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.

Thor #613 – Review

by Kieron Gillen (writer), Rich Elson (pencils & inks), Jim Charalampidis (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: Thor journeys across hell on his quest for Eir-Gram while Tyr tries to hold the line.

What’s Good: In this issue, Kieron Gillen’s latest story-arc really feels like it’s come together into something really special.  There’s a greater sense of craft and purpose that leads to a thoroughly entertaining and page-turning experience.

Part of the reason for this is Gillen’s use of narration.  The narration only accompanies the scenes depicting Thor’s quest, but it lends it an epic feel that makes it seem all the more grand and Odysseus-like.  It makes Thor’s journey seem even bigger and more inspired.  It’s also proof of Gillen’s skill as a writer, functioning as an extremely clever way for him to condense Thor’s trek into only a few pages, without making the reader feel cheated or the material rushed.

Better still is how Gillen even goes so far as to bring humour and self-awareness into the book through this narration.  The narrator actually turns out to be a visible character in the comic whose sole function is, well, narration.  He’s actually narrating Thor’s quest for Mephisto as well as us, which somehow turns Mephisto into a reader much like ourselves, almost putting him on our level of experience.  Apparently Mephisto is so powerful, that he’s actually able to read, or listen to, the comic book that he’s in.  It gets even more fun when Mephisto even offers criticism of the narrator’s “writing,” and by extension, Gillen’s.

While Thor’s journey is certainly epic, Gillen also continues to strengthen Tyr as a character.  Gillen has not only brought Tyr back in his run, but also expands the God of War further, making him both conflicted and badass and more compelling than ever.  It’s easy to make a god of war a two-dimensional ass-kicker, and Gillen is doing anything but.  This is a Tyr forced to live up to, and negotiate, that very stereotype despite the fact that he is very capable of feeling fear.  There’s a great shame complex to the character that I love reading.

Thor #611 – Review

by Kieron Gillen (writer), Rich Elson (art), Andy Troy (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: The souls of the Asgardians who fell during Siege come under attack in Hel.

What’s Good: It sure feels good to see a good old fashioned Thor story, rife with occult baddies, Hela, and trademark Norse heroism.  The last couple of pages in particular are something of a “hell yeah” in that last regard as Thor literally leads his men to hell.  That’s pretty damned awesome in concept alone and very, very “Thor.”

What makes it even more effective, however, is how Gillen has subtly made this upcoming war in hell into something of an echo of Siege itself.  In doing so, perhaps this story arc can be seen as a kind of redemption for the Asgardians.  Hela has turned herself into a castle to house the souls of the departed Asgardians from the attacking Disir and Thor and his band, at issue’s end, go to relieve the besieged.  Essentially, they’re fighting another siege, in hell, to save those who died in, Siege.  It’s really well orchestrated and I’m quite impressed with Gillen’s being able to find such an effective parallel to recent events.

Gillen does a great job with these Disir, who are really, really creepy.  The demonstrations of their power are also pretty impressive and, in one case, explosive.  I’ve got to say that Gillen doesn’t hold back one iota on the gore and violence.  One particular trick pulled by the Disir late in the issue is downright shocking.  All told, their used very effectively by Gillen.  I also thought it was pretty cool to see Hela back in action again.  In fact it’s just cool to see her in an important role again and a sign to me that it’s back to business as usual for Thor and that we’re leaving the event behind.

On art, I generally like Elson’s work.  It has a painterly feel that sort of reminds of classic fantasy pin-ups, which really suits Thor.