Review: Thor: God of Thunder #1

 

It’s been a while since I have shared a solo adventure of the God of Thunder, one of my favorite characters, so this Marvel NOW offering was just the jumping-on point for an old reader. And I can tell you with some delight I was not disappointed.

Thor as a character has often offered the best of all possible worlds: he can become involved in mythological adventures, cosmic capers or the mundane street-level stuff many cherish. This issue, we see three incarnations of the Thunder God during three time periods of his life, all leading to future encounters with a big-bad Thor has encountered if not ourselves.

No, Gorr the God Butcher (love that name, especially after seeing some of him/its work) does not make an appearance in Thor: God of Thunder #1, but his/its evil is dripping off the pages through three time periods.

And I must say scribe Jason Aaron handles all three Thors – the young, happy-go-lucky god; the hero of today; and the wounded king (missing eye and arm) at the end of Asgard’s glory – with equal depth and understanding of character and climate.

The young Thor is nothing if not a fond reflection of those jaunty tales by Stan and Jack in “Tales of Asgard”: He loves wine, women, wine, song and wine, and yet there are traces of the noble god he will become.

The Thor of today is one known throughout the Marvel Universe, and it is curious that not many have touched on the hero’s actual role as a quote-unquote god as Aaron does, and I have a feeling this will be a theme in many adventures going forth. Thor actually answers the prayer for rain of a young girl on a faraway world without gods. And yes, that is what leads here into the search for Gorr.

The Thor of tomorrow is a depressing fellow, reminding me of Odin after he comes out of the Odin-sleep. He fights on because he has no choice: that is what gods do. But he already sees his struggles against this God Butcher as hopeless, even as Mjolnir answers his call.

The art team of Esad Rubic and Dean White are nothing if not outstanding here. The vistas of Iceland, the sparse lava-pocked plains of an alien world, the debris and shattered glories of future Asgard are all rendered with a deftness of precision and an avalanche of detail to make the eyes water.

This is the Thor the Marvel U. and its readers have been waiting for, and I hope after the initial five-issue arc we will continue on this journey Aaron is setting up for us, and hopefully at least a portion will be in the cosmic vein.

All in all, Thor: God of Thunder #1 is an issue fit for the ages, and very true to the character we all love.