Thor: Rage of Thor #1

Uhhh whoops? I guess this came out three weeks ago? As a Peter Milligan fan, I'm contractually required to pick up any super-hero work he does. I'm glad I did once again.

This story goes over ground that is becoming familiar. Matt Fraction started telling these ancient Thor stories a couple years ago, but Milligan does a great job continuing that feeling in this one-shot. Thor is so mad at his fellow Asgardians that he has exiled himself to live among humans. He's actually happy living as Tor, with a good woman and adopted son. And he can scratch his warrior's itch by smashing raiders' heads when they are foolish enough to attack his adopted town. Of course, things have to go bad, and Balder seeks out Thor to get him to help Asgard take on Surtur one more time. Thor does his duty, but he's struck at how the gods are so stagnant, going through the motions of immortality, but doing the same things over and over.

I love how Milligan plays this idea up at the end of the comic; he states that this view of the gods is shared by any immortal who spends extended time with mortals. How neat is that? It's a glimpse into the personality of Thor, Herc, Venus, and many more "hero" gods in the Marvel Universe.

Everyone knows how it ends when gods mix with mortals, but this was well done.
I really enjoyed Michael Suayan's art. He has an almost Gene Ha-ish level of detail going on, and his alternate costumes for Thor looked awesome. Thor's cape has never looked so neat, either; there is a real weight to it, making it quite impressive.

Good