I have never been much of a Thor fan. I have nothing against the character, but in comics I could never connect to him. The movie version was highly entertaining, but he always seemed distant and pompous.
With the new Marvel NOW, they've relaunched his book with a new creative team. I missed the original premiere, but I caught a reprint of issues one and two.
And I have to say, it is pretty awesome.
Writer Jason Aaron has set up a very intriguing story as well as a novel way to tell it.
Aaron's conceit is that he is telling three stories about Thor at 3 different times in his life with one thread connecting them all.
STORY A: A brash and arogant thunder god, not yet worthy of his mystical hammer Mjolnir, fights and lives among the Vikings of a millenia ago. He is shocked, however, when the floating head of a Native American god washes up on Viking shores.
STORY B: The super-hero Thor of today is on a distant planet and is angered that the gods of that world have not heard its peoples prayers. He goes to investigate and finds the gods have been killed.
STORY C: Far off in the future, Thor is the only god left and decides to make one last stand against the god-killer.
Aaron does a very fine job of weaving all three narratives together in the first issue.
The second issue focuses mostly on STORY A. It is upsetting to see Thor as immature and violent as he is in this light, but Aaron does not present that side of him in a flattering way. It makes me very curious to see how he becomes the Thor in STORY B.
Issue 2 finds young Thor meeting the deadly god-killer in battle. Not only is the art and action beautifully rendered by Esad Ribic is very good. And while the action goes on, Thor narrates a chilling story about a mad Norse god he once encountered. Even though the action presented was exciting, the story Thor narrates has stuck with me longer. It was a very satisfying combination of visual and literary storytelling interwoven.
This all seems to point to some dark conclusion in STORY C. I don't know where the story is going next. Maybe time travel is going to be involved. Maybe it is all some kind of dream or prophecy. Or maybe the dark conclusion is set in stone for Thor as his own personal Ragnarok
Issues 3 and 4 are out, but I have not read them.
But I will.
4 out of 5 stars.
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