Thor #621 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry & Salvador Larroca (art), Matt Hollingsworth & Ulises Arreola (colors), and John Workman (letters)

The Story: The Blood Legion battles the World Eaters for all the marbles.

The Review: I’m really pretty torn over this comic.  As a huge fan of Thor, there were things that really worked and things that simply did not, and they’re all big things.

On the one hand, I really do tip my hat to Matt Fraction when it comes to the sheer scale of this comic.  Seeing the massive Asgardian Blood Legion golem battling a horde of World Eaters is awesome on so many levels.   Seeing it attempting to attack the world tree as reality itself threatens to come asunder…it’s really, really massive stuff.  In this respect, that tells me that Fraction gets Thor.  The size alone of what he writes is enough to attest to that.  The panicked citizens of Broxton, the hellish environment, the number of bodies involved in the fight itself, Odin and Uthana Thoth’s battle of wills, and the victory celebration at the end all suggest epic stuff.

The problem, though, is Fraction’s pacing.  Many have criticized Thor and Invincible Iron Man for the slow pacing, but I was fine with it.  What I’m not fine with, is how Fraction built everything up for so long and that neatly ties everything up in these 22 pages.  The conclusion, and the fight itself, relegated as they are to just about one issue, ends up feeling rushed and far too easy.  It’s as though Fraction suddenly woke up and realized he only had one issue to wrap everything up and went nuts as a result.  Hell, nobody even really fights Uthana himself.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Kick Drum Comix #1 – From artistic genius Jim Mahfood comes this wildly awesome issue with two stories centered on the urban music scene.  The stories are very high quality, but the art is just at another level.  I always love to see an artist who isn’t pulling any punches and just letting the art be what they want it to be.  Do yourself a favor and be sure to check this out.  Runner-up: X-Men #9

Most Anticipated: Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #1 – What a stacked week for non-Big 2 comics and rising above it all (at least in terms of anticipation) is this new entry by Joe Casey.  The teaser images features what looked like some kind of cosmic she-male and the preview pages showed what appeared to be Jay Leno and Dick Cheney going to a bar together.  That’s enough for me.  It is already “sold out”, but you may be able to score one at your LCS and, if not, there’s always eBay if you don’t want to wait for the second printings to drop.

Other Picks: American Vampire #13, Detective Comics #875, Scalped #47, Undying Love #1, Age of X Universe #1, Amazing Spider-Man #657, Incognito: Bad Influences #5, Kick Ass 2 #2, Scarlet #5  (I usually try to limit myself to FIVE ‘other picks’, but this is a STACKED week)

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Captain America #615.1 – The best issue of Cap since #600, this .1 book delivered everything you’d expect from a quality Captain America comic.  Great story-telling, great atmosphere, great character-work, and great action with a sign of big things to come.

Most Anticipated: Jimmy Olsen – Once again, courtesy of the big two, the final Wednesday of the month is ridiculously stacked.  That said, it’s an easy pick for me.  Nick Spencer and RB Silva have been delivering 8-pages a month of superhero-sitcom fun in the back of Action Comics, it’s been a total blast thus far.  While this issue marks the end of the feature, it also means we get a giant sized helping of what has been an awesome comic.

Other Picks: Detective Comics #875, Action Comics #899, Captain America #616, Thor #621, American Vampire #13, Scarlet #5, Incognito: Bad Influences #5, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8, Amazing Spider-Man #657, Scalped #47, Wolverine #7, Avengers #11, Secret Avengers #11