Thor: God of Thunder #17

By Jason Aaron, Ron Garney and Emanuela Lupacchino, Ive Svorcina and Lee Loughridge

Fun, light-hearted fantasy stories are always a welcome read, especially if they feature the God of Thunder himself, Thor. Concluding the Accursed storyline, featuring the excellently malicious Malekith, Thor: God of Thunder number seventeen maintains an extremely amusing tone, with plenty of exciting action, and dynamic character moments.

As this is the final chapter of an epic Dark Elves storyline (just in time for Thor 2), the conflicts are all ending, the current dramatic tension coming to a close. What God of Thunder consistently does well is to create a continuous string of conflicts and dilemmas for Thor to tackle. The work of a God is never over, and it’s clear Jason Aaron has plans for extensive world building. The benefit of adding to the mythos with a character is rich as Thor, is the potential for a whole menagerie of colorful characters and personalities. And if you’ve been tuning into Accursed, there are plenty of unique and interesting personalities to be found.

One of the highlights Aaron’s characterizations is the fact that however minor a character may be, their presence on the page is profound enough to give the impression of being more than a side or background character. For instance, the dynamite and acid towing dwarf, only appears in a few panels of this issue, but his rambunctious, wild personality is big enough to grant his minor appearance significance.

Emanuela Lupacchino and Ron Garney’s artistic accompaniment similarly complements this issues larger than life cast. Their action captures the very cinematic nature of the action throughout the issue. Every action, or progression of actions feel as if they could be effortlessly transferred to the screen. Unfortunately, later in the issue, the line work goes from a very polished, refined look, to an unpolished, sketchy, storyboard-like style. This shift in artistic quality definitely impacts the overall feel of the comic, making the concluding segment feel less significant than the action driven portion.

Overall Thor God of Thunder seventeen is a solid fantasy read, keeping true to the new Marvel Studios approach towards the Asgardian God. Playing to the fundamentals of Thor, Aaron, Garney and Lupacchino create an entertaining, and fairly meaty read.