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Take away Thor’s hot blooded nature, impulsiveness, and arrogance what do you have? Marvel Now Thor. Click the jump to read more.
Originally posted on November 19, 2012.
Thor: God of Thunder #1
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Esad Ribic
Published by Marvel
What do we love about Thor? He can be extremely impulsive at times if he lets his hot blooded temperament gets the better of him. His arrogance can be overlooked due the fact that it’s cute and comical. Oh yea, I forgot one last thing; he kicks a lot of ass and looks really cool doing it. Yup, that’s Thor. This is the Thor that we’ve seen in the movie and for some who enjoyed this version of Thor and are looking for that in Marvel Now he doesn’t exist. Jason Aaron (Wolverine & the X-Men) is doing what he does best at making iconic characters more grounded. This means that Thor is less impulsive, by which Aaron is making him more grounded. In Issue #1 of Thor: God of Thunder, you’ll see a different Thor who is more calculated with his actions as well as his thoughts.
Synposis: A mysterious god who Thor has had to fight for years, has reappeared. Now this god is back to wreak havoc across the universe. How will Thor finally defeat this god?
Good: Issue #1 of Thor: God of Thunder establishes who Thor is in the pantheon of gods as he visits the humans who worship and pray to him. Jason Aaron makes note of this throughout the issue, possibly setting up a plot point for the readers for future issues but what is Aaron setting up? I believe he is trying to convey a different kind of Thor which is good because this is something we need to see. We need to see Thor as a dutiful god who helps those in need when they call upon him. This helps ground Thor as being a superhero in Marvel comics and not just a hero who just wields a giant hammer and smashes things. He has honor, duty, and a conscience. So, Aaron is portraying Thor as a hero with responsibilities and worries, which shows how down to earth he is –literally.
Esad Ribic’s artwork was quite different. The attention to even the smallest details such as Thor’s veins was really emphasized. These kinds of details make the panels pop out more. Colorist, Dean White’s use of subdued colour also gave the art a more ‘ancient’ appeal. During the fight scenes, Ribic use of perspective shots such as bird’s eye and worm’s eye views really helped move the action sequence along and made the issue really exciting to read and see!
Bad: Jason Aaron’s interpretation of the character means that Thor thinks a lot more. So, in order for the audience to get a sense of this Aaron has to use tons of voice-over narration. This becomes annoying after awhile because it feels like the author is telling the story instead of allowing the readers to become engaged with the character in the story. It kind of feels like Aaron is saying that this is what Thor does as a god, he’s worshipped and admired. While we understand this already of Gods, Aaron uses this to establish his Thor in this first issue. Hopefully, this kind of development won’t continue onto the next issue.
Another part of this issue that felt really confusing, was the fact there are three different versions of Thor. There is the younger version where he doesn’t have his hammer and he can’t fly. There is the present day version of Thor where he has his hammer, and then there’s King Thor in his old age. The whole point of these three different versions of Thor is to show how his character has matured over the years against an evil god, a god so menacing he reappears every few millennia to wreak havoc across the universe. The conflict with the ‘evil god’ is the plot to Aaron’s story arc. At this point of a first issue, it is hard to follow the plot while the writer is trying to develop the character and as a writer, if you can accomplish that successfully it’s great, however, in this case it’s confusing. Thor is the narrator of his own story and the ‘evil god’ plot and as a whole you would think the narration would help readers see Thor’s character being developed along side the plot, but what you really see is Thor narrating the situation with very little character development being accomplished in this issue.
Interesting to note is the art. Esad Ribic supports Aaron’s approach to telling the readers Thor’s story; you always see Thor from behind or to the side. It’s feels like you’re being told the story or ‘painted a picture’ and it’s interesting how both have accomplished this art of storytelling; it’s different from all the other Marvel Now comics being released.
Thor: God of Thunder is best for new readers who want to really learn about Thor as a god. For fans who have loved Thor over the years, this is redundant. The only interesting part about this issue is that there is menacing god who reemerges every few millennia. This is interesting for a plot driven story, if Aaron really wants to show Thor in a different light. He would have to use more of a character driven storytelling than a plot driven one.
Rating: 3.8/5
What did you think of Thor #1? Are you reading this issue? Why or why not?
More images from this issue below.
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