Thor: Ages of Thunder #1 Review

THOR: AGES OF THUNDER #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Patrick Zircher

Alright, this issue was a little different than I expected based on the solicit, but in a good way.

Basically, it's set a long time before Thor ever appeared in the Marvel Universe or Odin tried to humble him by forcing him to live with humanity. In fact, the Thor presented here is arrogant, cocky and far harsher than the Thor we've come to know.

Some examples of this are the ways in which he dispatches the Frost Giants, brutally murdering them with precision hammer strikes and decapitations or is refusal to share his stockpile of apples from the world tree. It all culminates in the final parts of the issue when he refuses to celebrate with the other gods and it appears to be setting things up to explain Odin's reasons for forcing him to live with humanity.

For those wondering what, exactly, this issue is about, it deals primarily with the Enchantress, her role in retreiving the apples from the world tree and how the Frost Giants, for one reason or another, have tried to win her as a bride several times. We learn about the war with the Frost Giants, see a battle that destroys a wall, and even one disguised as an eagle that uses Loki in an attempt to kidnap her. Eventually, the Loki spirits Enchantress away and delivers her to the Giants, which causes a loss of the precious fruit of the gods and the strength and wisdom it conveys. Loki attempts to free her later, but it takes Thor to save them both.

Enchantress comes off as a much more sympathetic character than the one we've seen throughout the years and the way the other gods treated her and used her in bets was especially cruel, despite her devoted nature to her job as the only one that could take from the world tree.

My one complaint is with the narrative. It's very similar to what JMS did in recent Thor issues and the flashbacks with Odin, but those were only a spatter of pages and it worked well there. This is an entire issue of it and it is used far more liberally than in said Thor issues to the point I felt like just skipping the wall of text on some pages. It was well written, but I just found it was over used. This is only a small complaint against an otherwise perfect issue.

Before I finish this review, I have to comment on the art, which I rarely do, as Zircher did an incredible job here. I'd rank this up with Coipel in terms of detail and this book looks simply amazing. I hope he's on board for the two or three other one shots scheduled from Fraction.

Verdict - Must Read

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