Thor: God of Thunder #1

Title: Thor: God of Thunder #1
Date: January, 2013
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Jason Aaron
Penciler: Esad Ribis
Colorist: Dean White
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino
Cover: Esad Ribis
Editor: Lauren Sankovitch, Jake Thomas, Axel Alonso

Thor is often at his best when he's interacting with the characters of Norse mythology, rather than the modern mythology of the Marvel Universe. This story proves to be a fine example of that, as Thor is kept firmly in his own continuity for the duration.

The story is really three stories, taking place in the past, the present, and in the (possible) future. The villain is Gorr the God Butcher, a murderer of gods and entire pantheons.

The opening story, set in medieval Iceland, has Thor encountering some of Gorr's handywork while visiting a Norse village. Thor has defeated the frost giants that were menacing the region, and he's getting the rock star treatment from the locals. Thor is presented here as a brash young adventurers, and when he finds the remains of a slain Native American god, his young confidence is shaken for perhaps the first time.

The second segment, set in the present, but on a distant planet is the best part of the book. One of the things we seldom get to see with Marvel's gods is them actually functioning as gods. In this segment, we get to see Thor actually answering someone's prayer. It's a really interesting scene, and it leads to Thor's second crossing of paths with Gorr.

Now, Gorr himself never appears in this issue, but that is part of what makes the storytelling effective here. The villain is given sufficient time to be built up as a very serious threat, which is necessary to make the final segment, which takes place in a possible future, credible.

That ending segment is a bit Elseworlds-ish (or at least reminiscent of a What If? story), but it was effective on the strength of the first two segments.

Good start to this new series.

Rating: 8/10