Thor #3

By Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman and Matt Wilson

Being such a fan of Thor and all things Norse mythology—duh, have you seen the site?—the sudden change from Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder, which was a brilliant take on Thor those first two arcs might just go down in history as two of the best Thor-centric arcs in his long history, to this new Thor was a bit of a shock. Not because she was female, but simply because Odinson was losing the hammer, and an appendage, and everything was changing. Comic fans don’t like change, as a general rule. But, in Jason Aaron we trust and, come on, the art on this book is just beautiful.

Jason Aaron has something special, again, in the form of a comic about a hammer-wielding badass out to save earth and maybe smash a few heads in the process. What’s so great about Aaron’s new Thor is that, really, we don’t know who it is yet, and the thought bubbles of this person, whomever she is, doubting herself or admitting she’s in over her head then turning around and saying something about how Frost Giants won’t be enough to stop her, right in Maleketh’s face. Like part of who Thor is/was is imprinted on the hammer and when she was deemed worthy, she not only got a sweet new outfit, but a badass attitude as well. Some really great juxtaposition between the two schools of thought and it’s all been executed brilliantly by Aaron.

Now to that beautiful art which, frankly, might be one of the reasons you pick up this comic in the first place. Come for the art, stay for the art and characters—that kind of thing. Russell Dauterman (Cyclops, Nightwing, Superbia) is quite frankly pumping out his best work to date. Everything is so cleverly designed and so expertly drawn on the page you’ll end up spending more time looking at the art than actually reading the book itself. His Frost Giants are fantastically detailed and every one appears to have their own look and feel to it. There’s not a copy and paste look for them, every character has a name and an identity and probably a little bit of a backstory. It’s just brilliant. Take all that fantastic line, design and ink work and layer on top of that the amazingly vibrant colors from Matt Wilson and, darn, this is a book that’ll make all the other books sitting next to it on the shelf jealous. Wilson does some great work, just check out some of his work on Daredevil, but as with Dauterman this might be his best yet. These two just mesh together so perfectly it’s reminiscent of the Capullo/FCO relationship over at that other company.

The art will draw you into the book, like a magnet you can’t escape, and Jason Aaron’s story will keep you there. It’s something that’s just too brilliant to pass up. Forget all that ‘but it’s a girl Thor!’ bullshit that you’ve heard. This is THOR doing what THOR does best: smash faces with a hammer, talk some big talk and be an all around badass. It’s going to be interesting to finally find out who is now worthy of Mjölnir, but until then just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is Thor comics at its finest; don’t let any misconceptions hold you back from picking this up.