This review contains spoilers, so if you are planning on reading the book please be mindful of that. On that note, I highly recommending reading it and circling back to the review. It’s a beautifully written and drawn book, and well worth adding to anyone’s collection.
Jason Aaron noted in the letters column of one of the individual books that he doesn’t rely heavily on metaphor in his story telling and that the reader should take from it what they will. Therefore, my interpretation of the story is my own and may differ from yours or what has been published on sites like IGN, etc., in reviewing the book.
Ultimately, I think Jason is world building and defining what it means to be a God within the context of Thor’s universe and by extension the Marvel Universe. These Pantheons of Gods are essentially higher beings, Immortal races, who are fallible and arrogant and seek homage from the lesser races in order to feed their inflated ego about their importance to the universe. They’re space aliens, essentially. The comic leans more towards the God worshipping aspect of Thor’s universe while the MCU leans more towards the space aliens aspect, and rightfully so. I think it would have been a tough task to present the former to a viewing audience in a digestible format and make it entertaining.
Gorr exists solely to inform the reader of the darker side to these Immortal races and define what it means to be a God in this series run. His story is a very straightforward revenge story – he relied on them to help when needed, they didn’t, he lost something as a result and now he’s making them pay. He’s throwing off the shackles of these false Lords who have no interest other than their own vacuous pursuits.
I really liked the non-linear story telling style which showed the different ages of Thor throughout the length of the story. It was an ingenious way of showing the character’s journey from this young, vacuous Thor to the more seasoned, mature version. Jason has done a really good job of pacing out the exposition and revealing Thor’s journey and maturation to the reader without giving away too much of the story too soon. This a veteran move.
The art by Esad Ribic is brilliant and tonally fits well with the story telling style and subject matter. I personally think that Esad is one of the most talented comic book artists working today, and I happily collect anything he’s working on. Appreciating that drawing comic books is a bit of a grind, it’s understandable when artists cut corners, however I can’t see that Esad actually does this. The detail in his work is outstanding and I found myself spending a lot of time on the panels and pages soaking in all of the artwork. As a comic book fan, I live for comics like this.
If you are a fan of Thor or you’re new and would like an introduction to him and his universe, this is an excellent story and jumping on point for new and old fans alike.
5 stars out of 5.
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