Thor: God of Thunder #19 – Review

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: Let it be known that Thor does not like fancy and arrogant CEO’s, especially those who threaten the planet and pretty ladies.

The Review: The wait has been long for this one. While the previous story arc, for all its faults, has been enjoyable in general, it simply did not reach the height of quality the Gorr story reached. Due to many factors, the story revolving around the nine realms and Malekith the accursed seemed like a downgrade in terms of themes and evolution, which made the announcement that Esad Ribic would return for a new arc a rather welcome, yet anticipated thing worth waiting for. However, with the artist returning and a new arc beginning, does this issue bring back the grandeur the title once had?

Doing something decidedly different in terms of themes, Jason Aaron mostly succeed in setting up a new problem for the god of thunder to tackle. There are a few problems along the way, yet most of what makes this series work is still very much present for fans to enjoy.

One of the better aspects of this run has been Aaron’s take on Thor himself, portraying him in various ways throughout time. Focusing mostly on the present day Thor in this issue, the writer presents him as the confident, gallant, yet also somewhat obtuse person he is in most of his incarnations, playing with his very nature and the clash it makes with the more normal situations he is in. Bringing a great lot of fun and humor to the character with his penchant for alcohol, violence but also good-natured heroism, his Thor is still one of the best take on the character. With a small, yet important scene with the future King Thor, there is also a very good comparison in his evolution, with the surly, prideful, yet nostalgic and caring god being a very apt transition of the version heavily featured here.

Thor: God of Thunder #11 – Review

Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: The godbomb explode as Thor fights to preserve godhood for all divine beings in the very heart of this object of destruction.

The Review: After a good deal of issues of build up, of confrontation and character work done with multiple eras of the god of thunder and this new foe of his, the very first storyline of this title has reached an end. With the road toward that point being made of a lot of great moments, does the conclusion of the conflict between Thor and Gorr satisfy?

In terms of concepts, it is a very satisfying issue, as the dialogue and the narration delivers on the scope of such a cataclysm in terms of godhood. The various descriptions truly relate the large ordeal that each Thor has on his shoulders, with the present-day one trying very hard to make sure the bomb does not destroy everything he fought for. Most of the incredible ideas are rendered very well as the pacing allows each page to fully wallow in just what happens in this issue means. Not everything is on the same tone, though, as Aaron also add humor to the mix, without interrupting the flow or disrupting the tone.*

However, there are some aspects of the conclusion that are rushed or left perhaps a bit too vague to feel satisfactory. The way Gorr is actually defeated is awe-inspiring, yet the explanation is perhaps too quick, as it seems there could have been more told about just how this might have developed. There is also the fact that the transition between the defeat of Gorr and the awakening of Thor around his others selves is not explained in the best of terms. It is written that old king Thor used his powers to put everyone back to their own times, yet it sounds a tad unsatisfying and perhaps a bit far-fetched. If he could manipulate time with his powers, wouldn’t it had been smart of him to use it during the battle against Gorr in any way?

Thor: God of Thunder #10 – Review

Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: As the three Thor lay defeated, Gorr prepare to unleash his plan to murder every divine beings out of existence.

The Review: As readers, we can be sometime be witness to the beginning of what we could call a great tenure on a title. No doubt, when Brubaker began writing Captain America or when Mark Waid began his tenure on Daredevil, we knew we were in for something special. It’s when a lot of elements come together to create a vision on a certain character that we know and love that it becomes very rewarding for fans of a certain superhero universe or a certain character and I do believe we have that with this current run on Thor.

What Jason Aaron, Ribic and Svorcina have done with the god of thunder is something that was true to the character, giving us an expensive story about divinity, religion while adding adventure on an epic scope. As Gorr was a colossal menace for each version of Thor, this had escalated to a huge battle on a cosmic level that was something that had been built upon ever since the introduction of the book’s antagonist. Now that we had such a satisfying issue full of action, how could the book capitalize on that climactic conclusion in a satisfying way?

For better or worse, Aaron does so by putting more in context the surroundings around Gorr and by pushing the irony of just what he has become in order to complete his goals. Still playing in the grand scope he has developed for this series, we get the almost mythical* approach to Thor’s conflict against Gorr as the themes are clear and concise, yet big and intense enough that we get that this is not a problem just any Marvel character could solve.

As we get more insight into just how far Gorr has gone in his quest, the stakes gets higher as we see just how the gods may have to react in order to survive or go out with dignity. It’s that elevation of tension and of stakes that makes what may happen next so pleasant for us readers, as Jason Aaron does give us some surprise as he continues to play with his different versions of Thor, with the ever rebellious and arrogant Thor from the past, the surly yet highly capable and confident King Thor and the one we are most used to, the Avenger Thor from the present time period. How they continue to react toward what is happening and how they try to do battle is still quite something to behold.*

Thor: God of Thunder #9 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: The three Thors from the past, present and future decide to bring the fight to Gorr. An epic and cosmic fight ensues.

The Review: Well, this issue was quite something. With the way the three Thor had been united in the last issue, I had thought that Jason Aaron would make their big conflict against the god butcher the climax of his story, giving us a big epic denouement that would rock the heavens. As it turns out, the plan was different.

Indeed, as if Christmas had come early, we’re given the big battle with the Thors from different eras against Gorr and it is glorious. Some writers tend to depower the god of thunder a bit sometimes, in order to give a chance for the other characters to show their stuff too. After all, it wouldn’t make for a very interesting comic to see Thor solve everything with his huge strength, since he has always been written as being an intensively powerful hero that had powers that could rival many in the Marvel universe. Here, Jason Aaron let the three Thor show just how much of a powerhouse the character is and it quite something to see.