Thors #1 Review

The hammer-wielders have been tasked with policing the various realms of the Battleworld, but how will they deal with a series of mysterious murders?  Remember: You can’t brain DNA evidence with Mjolnir.  Your Major Spoilers review of Thors #1 awaits!

THORS #1
Writer: Jason Aaron
Penciler: Chris Sprouse
Inker: Karl Story
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Thors: All universes have been destroyed, but small pieces of many of them have been assembled by Doctor Doom, who rules with an iron hand over all the realms of Battleworld.  Keeping the peace are the Thors, heroes from all across the times and spaces of the multiverse, each empowered with a mystical hammer that serves as their badge and service weapon.

There are eight million stories on the Battleworld: Here’s one of them.  *Cue Dragnet theme*

“THIS IS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A THOR…”

We open with a dead body, lying in the street, while a group of homicide cops secure the scene, led by golden boy Ultimate Thor (who is, as you would expect, the Thor of the Ultimate Universe) and Beta Ray Bill.  The sight of caped comic book Norse gods working like cops is a really ridiculous concept, but Jason Aaron plays the whole thing straight, even throwing in a rookie Thor for the worlds-weary primaries to work with.  Thors present at the scene include Groot (whose “I AM THOR!” made me chuckle), Storm (in her thunder goddess form from the 80s New Mutants annual), a course-talking Thor called Runey and a Destroyer in a cape (similar to the way Thor himself looked when his spirit inhabited the Destroyer after Hela cursed him during the Simonson run.)  We see the inside of Thor headquarters (where the Captain is King Thor and the forensic scientist is Thor-Frog) and discover the secret of the serial killer: All the women killed, including the one found at the beginning of this issue are alternate versions of the same woman.

And that woman is Jane Foster.

YOU HAD ME AT ‘THOR GROOT’

This issue is actually quite amazing, managing to play the police procedural straight, throwing in a ton of mythology gags (the regular continuity Thor, the one who was declared unworthy, is seen outside the bar where Thors gather, drunkenly yelling that they’re all slaves to their hammers) and giving us a gritty look at life in the streets.  We even get the requisite moment where a Thor checks in with his street contacts, leading to another, more shocking murder, that sets the whole story on its ear.  Chris Sprouse does really impressive work in this issue, balancing the idea of caped god-beings as police officers, making every page work as both gritty murder mystery and super-hero story, and the final pages of the book are some of the best Sprouse work I’ve seen (and this is a man who drew Tom Strong, a high-water point for comics in the past 20 years.)  The Secret Wars setting is a bit of a pitfall for the story, as the presence of multiple Thors is the kind of thing that can send new readers running for the hills, especially when I’m still not clear who “Runey” is, and only know a couple of these characters from my familiarity with Jason Aaron’s previous work on the regular Thor title.

THE BOTTOM LINE: AN ENJOYABLE SURPRISE

I picked up this issue not expecting much more than another big crossover schmageggi, but instead what I got was a skillful take on the tropes of another medium translated through the lens of a Thor comic, with a strong premise, and interesting mystery at its heart, and a clever use of the multiple reality versions of the main character.  Add in some excellent art, and Thors #1 is a most pleasant surprise, delivering a solid (if offbeat) story and even making me not hate Ultimate Thor, earning a very impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars overall.  If they rest of the investigation is this good, this series may be the sleeper standout of the entire Secret Wars event…