After the epic “God Bomb Saga,” Jason Aaron brings Thor back to his home away from home for a holiday in Midgard.
“Have you ever danced with a god?” – Thor
For the past eleven issues Aaron and Ribic have been wowing us with an incredible comic that could be the definitive Thor story for this generation. Together they’ve turned Thor into one of the top three books to come out of the Marvel Now! relaunch (including Hawkeye and whatever your own favourite is). So how do you follow the greatest and most epic Thor story in recent memory? Well, if you’re Jason Aaron and Nic Klein, you give our hero some quiet downtime on Earth.
We follow Thor as he catches up with some old friends and meets a new one in the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. cadet Rosalind Solomon, on whom he lays down some particularly cheesy chat up lines. Aaron’s characterisation of Thor in these quiet moments is great and proves that he is not going to be a one-story-wonder. He’s in this for the long haul. The main focus of the story is on present day Thor but we are given nice little bookend epilogues for past and future Thor as well. They’ve been an excellent addition to the Marvel Universe and from what Aaron has been saying in interviews it looks like he isn’t entirely done with them yet. Which is great news for all of us who can’t get enough Aaron Thor.
No Esad Ribic on art duties this month, which is obviously a massive shame. There are few better artists than Ribic and as he’s apparently not around for the next arc either, one does start to worry that he may not be coming back at all. However Klein does a great job on this issue and his art style suits this more reflective of stories very well. Let’s hope Ron Garney can do an equally good job for the next story and that Aaron has more fantastic ideas up his sleeve. This comic keeps setting itself some high standards to live up to.
Jason Aaron (W), Nic Klein (A) • Marvel Comics, $3.99, August 28, 2013.
