King Thor #1 // Review
It's the beginning of the end for Jason Aaron's run on Thor, with King Thor #1, written by Aaron (of course), with art by Esad Ribic, and colors by Ive Svorcina. Previously, in Aaron's epic tale of the God of Thunder, King Thor, and his granddaughters outlived all other Gods to witness the destruction of Earth. Now that they've managed to revive the planet, along with a new, fledgling human race, the universe around it seems to be dying. To make matters worse, Loki has returned from imprisonment by Thor. Now wielding the All-Black, a powerful weapon created by the God Knull, and later wielded by Gorr the God Butcher. His goal? End the universe, snuffing out the last bits of everything his brother cares about. Now, the two fight their final battle. While Thor's granddaughters search Omnipotence City (the library of the Gods) for any knowledge that could possibly help them save the universe.
Saying that Aaron's run on Thor has been "epic" is, in fact, an understatement. So it only makes sense that his tenure with the character ends with the entire universe in jeopardy...but it somehow still lacks the emotional weight it should have. Yes, the fight between Odinson and Loki is insanely big, and there is plenty of excitement to be had with Thor's granddaughters in Omnipotence City. But the emotional beats are few and far between. In fact, the reader is just thrown into the story with little buildup or backstory. Almost immediately, the fight between ancient brothers begins. Yet as entertaining as that is, there's just nothing else there to ground the story. Minus a few scenes in the latter half of the issue where Thor and Loki use the death of their parents in an attempt to wound each other.
Emotional heft aside, this issue revolves around the most epic fight you will ever witness between Thor and Loki, both more potent than they've ever been before. To add to the threat Odinson faces, Loki seems more evil than ever. Which, is a tough read if you're at all invested in the current iteration of the character, who is chaotic neutral, at worst. What happened between the two brothers, or what Loki did to deserve his imprisonment. Hopefully it'll be addressed at some point, but for now, the readers of this miniseries are forced to accept his turn back to evil at face value.
Ribic makes his triumphant return this issue after first working with Aaron on the Thor: God of Thunder series. The two made a name for themselves as one of the best creative teams the character had seen in decades, and this issue proves that they haven't missed a beat. Ribic's unique art style is perfectly suited for the thunder god. So it's only proper that he return to help Aaron end what they started together. Lending his perfectly dark palette to the story, colorist Svorcina adds to the intentionally sinister tone of the book, making his contribution invaluable.
Overall, while this was a fun read, it could be a bit confusing to anyone who hasn't been following the long run of Jason Aaron's Thor. Aaron is barrelling towards his conclusion, and if you're not already on board, he's not going to bother to slow down. Combine this with the lack of emotion much needed to ground this ridiculously epic story, and there's something not quite satisfying about the opening chapter of Aaron's finale. That being said, it's only the first issue, and there will surely be more sentiment to come between Thor, Loki, and their remaining family. One thing is for sure, though: Aaron has earned the readers' patience, so it will definitely be worth sticking around to see where his final story goes.
