After putting down Aaron’s boring and mercilessly lengthy Thor: God of Thunder run, I decided to pick it up again. I love Thor, I find it hard not to read Thor books when I know they’re on the stands. I bought it, and at first, I was pleasantly surprised. Issue #9 was fast paced, the action was high and, more importantly, it seemed as though the battle of Gorr The God Butcher would finally end.
Wrong.
In typical Aaron fashion, just when you think there might be a close to a story that has dragged on for almost a year, Aaron pulls the rug right out from under you. I’m not sure what the logic is here. Issue #9 has all the ingredients to be the series savior. After eight issues of dealing with Gorr in their own timelines, the three Thors have finally united aboard a flying Viking ship. The younger Thor, the only one of the three to best Gorr, is riding a wave of ego. Unseasoned in war, the youngest thunder god wants only to attack their enemy head on.
The second Thor, the Thor we know from the Avengers, is a hard-forged warrior, a veteran of countless wars. He knows they need a plan, a way to take Gorr out besides just swinging hammers. Finally, the eldest Thor, the failed King Of Asgard, is overflowing with a sense of vengeance. He was the man who could not protect his kingdom, and he wants Gorr to pay. Meanwhile, Gorr is promising his wife that once the God Bomb destroys the remaining Gods, he will be at peace. You are left wondering why he didn’t create this God Bomb eons ago, and avoid a lifetime of battle, but you can let that go.
From there, a fierce battle erupts. A serpent made of black ooze, multiple warring creatures, and Gorr, who seems to stumble a bit when presented with the two hammers of present day and future Thor. Back and forth they fight, with Gorr slaying all remaining imprisoned gods to fuel him. It is epic, it is thunderous and, of course, it is not the end. The last page of Thor: God of Thunder #9 features Gorr, unharmed and lording over the bloody bodies of the Thors, smiling and saying “ready the bomb.” It, once again, grinds all momentum of the book to a complete halt. As If that wasn’t bad enough, apparently there are two more issues of this arc to go.
Jason Aaron is not new to this. He has always either blown the entire arc, or dragged them out, or both. In Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine, he did the former, in X-Men: Schism, the latter, in his Incredible Hulk and Wolverine runs he did both. Now, with Thor: God of Thunder, he’s done both again. The real tragedy here is how much promise the initial story showed. I was a huge fan of the first few issues of Aaron’s Thor, but now I’m rolling my eyes, bored with all the filler, and waiting patiently for a writer with kick to take this series over. Thor: God of Thunder #9 could have saved the series, but instead, it beats the same dead horse.
Esad Ribic, on the other hand, knocks the art out of the park. His style would probably not gel with all books, but for a Viking fantasy about god killers, the blend of soft pencils and strong textures is perfect. Everything here looks as though it’s been hand painted, partially because Ribic mixes painting with pencils, but also because of the color work from Ive Svorcina. The combination of what they do gives Thor: God of Thunder a fantasy quality that defines it. Ribic has also created a really scary villain. Gorr looks terrifying, as if he could be a real threat to the universe. That isn’t easy to do these days.
Thor: God of Thunder is beautiful to look at, but that isn’t enough to hide Jason Aaron’s consistent issues with storytelling.
(1 Story, 5 Art)
