planets we see surrender here in "Infinity #3" are not specific planets they've targeted for surrender? This is more of a case of the galaxy responding to their show of force?

No, those worlds themselves are not significant apart from the fact that they've surrendered here. The Builders don't destroy these worlds because they're of greater importance. It's that these are the worlds that are able to negotiate a surrender and allow themselves to live on.

Can you talk about why the Builders didn't accept J-Son's negotiations in "Avengers" #19?

I don't think they saw any advantage in doing so -- especially since J-Son's own transmission gave them the location of the Galactic Council, and the means to deal with them en masse once and for all.

The surrender of several planets means that the Builders experience some wins in "Infinity" #3, but the issue is also where they experience their first major loss to the Avengers and the remaining members of the Galactic Council. I'm curious, why do you think the Builders lost the battle we saw in this issue? Is it because they underestimated their foes?

Well, you can't win 'em all! I think they certainly may not have been prepared for the style and even variety of the abilities, aptitudes, and powers that the Avengers were able to bring to bear. Certainly they were surprised earlier to see among their numbers a Star Brand, a Nightmask, an Abyss and Captain Universe.

So I don't know if it's quite underestimating so much as it is not being prepared for the particular way they went about that strike.

Do you think the Builders view themselves as superior to or have contempt for other races in the galaxy?

I think that the Builders have been around for so long and have done so much seeding in terms of the creation and spread of life throughout the universe that in a very real way all other life forms seem like children to them. So they're not used to other life forms playing on their level or operating within their sphere.

During the battle with the Builders the captured Avengers are liberated, but we don't see that happen. Will we see that happen in one of the tie-ins?

We will see more about that in the tie-ins; in "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers Assemble" in particular.

After the captured Avengers are liberated, Kevin, the Star Brand, basically flexes his power and wipes out an entire wing of Builders' ships. How difficult was that for him and just how powerful is he with the Star Brand? Was destroying those ships like swatting a fly?

I'm not sure if we're at a point where we can quantify the power of the Star Brand other than what we've said all along, which is that the Star Brand is a planetary defense protocol. So it certainly needs to be mighty to protect and defend a planet from all the forces within the cosmos that might do it ill.

It's a system that the Builders created and put into place. So it certainly operates on the same magnitude that they do, but in terms of how difficult this was it doesn't seem, at least from his performance in the issue, that it's too terribly difficult. In some ways it may be harder to use a small application of the power. The first time the Star Brand touched Kevin he wiped out pretty much his entire college and several miles of the area surrounding it just by accident. The Star Brand is a cosmic force. It's used to operating on a big, grand, scale. So in fact it might have been easier to do something like this than something that requires a finer touch.

The Star Brand being a Builder-designed weapon begs the question of whether or not the Builders have a failsafe against it?

I guess we'll find out [Laughs]

[Laughs] Fair enough. Are we seeing a friendship forming between Gladiator and Captain America? They've got similar backgrounds and they seem to be bonding on the command ship during the battle in this issue.

At the very least what we're seeing is a mutual respect between commanders. I don't know if we'll get to the point of friendship where they might consult one another on personal questions or do things like have a meal together or attend a sporting event [Laughs].

I think what we're seeing is two guys that have the same sort of martial background and instincts coming to regard one another well on the field of battle as allies. Friendships have been made over a lot less than that though, so maybe so.

Let's talk about the final page of "Infinity" #3. Right before the explosion in Attilan we've got a shot of Maximus and he's with Lockjaw. I suppose it's no coincidence that someone as cunning as Maximus has a teleporting dog with him right before an explosion goes off?

I think that would be a pretty sensible place to have a teleporting dog if you had one [Laughs].

We obviously won't know the extent of what Black Bolt did with this explosion until the next major chapter of "Infinity," but is what happens here on this final page the seed that the upcoming "Inhumanity" storyline will grow from?

Absolutely. No question. You'll see more about that in "Infinity" #4. This is the moment right here, though, at the end of issue #3.

Finally can we conclude with some hints, and teases about "Avengers" #20, the next major chapter of "Infinity?"

We'll see the Gardeners get together in a big way out in space. We'll also see the turn of the wheel in terms of the battle against the Builders off in the cosmos. There's some math that doesn't add up terribly well for the Avengers and their allies. This issue pretty much focuses on the war in space as readers have come to kind of expect.

"Avengers" #20 by Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Yu is on sale September 25.