Review: Thors

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline follows a compelling mystery with plenty of suspense to go alongside it. This storyline is wonderfully unique and uses Thor’s history to make it even more unique. The connections to the main event work well. The artwork looks nice and helps the story.

Cons: The conclusion to the main storyline is a bit rushed.

Overall: This volume has a ton of positives packed into a relatively short book. The main storyline dives into an intriguing mystery, explores a unique world, and builds a great sense of suspense along the way. It is a book where the creativity of the storytelling is matched by its quality, which simply makes for a great reading experience. Fans looking for good Secret Wars tie-ins or those looking for a strange but appealing addition to Thor’s legacy should look no further than this volume.

Story

Thors, by Jason Aaron, is an incredible Secret Wars (Review) tie-in and a valuable addition to the overall Thor mythos. The main storyline is a compelling detective drama, where mysteries and suspense keep the reader hooked throughout the read. This concept is made even more interesting by the unique nature of the story and the worthwhile connections it forges with the main Secret Wars event. Though the narrative stumbles a bit as it reaches its conclusion, the majority of this collection is great and is well worth the read.

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Thors centers around Battleworld’s police department, comprised entirely of different versions of Thor, as it attempts to solve a string of murders. This starts out as a buddy cop story but slowly evolves into the uncovering of a more elaborate conspiracy as the comic progresses. The entire journey is gripping, as the mystery hangs over Ultimate Thor and the reader’s heads, and full of suspense, as the villain murders Ultimate Thor’s partner and appears to be on the verge of victory.

This main storyline is also incredibly unique. The concept of the “Thors” police department is great on its own but gets even better when readers see a vagrant Loki and the “unworthy” Thor and learn that the victims are all versions of Jane Foster and Don Blake. Plus, the rest of the Thors are all based on other characters from the mainstream Thor’s past. The entire storyline leverages Thor’s history to tell a more unique story.

The only downside to the narrative in Thors is its conclusion. The Thors’ decision to turn against Doom feels like it happens a bit too quickly and, thus, does not feel earned. I enjoyed seeing how the end of this volume led into the main Secret Wars event but felt like it could have used an extra chapter in order to explain this change within the organization.

Thors also collects two issues of the original Thor series, which center around a Frog-Thor story. Though these issues are wonderful and form part of Walt Simonson’s fantastic run on Thor, they don’t really fit well in this volume. They feel like they were simply tacked on to the end in order to make this collection a bit bigger.

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Art

The artwork in Thors is mostly positive all the way through. Chris Sprouse provides some great-looking work on the first two issues and gets the collection off on the right track. These chapters set the tone of this comic by providing the visual basis for its array of unique characters, with the design behind Loki looking particularly noteworthy. In addition, the layouts look nice and, on a few pages, are oriented in a way that helps properly convey the impact of a scene. Later on, Goran Sudzuka is able to capture this same aesthetic. However, there are places in these later chapters where characters could be positioned a bit better. Overall though, this comic’s visual positives easily outweigh its negatives. 

Continuity

Thors is a tie-in to the Secret Wars (Review) event. The story here takes place entirely within the Battleworld reality and directly leads into the final issue of Secret Wars.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Thor #364 continues the story from Thor #363, collected in Thor by Walt Simonson Vol. 3. 
• Thor #364 references Odin’s battle from Thor #353, collected in Thor by Walt Simonson Vol. 3.  
• Thor #364 references Balder’s actions in Balder the Brave, collected in Thor by Walt Simonson Vol. 3.  
• Thor #365 references Thor’s fight with Hela from Thor #360-362, collected in Thor by Walt Simonson Vol. 3.