Thor #2

By Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson, and VC’s Joe Sabino

Thor begins his new duties as the herald of Galactus in Thor #2 on a bumpy start. Thor must balance his morals and sense of honor along with keeping the power bestowed on him from the near-immortal Galactus by finding planets for him to devour. Thankfully, Thor is the kind of hero who would not subject entire worlds to their doom to satiate Galactus’ hunger and does his best to save the lives of the people from these devoured worlds. Thor soon learns that it is not so easy to have your cake and eat it.

Thor #2 starts off with a bang and has a none too subtle reference to a version of the DC universe being destroyed. The reference serves not only to give fans of both the Marvel and DC universe a good chuckle but to portray the gravity of the threat Thor and Galactus face. An unexpected aspect of this initial story arc presented by Donny Cates, is that this is as much Galactus’ story as it is Thor’s. The uneasy dynamic between Thor and Galactus is very interesting as they try to come to terms with how they are going to work together to stop the Black Winter. One big question readers will ask themselves is how long this team up will last? Thor still has to find four more planets for Galactus to feed on and it isn’t likely that Thor will just be able to keep transferring the refugees of the eaten worlds to Asgard. There will soon be a breaking point that will require Thor to come to terms with the duty of being Galactus’ herald.

The art in this issue is beautifully presented by Nic Klein and Matt Wilson. The art in this issue finds ways to make horrific, universe ending events appear beautiful. There are a sequence of pages that slowly show the end of one universe and ends with Thor looking over a world whose end he will cause. This issue is packed with great scenes of beauty along with a great fight scene between Thor and Galactus that shows the brutality that Thor is capable of. Color-wise, if there is anything that stands out in this issue, it is the energy effects from Thor. WIth Thor being the god of thunder, having the lightning from his hammer and attacks stand out so strikingly is very satisfying to see on the page. Galactus’ reddish energy works as a great contrast to Thor’s blue and hopefully it will become a recurring visual theme for the rest of this series. 

Thor #2 is a promising addition to the new series presented by Cates and this issue has an ending that will make long-term Thor fans very exciting. Fans who are not super familiar with Thor, or those who only know his movie counterpart, may not get the significance of the character arriving at the end of this issue but interesting things are surely to come in next month’s issue.