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October 18 2010

Marvel Comics
Story: Matt Fraction
Art: Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth

Thor has long been one of my favorite heroes. His sheer power backed by his sense of honor and duty have told some very entertaining stories over the years. The juxtaposition of ancient myth with the modern world gives the writers a tremendous amount of possibilities.

When Thor was relaunched in 2007, J. Michael Straczynski chose to focus mostly on the myth, establishing Thor as the new Lord of Asgard in Odin’s absence. Now, Matt Fraction (current writer of Uncanny X-Men and Invincible Iron Man) has taken over the title, promising a return to Thor’s height of popularity in the 1980s. Back then, Walt Simonson took Thor and all his godly might and added in a sci-fi element, pitting Thor against galactic threats instead of just giants and demons. It was good, larger-than-life fun; everything you would want a comic to be.

Fraction’s first issue goes a long way to delivering much of the same. In Straczynski’s run, Thor moved Asgard to Earth, and now some new threat is trying to take Asgard’s place in the order of things. All the specifics are explained by a scientist trying to gain an audience with Asgard’s leaders. It’s possible the scenes involving the scientist went on a little too long, but I thought it was entertaining, giving the reader a sense of the frustration the scientist was feeling trying to explain the concept to the dense Volstagg.

In addition to Earth, the issue takes us to Alfheim, the realm of the Elves in Norse mythology. It introduces us to some random elf characters, and gets the reader to care about them just enough to be shocked when they’re all brutally murdered. This also serves as the introduction to an unnamed alien race looking to escape their collapsing realm, and they’re willing to conquer Alfheim, Asgard and any other realms necessary to do so.

Each of the realms shown in the comic has a unique visual style; Earth is vibrant and full of life, Asgard’s tones are muted, Alfheim has a blue tint and the unknown dimension is obviously something beyond mortal comprehension. Ferry’s character artwork also conveys great emotion, especially the anguish Thor and Balder are experiencing with the recent losses in their lives. Also, maybe it’s just me, but I swear Thor is starting to look more like Chris Hemsworth.

All the various elements come together for an overall enjoyable, if occasionally uneven issue. Fans of the character, like myself, will be excited with this new direction for Thor. Unfortunately, it may not be a good jumping-on point for newer readers, as it assumes an understanding of the characters and events.

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