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.

Thor #620 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and John Workman (letters)

The Story: Odin summons some very powerful forces in his defense against the World Eaters.

The Review: After a rocky issue last month, Thor comes back this issue with all guns blazing, leading to a much more enjoyable experience overall.

That said, it doesn’t necessarily look that way for the first few pages.  Thor #620 is one of those issues that’s a little hard to get into at first.  What I mean is that it’s one of those comics where it feels like you missed something between issues.  When the comic starts, Odin is yelling amidst a field of bodies and there’s little indication as to what’s going on or how this situation arose.  Frankly, when the focus shifted away to Broxton, I had to double-check to make sure that the comic didn’t start in media res.  It’s a little frustrating, as it essentially feels like I missed at least half an issue somewhere.

Once things get going though and the reader settles in, the book becomes a rocking good time.  Suffice it to say, this issue is very, very heavy on the smiting.  Giant monsters abound and bodies go flying all over the place.  In other words, it gives Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth a chance to really cut loose.  Ferry’s action scenes are stupendous in size and scope and altogether very exciting, while Hollingsworth paints the whole comic in brilliant shades of red to go along with the raining blood, leading to a downright hellish looking warzone.  Ferry’s Odin also looks fantastic, as do his big creatures.

I think Odin fans will also have a lot to like this month.  For most of the issue, the All-Father comes across as a complete badass and Matt Fraction puts him to very good use having just brought him back.  Almost every page with Odin on it is one that’ll have you saying “hell yeah!”  He’s a great character, hardened, violent, and perpetually pissed off.

Thor #619 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and John Workman (letters)

The Story: Odin is greeted by a returned Loki and we learn some interesting facts about the World Tree courtesy of old One Eye before Balder and Tyr go on the attack.

What’s Good: I’ve been going on and on about Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth’s respective work on this series and this is just as gorgeous as ever.   Big, lush artwork with smooth layouts is mixed with awesome, fantasy-perfect colors.  The characters look iconic and heroic and the environments are a perfect mixture of craggy fantasy and cosmic sci-fi.  The fight scenes are no less awesome, basically ending up as a dramatic explosion of violence.  I also continue to enjoy Ferry’s Odin, who is positively jacked.

With Fraction’s writing, I quite enjoyed his use of Odin.  The character reacts to his resurrection much as we thought he would, and his treatment of Loki was fun to read as was Loki’s subsequent reaction; it reflects well on Loki’s new form.  Odin also adds a new/old dynamic to the series: someone who can curse out Thor.  More than that though, because he’s able to come down on Thor, Fraction is able to use Odin to point out a bizarre habit of Thor’s lately: resurrecting anybody and everybody.  Fraction does a good job of showing how this is isolating Thor, and, more than that, I loved Odin’s bringing up the point that Thor simply must have trouble-makers about.  It highlights a very interesting character flaw that I hope is explored later.

Beyond Fraction’s Odin, I continue to enjoy child Loki, who really returns the character to his “trickster” essence.  It boils the character down a bit, but also shows a side of the god that is not only fresh, but makes perfect sense.  Thoth and his goons are similarly fun to read, let alone look at.  I continue to love the retro-sci-fi vibe they bring to the book.

Thor #617 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and John Workman (letters)

The Story: Thor awakens the resurrected Loki and Dr. Eric Solvang finally finds someone to listen to him as Uthana Thoth continues to expand his dominion.

What’s Good: In all honesty, if you’ve liked Matt Fraction’s first two issues of Thor, you’re going to like this one for pretty much all of the same reasons as the quality remains utterly consistent.  It’s still the epic, quirky mix of fantasy and old school sci-fi that’s had me raving over the last couple of months.

Beyond that though, this issue introduces an elephant into the room: a resurrected Loki.  I’ll admit, while I was curious, I was also a bit miffed; Loki’s death was a big event at the end of Siege and was examined nicely by Kieron Gillen, and he’s already being brought back from the dead?  It seemed hasty.

Well, I was wrong to doubt Matt Fraction, as this is far from simply bringing Loki back.  The Loki Fraction introduces is essentially a new character to the series.  I won’t spoil the surprise, but what Fraction does here is utterly ingenious, essentially making an old character completely new and fresh both in personality and what he stands for.  There’s huge potential here.  Furthermore, Loki’s human alter-ego, a child street hustler in Paris, is an absolute delight to read in all his carnie goodness.

I also was surprised by how well Tony Stark functioned in this book.  It’s a character Fraction knows very well, but one that also works very well as a middle-man between the quantum cosmologist Eric Solvang and the Asgardians.  He’s basically a big name Marvel Universe figure who serves as a bridge between these two very disparate genres who both occupy that same universe.  It’s well-done by Fraction.

Art-wise, Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth deliver another knockout, even in an issue that’s a bit more restrained, focusing more on everyday environments.  The work is still brimming with character, both comic booky and incredibly polished.  Art-wise, there’s nothing not to like here and I really loved Ferry’s goblins, who made the last page funnier than it should have been.

Thor #615 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and John Workman (letters)

The Story: A new age for Thor and Asgard begins, as an ominous threat fills Asgard’s void and rages across the metaverse.

What’s Good: Thor fans can breathe a sigh of relief; Matt Fraction arrives and his first issue is a great one.

While it’s difficult to make sweeping judgments after only one issue, I think that it’s fairly clear that Fraction has a very good understanding of the characters and how to use them.  Thor is appropriately brooding and stoic; his bittersweet feelings about Loki, summarized this month in a kind of informal quasi-eulogy, are a highlight of the issue and are very well written and minimalist enough so as to be affecting.

Yet, Fraction also seems aware of the character’s potential as a comedic straight man.  Fraction shows himself to have an incredibly strong handle of the Thor/Donald Blake connection and dynamic.  I had forgotten what a joy this element of the series can be, what with Blake having been absent for some time.  The chemistry between the two is light-hearted and very funny, with Blake even serving as an unlikely adviser.  A couple of his comments on Thor’s behavior even border on making the comic feel amusingly self-aware.  And I’m not even getting started on Fraction’s Volstagg, who can make even the most otherwise boring scenes funny.

Perhaps the most promising aspect of this first issue, however, is what it does generically, mixing sci-fi and high fantasy.  The issue feels like several things elegantly melded together that should be utterly disparate, but somehow come together to form a kind of fresh, sleek, and completely distinct whole.  You have scenes of blue-skinned evils battling sword-wielding demonic barbarians on a snowy plain transitioning to a discussion of “quantum cosmology.”  It sounds utterly insane, and perhaps it is, but it gives the book a unique life and tone that make it unlike anything else out there.