THE WATCH IS BROKEN (1995)

The Infinity Watch only barely managed to defeat Domitian, but Moondragon has been left cometosed and paralysed with Drax the Destroyer permanently by her bedside. Despite her severe injuries, Adam Warlock's primary focus is finding someone to replace Moondragon and safeguard the Mind Gem. The team's newest member, the amnesiac Maxam, sees himself as the obvious choice, but Gamora thinks otherwise. The vision of the future shown to her by the Time Gem of Maxam standing over Warlock's body has made her wary of him from the start. Is that future about to reveal itself? And can the Infinity Watch survive?

Previous events that directly impact this story:

• THE INFINITY GAUNTLET - Rebirth of Adam Warlock
• THE INFINITY WAR - The Magus returns
• THE INFINITY CRUSADE - The sixth member of the Watch is revealed

Minor Crossover: The events of the Rune/Silver Surfer one-shot link directly to the final issue of Warlock and the Infinity Watch (with some continuity errors) but you can skip it and not really miss anything.

• Warlock and the Infinity Watch #40
• Warlock and the Infinity Watch #41-42 (also see ATLANTIS RISING)
• Rune/The Silver Surfer #1[1/2] (also see GODWHEEL / SPINE: PRELUDE TO BLACK SEPTEMBER)

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #40
On Monster Island, an argument breaks out among the Infinity Watch when Maxam offers to take possession of the Mind Gem now that Moondragon is incapacitated. Gamora openly expresses her trust issues with Maxam who suggests she'll do whatever Warlock tells her. Gamora responds violently. Despite her body being broken, Moondragon's projects her consciousness into Drax the Destroyer's mind, ending the conflict but explosively unlocking his memories. Warlock expresses his disappointment with Gamora, so she throws the Time Gem at him and quits the Infinity Watch. Later, Maxam places the Time Gem on his forehead and his lost memories come flooding back. In deep space, Thanos decides to tone for past acts and plans on using his Reality Gem to do it...

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #41
An uncharacteristically emotional Pip the Troll teleports Gamora off in California where she considers asking to join Force Works, until she's approached by Thanos. Maxam tries to kill Adam Warlock until Moondragon telepathically steps in and incapacitates him, then delves into his memories to discover his origin. Maxam was sent from the future to kill Warlock before he could become the genocidal Magus. Learning of a tidal wave that's approaching Monster Island (due to the events of ATLANTIS RISING), Pip returns to get everyone to safety but may already be to late...

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #42
Pip teleports Drax and the comatose body of Moondragon to a hospital in Chicago. The Mole Man gets all of his monsters to safety in the tunnels beneath Monster Island. Thanos shows remorse for his past efforts towards cosmic genocide and asks Gamora to help him steal the Time Gem and undo his history. Warlock assures Maxam that he can't become the Magus and decides to leave him to drown on Monster Island. Suddenly, all of the Infinity Gems vanish and Warlock finds himself fighting Maxam without the aid of his Soul Gem. The tidal waves end the fight, allowing Maxam the chance to break Adam Warlock's neck. He disappears back into the future having completed his mission. But Warlock's death is a ruse created by Moondragon. With the Infinity Gems gone, the Infinity Watch no longer exist as a team. Warlock and Thanos both, very separately, promise to find the Infinity Gems...

Rune/The Silver Surfer #1[1/2]
Thor returns to Earth-616 (following his unexpected reality jump to Earth-93060 during GODWHEEL) only for Rune to hitch a ride back with him. Sensing great power, Rune finds Gamora in California and forces her to reveal the location of the Infinity Gems. On Monster Island, Rune steals the Time Gem from Maxam's forehead and stops time, allowing him to steal the other gems from the Infinity Watch, as well as Thanos' Reality Gem. Adam Warlock fights Rune in the Soulworld when he tries to claim the Soul Gem, but the gem is attracted to Rune's vampiric nature and betrays Warlock. The Soul Gem instructs Rune to take the gems back to his own universe, but the Silver Surfer arrives and destroys Rune's hand just as a portal takes him back to Earth-93060 and leaves him crashing into the ocean. While, the Infinity Gems themselves are scattered throughout the Ultraverse...

Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #2 (1995)
The Inhumans claim the risen Atlantis (the cause of the tidal waves) as their home during ATLANTIS RISING.

Curse of Rune #4 (1995)
Adam Warlock follows Rune's trail into the Ultraverse (Earth-93060) during THE QUALITY OF MERCY.

Cosmic Powers Unlimited #4 (1996)
Moondragon restores Drax the Destroyer's mind, restoring his intelligence and memories (including her role as his daughter and the moment when she killed him, destroying his mind in the first place); Drax forgives Moondragon and gives up some of his strength to restore her body during THE LEGACY OF CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Warlock #1-4 (1998-1999)
Adam Warlock is revealed to have returned to Earth-616 and reclaimed the Soul Gem; Warlock is reunited with Gamora, Pip the Troll and Drax the Destroyer.

Inhumans #12 (1999) 

Atlantis is sunk below the waves again.

Fantastic Four #56 (2002)

Despite being drained by Rune, Powderkeg is revealed to be alive.

Captain Marvel #32-34 (2002)
The Magus is revealed to have escaped the Soul Gem (due to the gem briefly being possessed by Syphonn) and become a devourer of souls in order to gain a fully corporeal form; Magus tries to absorb Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) to reach his goal more quickly; Genis blasts the Magus with cosmic energy, unaware that this helps him regain his physical form.

Thanos #1-6 (2003-2004)
Thanos learns the Infinity Gems have returned to Reality-616 when Galactus is revealed to be collecting them in order to end his cosmic hunger; with help from Adam Warlock, Thanos puts a stop to Galactus' mission in order to save the universe from Hunger.

Guardians of the Galaxy #17-19 (2009)
To prevent a rift in space tearing the universe apart, Adam Warlock attaches reality to an unused timeline - namely Earth-7528, the timeline he previously ended when he prevented the Magus from coming into being - allowing the Magus persona to take hold of him in the process and becoming Adam Magus during WAR OF KINGS.

Guardians of the Galaxy #22-23 (2010)

Adam Magus tries to turn Earth-616 into a realm like the Cancerverse during REALM OF KINGS.

Thanos Imperative: Ignition #1 (2010)
Adam Magus is killed by Lord Mar-Vell of the Cancerverse during THE THANOS IMPERATIVE.

Annihilators #1-4 (2011)
The Magus is resurrected as a child by the Universal Church of Truth, but is imprisoned by the Annihilators during ANNIHILATORS.

Thanos: The Infinity Finale (2016) 
Thanos finally feels Death's passionate embrace during THE INFINITY FINALE.

Thanos Legacy #1 (2018)
Thanos attempts to gather the restored Infinity Gems (now called the Infinity Stones) before the mysterious Requiem can do the same; Requiem (secretly Gamora) beheads Thanos and gathers the stones first during INFINITY WARS.

Infinity Countdown #5 (2018)
A new Infinity Watch (comprised of Adam Warlock, Turk Barrett, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and Star-Lord) briefly forms to oppose Requiem during INFINITY WARS.

See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe with these reading orders:

• INFINITY WATCH: Guardians of Infinity (1992-1995)

Infinity Watch vol.2
Includes Warlock and the Infinity Watch #40-42.