Broken Frontier

Thor and Donald have temporarily split. They have lots of abandonment issues that need resolving. Thor is still locked in the casket at Asgard meditating with his father. Meanwhile, Donald goes to visit an old flame, but he has an ulterior motive: Find Sif. Is she right underneath his nose?

I’ll be honest. Even though I read a ton of comics and write somewhat professional reviews, sometimes I let my fanboyism get the best of me. Thor took a long time to grow on me. Heck, I can’t even get through Douglas Adams’ Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, because I snicker every time the Norse god shows up. Beyond that, I am not a fan of JMS. He has intrigued me with a few premises, but I usually find in his execution, much like Michael Crichton, he needs to learn how to end a story.

It surprised me more than anyone when I began to enjoy this volume of Thor, especially given my unfamiliarity with the character which led to me not enjoying issue number one by any stretch of the imagination. About the time there was gold being thrown onto a truck from the gates of Asgard, I fell in love with the story, despite my misgivings for the character and the writer.

JMS has given us a fun and sometimes thought provoking run. He has studied the idea of a god in a world full of meta-powered beings and also given us a sense of the absurdity of a god in the Midwest. We have gotten smack downs, comedic gold and an epic quest.

Story wise, much of this issue brings me back to the first issue. I am unsure of what is going on in the scenes with Thor and his dad & know so little about Blake’s past that there was a large learning curve in his part of the story. JMS does a wonderful job of filling me in during Blake’s visit to Jane and by the end I have a grasp on what is going on.

The Asgard scenes are truly lost on me. I have no idea who anyone is or what the action all means. I get that there is a narrative exploration on fatherhood and legacy. The scenes feel very emotional and poignant, but the big red guy… yeah I know not who he is or why he is a problem.

On art is Djurdevic, to my knowledge these are his first full issue interiors for Marvel. His painted style has graced many a cover, most notably his long recent run on Daredevil . There is no doubt that he is a capable and outstanding talent. However, much of his scenes with Blake come off as static. There is no emotion, even though the anatomy is perfect.

In the Asgard scenes, he shines. There is a little coldness on the first two pages, but after that there is an intensity to not only the action sequences, but also in the face of Thor, Odin and whoever else the rest of the people are.

The art is a little of a mixed bag for me, just a little disappointing given what we have seen for his cover work. What is more surprising to me is that JMS has made me love a character I readily despise and given me a compelling enough story to read even when I am a little lost. Fortunately, this is the last of a two part story; so hopefully, there will be a return to the action comedy I have grown to love.