I am not a Thor fan.
Actually, I don't really like how mythology/gods are interspersed with Marvel characters. I suppose I can dig that they're "original" superheroes back in the day, but I still don't like it.
When I read Earth X, a Marvel Universe story that takes place in an alternate universe (which is similar to DC's Kingdom Come -- I even reviewed them in a related Extra! Extra!), it gave me an explanation to the Marvel gods that, while I don't believe is in any way, shape, or form canon, it did make me take another look, and I've lightened up a bit on my stance on Marvel's mythology. A bit.
So why the hell did I pick up Thor: God of Thunder up? Someone mentioned the series to me a little bit before release, explaining that it was a story that dealt with Thor in three different time periods: the past, present, and future.
That last bit immediately triggered my interest. I love stories set in the future of Marvel, mostly because they're so damn messed up.
Guess what? Marvel didn't disappoint.
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| The Thor Trinity |
The first arc (made up of issues #1-5) introduce us to young Thor back in the time of the Vikings, current Thor, card carrying Avenger, and future Thor... the last god. It also introduces Gorr, known as the God Butcher, who ties them all together.
Gorr is a creepy looking alien guy who reminds me of Dragonball Z's Majin Buu. His weapon is an ooze-like black matter that covers his body. It's not a symbiote (at least, certainly doesn't seem to be!), but is similar enough in that it can take pretty much whatever shape Gorr wants. Eventually, he even learns to create an army of ooze-dogs, which we see fighting Current and Future Thors.
What does a guy called the God Butcher do with his spare time? You guessed it: he kills gods. He's on a quest to kill every last god, and runs into Thor for the first time in the age of Vikings. Thor manages to get on Gorr's bad side when he hurts him and, towards the end of the issue, escapes his initial imprisonment without ever revealing the location of Asgard. Young Thor's story is interesting because we see a bit of what Marvel gods did back in the day, and we also see Thor at his most brash.
Current Thor's story has him encounter some of Gorr's handiwork on another planet, leading him to decree that the God Butcher must be stopped. We see the hangout of the universe's gods, Omnipotence City, which is interesting. He's looking for Chronux, which we find out is a planet of time gods, which Gorr uses to travel way, way back in time to kill and remove the heart of an ancient, infant god. Current Thor eventually catches up with him on Chronux and follows him through a portal... showing up Gorr-less... in future Asgard!
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| See! Kind of like Majin Buu, right? |
Future Thor, who looks a lot like Odin now that he's old and war-scarred, really doesn't do much but lament about being the last of the gods, seeing everyone else die, and yet not being allowed to die himself. When Current Thor shows up, he finds Asgard and his older self in a bad way and is told that he missed Gorr by 900 years. Gorr is busy plotting on another planet, and that's where we leave the first arc.
Issue six is devoted to Gorr's back story and it's basically just a sob-fest on a world forsaken by the gods, until a grief stricken and outcast Gorr stumbles upon a pair of gods locked in their death blows. He gets his black-ooze weapon from them and begins his quest to kill all the gods.
All the issues are extremely well written and the art is fantastic. I give the first arc a 10/10 and Gorr's origin a 9/10. This is the first Thor series I've ever collected monthly (... or at all), and I plan on following it to the end, whenever that may be.
If you're looking for a new comic to try out, make this it! Out of all I'm reading right now, the series is one of my absolute favorites.
Ok, that's enough on Thor. Coming up soon, I'll be giving my full review of Bioshock Infinite, I'll touch on the Injustice: Gods Among Us Demo, and I've picked up the next round for the Pull List Review. Life is good.
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