Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Doug Braithwaite
The Siege is over, and it’s time for Thor and friends to assess the damage, clean up the ruins and take out the trash.
The Story
The war is over. The bad guys are gone, but Asgard lies in ruins. After a two-page recap of Siege #4, we find the Asgardians sorting through the rubble of their former home.
This issue wraps up more than simply an event tie-in arc. Thor’s exile from Asgard, Kendra dealing with loss and retaliation and the resolution of the Thor clone Ragnarok, it all come to a head in this issue. I’m happy to say those points are all well resolved
I enjoyed this issue thoroughly. This run on Thor, ever since J. Michael Straczynski revived the character, has excelled at focusing and humanizing these characters often portrayed as generic gods of myth. Writer Kieron Gillen does a great job showing the solemn sorrow these characters have for the loss of their home and then transitioning that to the desire to rebuild and make what was great once great again (insert “We are Nashville” reference here).
And simply for overdue pleasure, the Thor/Ragnarok fight is especially satisfying. Ever since the clone (also known as “Clor”) hit the scenes in Civil War back in 2006, we readers just waited and waited for this fight to happen. Now it does, and it’s as fulfilling as one would hope. Thor finally confronts Ragnarok and brings down the hammer (ba-dum-bum) just as the imposter deserves. It’s just the kind of satisfaction I wanted out of the Thor/Sentry fight in Siege #4, which itself was actually anticlimactic.
It’s not perfect though. There is some awkwardly worded dialog. Finding the right voice for these characters can be hard, but it doesn’t seem Gillen is quite there yet. At least there aren’t any “thees” and “thous.” Still, that’s minor and doesn’t really hamper how enjoyable this issue is.
9/10
The Art
This very detailed and drawn look appropriately fits these mythic characters and settings. Unlike a traditional super hero comic with bright and vibrant colors and more simplified character designs, artist Doug Braithwaite and co-colorists Andy Troy and Paul Mounts bring an attention to detail and more pastel and earthy coloring to give this book’s look a more epic feel.
The characters themselves are shown to emote really well, thanks to the attention to their facial movements and eyes in particular. Balder’s sorrowful expression in the beginning of the book alone conveys the loss of the Asgardians’ home.
Speaking of which, Asgard is truly in ruins, as it shows in the nicely drawn out rubble and broken buildings, although still partially hidden by a bit too many dust clouds.
The highlight though is of course the Thor/Ragnarok fight. The action is energetic and powerful, watching these god-level combatants go at it. Ragnarok continual battle damage reveals more and more a Terminator-esque interior, right down to the glowing red eye. Of course, Thor is no John Conner, and a god-modded Terminator
9.5/10
Thor #6 10 is a fun read, and anyone following our Asgardian heroes gets a satisfying closing of this latest chapter in their tale.
But did anyone else see a June 2008 ad for Skaar: Son of Hulk? Kind of dropping the ball by putting in a two-year-old ad, aren’t we Marvel advertising department?
9.5/10
The Review
Story 9/10
Art 9.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 9.5/10