Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Olivier Copiel
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $2.99
Release Date: 5th July
Despite being one of their more high profile characters, Marvel Comics decided to kill off Thor a couple of years back. While this isn’t uncommon even for the biggest characters (Since Thor died, they have killed off Captain America and even Spider-Man, although the latter only very briefly), they don’t seem to be in much of a rush to bring him back. They had the Thor’s Hammer plotline in a pre-Civil War issue of Fantastic Four, and of course the murderous Thor clone (Quickly nicknamed Clor on many message boards) in Civil War itself – not to mention the very different version that appears in The Ultimates. But compared to the death and return of Superman or the current Captain America storyline, that seems to be a fairly minimal effort. Maybe it was time for Thor to be given a rest.
Fresh from his soon-to-be completed run on Amazing Spider-Man which started well but seemed to lose steam, and his less-than-stellar run on Fantastic Four comes writer J. Michael Straczynski, ready to take on the thunder god and bring him back into the waiting Marvel Universe. Various remarks made in interviews have already spread negative ripples throughout fandom, such as Asgard returning eight feet above Oklahoma, or a change in Thor’s dialogue to steer away from the classic “I say thee nay!” mediaeval English, and the recent unveiling of the new costume has been met with decidedly mixed reactions. The time for speculation is over – the book is here. Is it actually any good?
Actually, yes it is. Thankfully.
The issue opens with a brief lyrical recap of Thor’s superheroic career, including a very welcome appearance from popular Thor supporting cast members the Warriors Three, leading into the current status quo – with Thor in a kind of Limbo, and his hammer Mjolnir fallen to Earth in Oklahoma. This then leads us into the main body of the story – a discussion in a limbo realm between the Thor and Doctor Don Blake, his now nonexistent one-time human alter ego. (Aren’t comics wonderful? Where else could one use a sentence like that?) It doesn’t spoil too much to say that Dr Blake convinces Thor to return them both to the mortal realm, and we get our first appearance of the new costume in context as the true Odinson returns.
With a little context to help it along, the new costume actually looks quite good, and isn’t too different to the more familiar look that appears in the first few pages. The biggest change, and possibly the only real downside is the presence of sleeves, and it would be interesting to see how this new look would work with bare arms.
Copiel’s art works well, capturing the epic power a Thor story demands, but also the quietness of the Oklahoma countryside. It isn’t perfect though – his stocky, burly Thor is certainly a workable look for the character, but he very rarely appears to have any legs below the knee, which has the unfortunate side-effect of making him look shorter, and almost fat in a couple of moments – not to mention that in a first appearance of a new costume for a major character, it seems odd to not see what their entire costume looks like. Even the two different covers don’t help, with a total of one ankle between them. It should also be noted that, despite the new costume having armoured arms and legs, it is still drawn clinging as if it were body paint. Coipiel also seems to have a blind spot when it comes to shoulders, with a couple of very oddly jointed moments. A final criticism is that Mjolnir’s handle appears to have been shortened by about a third, at least in comparison with the official prop versions Marvel has released over the last few years. These little moans should not detract from the art, which is overall of a very high standard.
As noted above, Straczynski’s writing has hit both highs and lows in the past. This issue, overall, counts as a definite high. The only real criticism is that the plot has effectively been revealed in interviews – although to say so would be missing the point a tad. The actual story beats can be discussed without ruining the issue, as it is not so much about what happens but why. The central scene in the issue, a discussion between Blake and Thor on the matter of their existence and their place in the world is the most important part of the issue, and manages to stay on just the right side of pretentiousness.
As a set-up, this works well. As a first issue, however, it does seem to be missing a certain something. It has become cliché, but this will definitely read better in the trade. Don’t let that put you off, there is still enough here to make this issue worth picking up.
As for Thor’s new way with words? While the new formal speech pattern works well, it isn’t quite right and may need to be blended with his old way a little to endear this new take to old fans. If not, JMS may hear these words across a crowded convention floor:
“Straczynski. We would have words with thee.”
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Russell Hillman was born in London but now lives in Coventry. His hobbies include precious little. He doesn’t get out much, but thinks reading a lot of comics makes up for it. He’s wrong.