“Brothers” and world devourers clash, and things get ugly in Thor #3, written by Donny Cates, with art by Nic Klein, and colors by Matt Wilson. Previously, Galactus came crashing down into Asgard on death’s door. He told of a “star plague” that had killed his previous universe and was beginning to destroy the current one. The only way to save all of existence was for Galactus to consume five specific planets containing special energies that would make him powerful enough to stop the plague. Thor, restless and looking for purpose in his new position as king of Asgard, agreed to become the planet eater’s new herald, to ensure the safety of any life inhabiting the five planets he must consume. Imbued with immense cosmic power, in addition to his usual other-worldly strength, he took leave of his home to save the universe...and immediately came to blows with Galactus over saving lives. Complicating matters even further, Thor’s old friend Beta Ray Bill showed up looking to stop them. Now, two insanely powerful beings who have considered each other family in the past, each believing themselves righteous in their actions, fight it out for the fate of the universe.

It’s always a treat when Beta Ray Bill shows up in any book, so this issue earns automatic fun points just on premise alone. The rest of the book, though, degrades into a stupid fight that could have been avoided if either Thor or Bill had chosen to use their words. This is always the frustrating part about the hero vs. hero fights: a misunderstanding leads to punches, which normally leads to the heroes coming together against a common foe in the end. While this doesn’t go down that exact road, it’s familiar enough to make you wish either of the guys you want to root for had even the tiniest bit of common sense. Of course, Thor has always been a bit hot-headed, and likely to hammer first and ask questions later, so you can argue that it’s completely in-character for him. It’s all entertaining enough, but it feels like well-trodden territory, plot-wise.

As fun as it can be to see Thor and Beta Ray Bill clash for an entire issue, it also comes across a little bit of filler here. There is next to no forward momentum for the plot, and the actual battle only seems to be happening to serve the function of showing the readers just how much more powerful than normal Thor is with his cosmic enhancements. Even worse, the cliffhanger ending looks to just be setting up even more story stretching for the next issue. If this kind of pacing keeps up, it will soon become painfully obvious that Cates doesn’t really have that much story to tell, or is biding time to meet certain editorial mandates. Klein continues to deliver a fresh, new visual style to this era of Thor, making his mark with a unique take on the Thunder god. He blends old with new very well (even if that tiara is a bit ridiculous) and delivers in spades with the action scenes. Coupled with Wilson’s muted colors, this is an art team you won’t soon forget.

At the end of the day, this was a fun issue, but it slows the story down to a glacial pace. In three Chapters, Thor and Galactus have traveled to the first of five planets they need to find, and proceeded to fight over how they’re going to do the job, despite having discussed all of that before starting their journey. This pacing cannot keep up. The fun of this story should be in moving along to each planet, and encountering difficulties as they go, but not at the slow crawl of 3 issues a planet with little-to-no development. While the fisticuffs of this chapter were fun enough, and the outcome somewhat unexpected, story progression must come soon.

Grade: B