Thor #1

By Donny Cates, Matthew Wilson, Nic Klein, VC’s Joe Sabino, Olivier Coipel, and Laura Martin

Thor #1 is a great introduction to the classic Marvel character for those who are not super familiar with his status quo. Our story begins with the fabled Thor taking on the throne of Asgard and enacting his rule in his own unique way and trying to be a different ruler than his father. WIthout going into too much detail, Thor’s first speech to his people gets interrupted by a fearsome threat and Thor is now on a quest to stop a cosmic entity threatening the entire universe.

Hot off of the recent success of Venom, readers will be happy to see that Donny Cates is taking the reigns of Thor. A lot has happened with Thor in the past few years, especially with War of the Realms, and Cates does a great job of getting the reader up to speed on the basics of Thor’s life. Thor is the god-king of Asgard and the new All-Father, check, Asgard has been remade in Thor’s vision, check, Thor is retired from the avengers, check, and Loki is king of the frost giants, check. A lot of this may seem overwhelming but Cates explains the norm of Thor;s world well and without spending too much time on it while distracting from the story. Speaking of the story, it is hard to speak about it in too much detail without giving away spoilers but what can be said about it is that it feels as if a giant cosmic space epic is about to begin. Needless to say, it is a very interesting way to start the series and the stakes already feel high. The other great aspect of this issue is how Thor is written. We see a lot of the personality traits we associate with Thor as he boastful throws Mjolnir across the universe, arrogantly scolds Loki, and even having some nerves about giving his first speech as king.

This book really has a look of its own with an almost blue filter throughout the issue. Matthew Wilson and Nic Klein give the book its unique look and are successful at making Asgard look different than what we are used to. The aesthetic serves the dialogue as the narrator explains how Thor has remade Asgard in wood and stone as opposed to the lavish gold of the past. Something that really stands out in the art of the use of lightning and electrical effects. These effects are used effectively when showing off Thor’s power and stand out on the page whenever they are present. As mentioned above, it is hard to talk about a few of the highlights in the art without giving spoilers, but the scene depicted during Thor’s “speech” is very effective in depicting the destruction and chaos. 

Thor #1 is a great start to a series and if readers are looking for something a little different than the typical tights and colorful costumes of most superhero books, they should give Thor #1 a shot.