The jman Sayeth…: Discussion of Thor: God of Thunder

Thor.

For real?!?!  Thor?  In the not too far off past, when someone would say “Thor” to me, two words would come to mind:  Bor-ring.  I mean, for real!  What was so great about Thor?  Besides that stupid hammer that you couldn’t even pronounce the name of.  And then there was the time that camel looking guy took over as Thor!?!?  Yea.  Uhhhh…I’ll pass.  I can honestly say that I never picked up a Thor comic.

I mean…ever (I think, I’m not sure, but I think I just quoted a Taylor Swift song.  I may need to be subjected to some sort of electro-therapy)!

Truth is truth, though.  That is, until recently.  Now, all the sudden?!?!  I see Thor for what he is…pretty badass.  When did his status upgrade?  Good question.  I guess you could say it started with the movie, Thor.  But, really?  It was cemented in the Avengers.  His interaction with the Avengers? Priceless!  Thor is so cool now, I keep scouring Ancestry.com for any sign of Nordic heritage in my family (there isn’t).

Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to the book Thor:  God of Thunder.

When the whole “Marvel Now!” thing started, I hadn’t picked up this book.  I mean, at the time, I was only realizing how cool Thor was and all.  It wasn’t like I was that interested. What can I tell you?  I think it was the cover art that threw me off, mostly.  I don’t know.  It looked just a bit too “Frank Frazetta” for my liking.  I’m just not all into that fantasy/Conan/middle earth thing.  But, that’s a tale for another day.

At the repeated urging of the owner of my LCS (who’s dead on about comics), I decided to check the title out.

I wasn’t disappointed.

Now, I’m only going to cover the first 5 issues here (“A world without gods”). The story continues in the new arc, “Godbomb”, starting in issue 6 and goes through issue 10 (I believe).  Issue 8 is the most recent book to be published, so, since we’re mid story arc, I’ll leave the “Godbomb” arc alone.  Got all that?

The story, written by Jason Aaron, runs concurrently through three different time periods.  Which, at first glance, may make you think twice about reading the book, but there isn’t ever a “time” when you don’t know what time period you’re in.  As is the case with Grant Morrison’s run in Action comics.  Talk about confusing!

In any case, God of Thunder opens up in the deep past with a young Thor fighting amongst the Nordic tribes.  It switches to “present” day where Thor stumbles across an alien race on a barren planet with no gods.  And the third time period?  Yup.  You guessed it.  It’s in the far, far future.  Where Thor is King of Asgard, which he’s defending it against enemy invaders.  By himself.

God!  I love time traveling!

Without giving too much away:  Someone, or something, is killing gods. And the Thor(s), across the millennia, are dealing with the “butterfly effects”. It’s storytelling done well, with a nice dash of humor sprinkled in.  Which, mostly comes from King Thor in the future.  The guy has so many classic quips he uses to chastise his younger self (Whoops!  Guess I gave some more of the story away there!  At least I didn’t give away how they meet up!).  Calling the younger Thor a “beardless whelp” or saying he’s “even dumber than I remember.”

I know I said I was only going to cover the first 5 issues of the series, but this panel from issue 8 is classic:

Ok.  Let’s deal with the art.  Esad Ribic is the artist on the book.  Now, I know I already admitted to not being a fan of fantasy art.  And, although the art in this book is more than a nod to the fantasy genre, the art in this book is excellent.  I’m not sure how to describe it other than it’s a more stylized, updated Frank Frazetta look.

Whatever you want to call it, it’s all good stuff!  I’m looking forward to seeing where the story ends up.

Images courtesy of:

Beta Billy Ray:  www.marveldirectory.com

Frank Frazetta:  frankfrazetta.org