Friday, December 11, 2009

Thor #604

I was not expecting this at all. I've kept an eye on JMS' run on Thor, basically confirming that there was too much talking and not enough fighting. So when Kieron Gillen was announced to take over the title, I immediately added the thunder god back to my sublist. Now I find that this first issue from the new team picks up directly from an old story. This is not a jumping on point; this is the next chapter in JMS' story. The story reads just fine, but I'm glad I have a general knowledge of who Bill and Kelda are and what Doom has been up to. Gillen has a good voice down for the Asgardians, and I'm particularly glad to see the war god Tyr show up. Baldur's war party certainly seems to have the muscle to give Doom a run for his money. The conclusion was pretty great, Thor's entrance line was great and keeping Thor off-panel for the whole issue ensures the appropriate level of anticipation when he shows up. I do worry that Doom will do well against the Asgardians, throwing off my understanding of power levels in the Marvel U. but I trust Gillen to make it exciting.

Billy Tan's work is a revelation here. His Kelda looks radiant (due to both coloring and the pencils). The designs for Doom's Asgardian cyborgs is fun too, especially the little bat-winged boy. This is the best I've seen Tan's art look. As I said, I'm curious to see how the cyborgs hold up against the Asgardians.

Good

1 comment:

jbaker said...

With everything that's happened to Doom in the past few years, I would think the only thing seperating him from an Asgardian is his mortality although he's cheated death more than once. Am I the only one who's surprised at Doom's actions here? Him literally having blood on his hands and experimenting on his victims, he comes off as an Osborn or Jackyl, mad scientist rather than a malevolent monarch.