Broken Frontier

Thor continues to pleasantly surprise me each month.  It is, as far as I know, the only Marvel book that hasn’t really been affected by the fact that there’s a movie being made about the main character.  When Spider-Man 3 came out, Peter went back to wearing the black costume.  After the Iron Man movies, Tony Stark lost the first Extremis and went back to being powered via chest reactor.

With news and pictures from the new Thor movie, one would expect to see Jane Foster or Odin storylines, or maybe even a Mjolnir origin story, but instead, writer Kieron Gillen has moved further into the realm of mythology.  He creates deeper and more obscure storylines, which is a bold and risky choice.  Gillen runs the risk of alienating new readers that are just now picking up the book because of the movie, by plopping the characters into the middle of a story where demons and magic are rarely explained and treated as a matter of fact.  It’s neck-deep in pseudo-Norse mythology, which is a major departure from the super-heroics that people usually associate comics with.

Doug Braithwaite’s pencils are incredible.  The way he draws subtle expressions of worry into the Asgardians’ brows really captures the tension in each scene.  The reader can feel the sorrow and the worry that the characters themselves are feeling.  I especially applaud the decision to shy away from inks, as the rougher figures give the whole book an eerie and supernatural feel to it.  Braithwaite’s characters, although impossible, very much resemble how one would expect supernatural creatures like that to look.  Even though no one has ever encountered things like that before, the body language and posturing are all amazingly accurate, and do a great job in conveying the attitudes of the characters.

Thor #612 is a very rewarding read for fans.  It involves some of the best elements of fantasy and mythology, including evil long-forgotten villains and powerful weapons, but it also incorporates characters that have been present in the Marvel Universe for a long time, namely Tyr and Mephisto.  It was interesting that Gillen went with Tyr instead of any of the Warriors Three or Heimdall, as all four are reported to be in the movie.  The most surprising decision was to keep Loki dead.  He plays such an integral part in the movie, and is barely touched upon here.  I think fans can agree that this shows a subtle respect for the existing story and the integrity of the character.

The one thing that felt a little off was the treatment of Mephisto’s character.  Not too long ago, Mephisto attacked Peter Parker’s marriage, and changed the character’s whole history.  Now, he’s taking passive aggressive jabs at the Asgardians by bothering Thor with demons?  For such a powerful demon, he seems to have very low ambitions.  Hopefully, this is all leading up to something bigger.

All in all though, very worthwhile read, but not the most ideal time to jump on if you’re a new reader.