Thor #2 Review

Thor Odinson has been deemed unworthy, and a new God of Thunder has taken his place.  How will she fare in her first hammer-rodeo?  Your Major Spoilers review of Thor #2 awaits!

Previously in Thor: “It’s the dawning of a new age for Asgard.  After a self-imposed exile, Odin has returned to his former kingdom.  But his wife, Freyja, who had been ruling in his stead, has no intention of having things go back to the way they were.  And their son, Thor, the God of Thunder, finds himself no longer worthy of wielding Mjolnir, the enchanted hammer, which now rests on the surface of the moon.  Back on Earth, all of this is sure to be good news for the Roxxon Energy Company, which recently ran afoul of the God of Thunder.  But Roxxon has other problems to deal with: One of their undersea mining stations was attacked by Frost Giants and the evil elf sorcerer Malekith.  Thor attempted to stop them, but without his hammer, he was quickly overpowered and had his arm chopped off.  Things look bleak…

But, back on the moon, a mysterious woman is able to life Mjolinir and finds herself transformed into the all-new Goddess of Thunder!”

THOUGHT BALLOONS!

We pick up seconds after the closing page of last issue, during which the new wielder of Mjolnir transformed into her Goddess of Thunder state, and the first page fills me with old-school joy at the appearance of thought balloons, a story-telling tool that most modern comics have entirely eschewed.  Our new Thor is thinking in her normal speech (NOT the stilted speech of an Asgardian, I might add), while speaking out loud in full-blown Thor mutilated Shakespeare, which makes for an interesting contrast.  Spinning her hammer, she leaps into the air, and returns home to Earth, landing right in the middle of the Frost Giant siege of Roxxon’s Pacific Ocean mining station.  She quickly engages the giants in battle, and shows herself to be pretty battle savvy, but also gives away that she’s not only seen Thor in action, but that she knows our villain Dario Agger.  Malekith’s arrival makes things uncomfortable for everyone, Ulik The Troll shows up and I cheer, but Agger’s treachery causes her to be separated from her hammer as we fade to black.  If she has the usual “transformed into Thor” limitations, we likely have a minute or so until we find out who the new Thor is next ish, right before she gets squished into a fine red mist…

ELVES AND FROST GIANTS UNITED

The menace this issue is pretty terrible, and the appearance of the Mighty Avengers frozen into hero-cicles is a pretty shocking moment, but overall this issue moves quickly and entertains.  Though many on the internet are certain that the know who the new Thor is (a majority claiming Freyja, but her thoughts this issue belie that theory), I’m happy to say that I have no idea who she is.  Still, I like her in action, and I enjoy what Aaron is doing on this issue with the uber-evil Agger and the dull-witted evil of the Frost Giants.  There’s no follow-up on what happened to Thor Odinson who was dismembered last time, nor is there a lot of heavy exposition to be had, as the issue is mostly action sequence and character work.  Still, I’m fine with that, as the script is well-written enough to entertain even as not much actually happens in the issue, and the art is pretty gorgeous throughout.  Thor herself has an amazing design, and the combat sequences are dynamic and fun, and the final page reveal of Thor face-to-face with Malekith and his army of big blue jerks is quite terrifying…

THE BOTTOM LINE: YES, IT IS A MYSTERY

In short, the identity of the new Thor is still up in the air, the reasons behind Thor’s unworthiness are still up in the air, but the issue is a strong one nonetheless.  Sometimes, when one reads a comics, one gets all caught up in what one thinks it SHOULD be, rather than what it is, and this is a well-drawn, well-written issue regardless of what we might think of all the goings-on.  Thor #2 continues to intrigue and gives us a view into the head of this new Thor, earning a very impressive 4 out of 5 stars overall.  I have to say I like what Jason Aaron and the art team are doing with this book, and I’m sticking around to find out all the secrets…