Written by Roger Langridge
Illustrated by Chris SamneeGrab the book that ComicsBulletin.com says “just keeps getting better and better, and it started out great.” Our hot-headed Asgardian has battled his way through a sea of robots…but he never expected there to be a MAN inside one of them! It’s THOR and IRON MAN together, for the very first time!
The internet’s darling book is back for it’s final issue, and my first issue up against the review machine. However, I have not loved this comic as much as most (let alone as much as fellow writers. In fact, the main reason I went out and bought the first 7 issues was a fellow writer told me I had to! I couldn’t argue with that, but was my cold heart warmed by this tale of adventure, magic, and love?
Find out after the cut.
The cards were always stacked against Thor The Mighty Avenger. Even from the beginning, the book was released around the same time as a myriad of Thor related titles that eventually led to the book’s cancellation due to low sales despite critical acclaim – which is entirely unfortunate, because as we got to the final issue of this first major story arc, the book is clearly left with a lot of room to grow.
As the story comes to a close, Thor fights his way out of the clutches of a mysterious evil villain due to (somewhat) the help of Iron Man. As the two accidentally come into clash against one another, the book finds it’s way into a heartwarming end that you won’t see in any other Thor related title perhaps for the next five years. See, Thor focused on the one thing that most Thor books have not been doing, and that’s his direct relationship to humanity via his relationship with Jane Foster. Every other Thor title I know of focuses on his Godly aspects and the relationship between him and Asgard, as well as the Asgardian relationship to the Earth. JMS attempted to inject more humanity into the title, but Gillen and Fraction went for a much more mythic vibe, and more power to them because that’s who Thor is. Even with minis like Astonishing Thor, Thor: For Asgard, and Thor: First Lightning, the stories are mostly focusing on the mythic relationship between Thor and humanity as opposed to the human one, and this is what Langridge was doing with this title. This title “retold” Thor’s origin for a new audience and attempted to make Thor more human, and that’s ultimately what it did.
The book excels in it’s interpersonal relationships. On one level, you can look at the general title with each story focusing on Thor’s relationships with different characters per issues, with this story featuring his introduction to Tony Stark. The two have had a very rocky relationship in the past five years, but one forgets that Stark and Thor used to be rather good friends. Langridge has a style to his writing that definitively puts the innocence back into Thor. You can tell that Langridge had a great care for this different type of myth he was spinning, and while it took the “epic” out of the story, it replaced that with something that ultimately feels much more homey. The title hits a very specific target with it’s intentions, and while we can still just as easily go and enjoy the modern adventures of Thor under Fraction’s pen, this book definitely allows a much different level of fun and enjoyment.
Chris Samnee mirrors Langridge’s writing perfectly as well. The book is, at it’s absolute core, about the innocence of the character. Thor is almost a child in this story, despite his obviously epic age. The human mentality him is that of a minor though, and Samnee infuses every page with a childlike wonder, especially as the story relates to some of the earliest days of Marvel when Iron Man was Tony Stark’s “bodyguard.” Samnee has wonderful takes on the characters, especially with his Kirby tribute in this issue, and the facial expressions of Thor are of particular note throughout the entire issue. Thor’s faces make for some of the best moments due to the timing Samnee puts into the book, with the “Run!” sequence being one of the best. While the comics remain motionless, it almost seems like Samnee’s art actually manages to come alive and run about the page at times, offering additional entertainment throughout the whole story.
Continued belowThe one thing that I suppose is ultimately disappointing about the title is that, due to it being cancelled prematurely, the story doesn’t end “properly.” While this is a mild spoiler, it’s revealed in the issue that Thor wasn’t banished from Asgard but rather tricked by the final villain, whose identity isn’t revealed. While I can guess this might have been at least somewhat part of the plan all along, it doesn’t generally fit in with the rest of the story. Previously, all of the Asgardian characters Thor interacted with alluded to Thor having done something, as was always the story of Thor. The reason Thor is on Earth (Midgard) with us humans is because he was arrogant and Odin wanted to teach him humanity. When it was assumed that this story was taking a similar pace, the injection of the human element into Thor as he fell in love with Jane felt all that more appropriate. This sort of … rushed/possibly rewritten e-mail somewhat cheapens that, and it would have made more sense to leave the entire story open ended. What did Thor “do”? Who knows. But what does it matter anyway?
Not to editorialize, but when I was first handed Thor The Mighty Avenger and told to read it instead of the main Thor book by Fraction, I basically rolled my eyes at the thought. It’s not that I wanted to pretend the book doesn’t matter, because different books mean different things to everyone, but I had a hard time believing I would enjoy it more. At the end of the day, I don’t – but the two books go well with one another. Marvel pushes along with decades of stories, and for fans of comics that’s part of the fun. However, when a writer can take a story and restore it to some of it’s classic roots in such an entertaining way, it reminds you (or, in this case, me) of the childlike wonder that went into reading comics. Thor The Mighty Avenger succeeds in that. Perhaps it always needed to be a mini instead of an ongoing, but at least with the 8 issues we were reminded of what Thor could be. This is what comics should be: not always game changing, not always universe shattering and character defining, but honestly just enjoyable, re-readable, and good fun.
Final Verdict: 8.7 – Buy
