Book of Doom: Thor #2

Earlier this week I remembered this idea for a new Thor series Marvel had right around the time House of M was going on. I’m almost certain it was Mark Millar’s idea, possibly with help by current writer J. Michael Stracynski and some other member of the Illuminati. It involved a group of teenagers being given the powers of the Norse pantheon, operating out of some sort of research complex called “Asgard” in Oklahoma, built around Mjolnir after it fell to Earth. At the time, Marvel was making a habit of using old character names for new teenage superheroes, and the result was almost always bad (anybody read Amazing Fantasy? didn’t think so). Thankfully that idea never got off the ground.

However, it looks like JMS is going with a version of that story for his new series. Most of Thor #2 centers on Thor rebuilding Asgard in the middle of Oklahoma, where Mjolnir fell to Earth way back before all that Civil War nonsense. And at the end of the issue, it looks like the God of Thunder is off to find a bunch of normal folks who have the powers of the Norse gods. So in this version, it’s not teenagers who have the powers, it’s probably the actual Norse gods anyway , and it’s actually Asgard instead of a science complex. They’re somewhat minor changes, but they seem to add up to a much better idea.

Unfortunately, this issue didn’t feature a big fight like I was hoping for on Wednesday when I posted the preview. It did seem like quite an improvement over the previous issue, because stuff actually happened. There were some pretty cool interactions with some of the local yokels, and Olivier Copel got to draw Thor in and around Asgard this time instead of inside a black void. The series seems to be ramping up a little speed already. And the “Next Issue” page has me pretty excited to see what happens in #3. Something tells me Thor’s not going to be very happy with a man that cloned him, made that clone a murderer, and got Captain America killed.

Let’s see what out guest reviewer, CalvinPitt of Reporting on Marvels and Legends, had to say about the issue:

“Thor #2 is pretty, but not nearly enough happens. Thor creates Asgard, Thor deals with locals uncertain about Thor just up and creating Asagrd, Thor resolves to go look for other gods. That’s it. Not exactly hitting the ground running. With that in mind, let’s try and focus on the positives. We get a one panel summation of the town Dr. Blake has moved to, rather than wasting pages on Blake wandering down the streets getting acclimated to his new home (though maybe that happened last issue). Additionally, I enjoyed Thor’s interactions with the locals. Thor has, in the past, been pretty friendly with random mortals he’d meet, but he’s still a god, and a royal god at that, so it’s not out of line for him to be a little aloof and short with them. He hasn’t interacted with mortals for awhile, and besides, he’s got more important things on his mind, and he can’t be standing here dithering with them about building permits.

The biggest plus of the book is Olivier Copiel’s art. He does an excellent job of conveying the vast open space that’s been selected as the new site of Asgard, and his Asgard looks appropriately huge, given it needs to accommodate all the gods he’s planning to find. It doesn’t look very Norse though; I think Copiel used the German castle of Neuschwanstein as a sort of template. At least, that’s what it reminds me of. At any rate, Copiel beautifully depicts how huge and empty this spiffy new home Thor created is, which by itself tells me how lonely he must be. Which is why I got a little annoyed when the old lady at the end says that it must be hard to be alone like Thor is, that it’s ‘the hardest thing in the whole world’. It felt like JMS decided he needed to remind us that Thor is lonely, when the most of the issue prior to this has already been telling us that. JMS, just trust your artist, he’s got it covered.

So Thor #2: well-drawn, some decent enough writing, one scene I found funny (the two panels of the landowner scrambling into Thor’s treasury, then back out with an armful of gold. Something comical about it), but on the whole, not enough forward momentum. Maybe I’ll check back at #6, when the first arc should be wrapping up?”

Now on to Jim Doom:

“At first I decided to take the week off from the Book of Doom, since I didn’t read Thor #1. But then I recalled that many reviews of Thor #1 said that the issue was all set-up, so I thought ‘Well maybe I’ll be okay starting at #2!’ So I did!

Except #2 appeared to be all set-up too! I can’t even imagine how boring #1 must have seemed! The situation was kind of cute – the simple rural folk, being so dad-gummed simple that they can’t help but think of this Norse god in terms of land ownership and welcoming the stranger – but so pointless.

I mean, Thor sets out to find the perfect spot of land to rebuild Asgard…except then we find out through that cute little exchange with The Law that he’s squattin’ on somebody’s pasture! So finding the perfect spot to rebuild Asgard was COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT since Thor can just make it float in the air! And wasn’t that probably the point all along, since purchasing the land from Farmer Dopey didn’t make him re-plant his castle?

Oliver Coipel’s art is great. There’s a beautiful wide-screen feel to this series, like you’re watching a well-shot movie. But like many movies, this can’t seem to decide whether it’s going to be a shallow summer blockbuster or a melodramatic Oscar-pandering attempt at poignancy.

So far, it excels at neither! Add JMS to the Jeph Loeb and Paul Dini list of Writers Who Used To Crap Brilliance But Now Just Crap.”

That’s it for this week!