Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Russell Dauterman
What They Say:
Get ready for a Thor like you’ve never seen before! Witness the mysterious all-new Thor in action for the very first time! With an army of Frost Giants invading the earth, she may be the world’s only hope!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening issue of Thor was a strong one as it did the heavy lifting of closing out our familiar character’s story for the moment, the return of the king of Asgard and the political intrigue and issues with the Queen being set aside. Along the way we also got a lot of action on Earth with Malekith joining forces with the Frost Giants to go after the skull of their king that was found by Roxxon in one of their operations, one that has its CEO on hand as well, which adds a special kind of psychopath to the mix. We also got, at the very, very end, a quick look at our mysterious woman who has now found herself worthy as she took on Mjolnir and went through the transformation process.
Anyone looking for answers in this issue are going to be disappointed.
And that’s not a bad thing when you get down to it. The book works along two main tracks here, excising the Asgardians for the moment and our familiar Thor as well. What we do get is intriguing as the woman who has taken on the hammer is in a mix of dialogue that can be confusing at first but works well. As she learns some of the basics of the hammer and what it means to take on Thor’s power through it, we see her speaking in the old style out loud, with more knowledge than she has, while the inner voice is more familiar in a basic dialogue kind of way. She’s questioning how she knows things she’s saying, realizing along the way that the hammer is alive in its own way and the two have a likely symbiotic relationship that allows each to excel in their mission. While Odin created Mjolnir quite some time ago, it appears to have evolved quite a lot on its own over the years, though that may have been kept secret from everyone, including possibly Thor himself.
With Mjolnir clueing her in about the danger on Midgard, she ends up figuring out how to get down there and discovers the seriously bad scene as the Avengers couldn’t stop the Frost Giants as they continue to ravage the operation. We see things from Agger’s side as well, with the business end in mind, with how he’s looking to come out on top even if it means killing all the employees he’s about to fire on the site. With the knowledge that the skull is valuable, that just makes him want it and its powers all the more. Few people could really stand up to a personality like Malekith, especially backed by the chaos of the Frost Giants around him, but we continue to see just what kind of psychopath Agger is as he moves about his business and sacrifices others with ease along the way. And how some of them are very much okay with it in their own twisted way.
In Summary:
The book does a very good job of balancing the two main stories here and slowly weaving them together as our new character makes her way into the facility and starts trading blows with Frost Giants, which is easily done as they keep mocking her in comparison to the former wielder of the hammer. The internal/external dialogue aspect of the character is interesting as it gives us a new spin on Mjolnir itself, and that could lead to some really good things that can upgrade the “character” of Thor overall in the long run. While I want to know more about that, and who it is that’s taken on the hammer as she seems to be aware of certain things in this area such as Agger, I’m definitely enjoying the pacing here and giving us some decent time with Agger and how Roxxon reacts to such situations. The book is once again beautifully laid out with great designs for the human cast and really top notch stuff for the Frost Giants themselves. Dauterman also brings the kinetic energy to things with how our new Thor fights, first with the frost dogs and then their masters, while also letting others show their own lumbering kind of violence. The first issue was a very strong book and this one carries that forward perfectly.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 12th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
0 comments