Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Pasqual Ferry
Villains embarking on a colorful journey across the nine realms are soon approaching Asgard and Earth as Thor continues to deal with the losses of Siege.
The Story
Long after the Siege of Asgard is over, the Asgardians are still picking up the pieces, mending their wounds and reeling from their loses. Thor in particular mourns Loki, his evil brother who fell with a redeeming act to avenge his fallen homeland. Meanwhile, the World Eaters begin their invasion across the mythic nine worlds of Norse mythology.
This issue deals with two interesting points: Thor’s very human emotional state combined with his godly abilities, and the exploration of the nine worlds.
Thor is experiencing different emotional phases of loss after losing Loki. He’s easily irritable but also loses himself in thoughts and memories of his younger days with his brother (before Loki was almost entirely evil and a dick). However, when he turns to the denial phase and talks about resurrecting Loki, the scary and neat thing is you as the reader believe he can. Not because of comic book rules of death, but because Thor is an honest-to-goodness god. It’s an interesting take on power and emotion versus responsibility and morality that leaves the reader captivated to see what direction Thor goes.
Then the World Eaters come in, who in themselves are pretty flat and dull. Conquerors looking to escape their trappings and expand their ruthlessness. There’s not much there. What is intriguing is seeing more of the nine worlds in this mix of spacey sci-fi and fantasy. A cosmic threat jaunting around unknown worlds that aren’t the generic old-timey realms one would think of when imagining Norse mythology. Even if the bad guys turn out to be lame, hopefully Fraction will flesh out the next worlds to show their uniqueness and imagination.
However, the bad guys still aren’t much, and the one random human scientist who figures everything out still feels tacked on. And then there’s Heimdall, who sees the end of everything… again. Does Heimdall ever see anything else? Happy little bunnies, perhaps?
7.5/10
The Art
This is a nice looking book. The colors are bright and vivid, yet soft and textured to make them easy on the eyes. The detailed lining and superb facial expressions give grounded emotion to the fantasy feel of the book. This is especially true with Thor, whose expressions range from angry, annoyed, calm, melancholy and even youthful joy
Speaking of fantasy, the fantasy/sci-fi elements are neat and stylish, and a large part of that is thanks to the coloring. I really dig the colors, from the neon green and wavy depiction of the World Tree in the light blue space, to the variety of clothing from bright to toned-down on the Earth characters. The colorist Matthew Dale Hollingsworth does a great job going back and forth from outlandish to grounded within Pasqual Ferry’s pencils.
All together, jumping from Oklahoma to Asgard to space pirates is a fluid transition thanks to Ferry and Hollingsworth melding these settings together in unique yet matching designs.
9/10
Thor #616 is a cool-looking dimension-hopping adventure that also deals with issues with loss and power that give Thor a bit more depth. The villains aren’t exciting, but at least the journey is looking scenic.
Overall (Not an Average)8/10
The Review
Story /10
Art /10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10