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 #17 – Review

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Ron Garney, Emanuela Lupacchino (Artists), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: Thor brings the pain to Malekith as the final fate of the league of realms and the dark elf criminal is revealed.

The Review: Not all titles are winners. There will always be an arc, a character or a certain addition to the story that readers will dislike or certainly not appreciate as much as the rest. Quality is not something consistent in most titles after all, nor is personal appreciation. We may love something, but there must be highs and lows in order for the better elements to be easier to perceive.

It is then, to my surprise, rather nice to see that while this arc might have begun in the most obvious of ways, with Malekith being presented just in the time for the movie, there was an actual direction to the story. While the general progression to this point had some good and bad parts, Jason Aaron does show that he can actually do something with some less-desirable elements in the book.

The first thing that Aaron manages to do is actually surprise readers, throwing twists after twists in this issue alone, providing for a great number of satisfactory scenes for those who had no idea of the actual direction the story could go for. With the story being rather straightforward before, the writer makes for a nice use of what had been set up earlier to provide for something rather inventive and expansive for the nine realms and its future in the Marvel universe.

Thor: God of Thunder #16 – Review

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Ron Garney, Emanuela Lupacchino (Artists), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: There is a traitor in the league of realms. Who could it be?

The Review: I am currently less than impressed by the current storyline in the book. While it is obvious that Jason Aaron is doing the best he can with some elements that aren’t nearly as good as those he introduced in his first mega-arc, this one still seems to be a manner to properly introduce Malekith to a new readership because of a very specific release a month ago. From the beginning of this story, a lot of the best elements were simply thrown to the side in order to tell a story about a serial-killing dark elf, with Thor now sharing the spotlight with other characters.

However, despite my initial negative overview of this whole thing, I do have to admit that this issue did provide plenty of better elements to the story. With some inner conflicts in the league of realms, the return of how mythology is presented in the Marvel universe alongside a good dose of humor, this issue does raise the bar in terms of quality and enjoyment.

The first thing that Jason Aaron does right is in how he portrays the failings of the league of realms, which was a nice idea, yet poorly executed. Showing just how the group could not really work due to some distrusts and to how politics can influence things in the nine realms, the group disband here due to not only the fact that they aren’t very effective together, but also due to an error from the god of thunder himself. This results in something more beside the cyclical and constant chase for Malekith that the group did in the previous issues, which is a change that is most welcome.

Thor: God of Thunder #14 – Review

Jason Aaron (Writer), Ron Garney (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

The Story: The league of realms is formed as they try to hunt down Malekith before he does too much damage to the nine realms.

The Review: New ideas are dangerous. It’s not a particularly pleasant thing to say, but capes comics aren’t always known for their originality as they rely a lot of times on certain tropes to thrive in the market. Nostalgia sells, so it’s usual to see things that are familiar, yet not blatantly so that it becomes tedious or unoriginal. A book with familiar characters or with a title that is already a proven seller will always have a better chance at growing rather than an entirely original book with newer characters. It’s not exactly the market as it is now, but it could be described pretty closely as such.

It is why I am both glad and a bit disappointed to see Jason Aaron trying to play with many elements of the Thor mythology from the Marvel universe. There is a sense of fun and exploration to what the nine realms are with some of the concepts brought forward by the writer, with the league of realms, the fact that there is a council of realms and so forth. The willingness of Aaron to mess around and to introduce some new elements to Thor’s mythology speak well for him as a writer.

Unfortunately, it would be better if some of those elements worked a bit better, as there is perhaps an abundance of suspension of disbelief needed for some of the additions to truly shine. While the idea of a league of realms with a composition of denizens from multiple realms is an entertaining one, it is a bit baffling to see it go forward considering two facts. The first one is the simple truth that Thor, as a character, is known as the hero of the nine realms, which is not a self-proclaimed title but an actual one given to him, meaning that he is most probably trusted by a great many to be a person that can protect others. The other reason can be seen in the previous arc, as Thor had to deal with a god-killer through time and space. Simply put, Malekith doesn’t really seem like much of a challenge, or even one that can really compare to Gorr in terms of scope. He is more defined and can become an apt villain in terms of interest, yet he just doesn’t seem to be a foe as worthy as the previous one.

Thor: God of Thunder #8 – Review

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

The Story: Present and Future Thor sails the cosmos in order to bring the battle to Gorr as the young Thor from the past learn how the slaves of Gorr fare and what are his plans.

The Review: Praise to the bearded writer of greatness for his adventures of the god of thunder, even though he seems to be unable to even come close to this level on his other titles, be it the tale of the Mad Titan or the stories of young mutants in school. May Jason Aaron find in his own mind the way to make this title consistent and he shall have a follower to buy this sublime book of the mighty shelves of his local comic book shop.

*Ahem*

So yeah, another pretty great issue of Thor: God of Thunder has been released, featuring the continuing tale of the gods of thunder from three ears converging to fight the god butcher. In this issue, we see two plotlines as we see just how young Thor fares as he has been captured by Gorr and put into slavery. Right there, we get to see his impetuous and arrogant side as he tries to rebel against his captor, never minding for once what it might entail for the others. As we see three new female characters (whose identity I shall not spoil) go toward him as they try to calm him down. In a way to teach him humility and the error of his current ways, the three females shows just what happens when a divine being rebels, as it leads to a pretty powerful scene showing just how far along in his plans Gorr has gotten.