Mighty Thor #12 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (art), Frank D’Armata (colors)

The Story:  With Asgard under siege, Thor battles his imposter while Freyja steps down to challenge Karnilla.

The Review: This issue reminded quite a bit of Fear Itself’s failings.  There were a lot of really big things that occurred in this issue, a lot of big events that should’ve had me nailed to my seat.  The siege of Asgard!  Thor vs. Ulik!  Freyja vs. the Queen of the Norns!  Thor killing the Demogorge!  If there’s one thing Fraction gets, it’s epic scale, and he’s shown that time and again throughout his run on Thor.

The problem though, is that scale and good ideas alone aren’t enough.  They need to be developed, character-work must be done, motivations must be explored.  Put simply, despite the big events occurring on the page, Fraction really hasn’t given much of a reason to care.

Part of this is certainly due to Fraction’s leaving Karnilla and Ulik horridly underdeveloped.  They’ve been nothing more than stock villains with broad, generic goals.  Their places in the plot could’ve been occupied by pretty much any other villain.  So when Freyja and Thor battle them, it’s hard to really care all that much.  Even Fraction himself, in the narration of the book, acknowledges that there’s essentially nothing fueling Thor’s hatred for Ulik.  The villains have failed to distinguish themselves or their motivations and they have minimal ties to any of the heroes.  There’s no emotional investment for readers when it comes to the central conflict.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Prophet #23 – This series is probably legit now: Three really HOT issues in a row.  The world-building is great and the art is great, but what sets the series apart is this sorta stoicism  that I’m not getting from any other comic right now.  Everything in this comic is very direct and blunt and sometimes it’s nice to creators do that than try to show us how clever they are.  The only thing this series wants you to “get” is what is on the page, yet it isn’t a kiddie-comic either.  As a bonus, this issue gave us our first BIG reveal of the series.  Hop on now while we’re only three issues into the series!  Runner-up: Batman #7

Most Anticipated: Scalped #57 – That last issue was kinda unexpected, right?  There are only 3 issues left after this one and I’m sure it won’t be happy endings for the good guys of the Prairie Rose Reservation because that just wouldn’t be Scalped.   Something awful is probably going to happen to Dash, but what will it be given that most of his antagonists are already dead?

Other Picks: American Vampire #25, The New Deadwardians #1, Spaceman #5, The Unwritten #35.5, Choker #6 (after ~2 years!), Elephantmen #38, Morning Glories #17, The Walking Dead #95, Daredevil #10, FF #16

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Wonder Woman #7 – Honestly, this issue went buy in a flash and really sticks to one locale, but there’s so much coolness here.  The designs for Hephaestus and Eros were fantastic, Azzarello’s tinkering with Amazonian culture/history is great, and Diana’s lesson in assumptions making an ass of you and me was a solid character moment.  Oh, and Cliff Chiang returns.  Hurray!  A really fantastic book that every DC fan should be picking up and one that’s easily in my top 5 of the new 52. (for the record, the other four are Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batman, and either Batwoman or Flash)

Most Anticipated: Spaceman #5 – Yes, I realize there’s a proverbial elephant in the room written by two of my favourite writers in AvX #0 this month, but there are two reasons for picking Spaceman this week.

1.  While I’ll be picking it up, I’ve never been a huge fan of zero issues.

2.  I have completely and utterly fallen in love with the world of Spaceman.  Every issue is like a vacation to a favourite destination.

Other Picks: Avengers vs. X-Men #0, Aquaman #7, The Flash #7, American Vampire #25, Scalped #57, Daredevil #10, FF #16, Mighty Thor #12, Moon Knight #11, New Avengers #23, Secret Avengers #24, Uncanny X-Force #23