The Immortal Thor, Vol. 2: All Trials Are One

The Immortal Thor (Collected Editions)

by Al Ewing, Martin Coccolo (Artist), Ibraim Roberson (Artist)

The All-Father sought answers to new troubles in memories of old. To refresh those memories, he consulted his Skald of Realms, to tell a tale of when young Thor and young Loki journeyed out beyond Asgard on a quest that would determine the fate of all the Realms! Yet the teller was the Skald, in their aspect as Thor’s enemy. And thus, the tale could twist upon itself — and if Thor faltered, it could make a new end! The Son of Odin faced three of his greatest foes in battle — with the fog of magic closing around him. Yet even if he won, he lost — for Thor fought not for his life, but for his death! Plus: the dawn of the Roxxon Age of Comixx, starring Chad Hammer — secret identity of the Roxxin’ Thor!

Collecting IMMORTAL THOR #6-10 and ROXXON PRESENTS: THOR.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fantasy, Comic Book, Science Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Ewing is going great guns on Immortal Thor but the multi-artist jumble is hurting the look of the book.

Whoever had the idea to put king-of-the-tracer-hacks Greg Land on the supposed-to-be-shallow Roxxon issue is a genius, though. Nicely done.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying how properly *out there* Ewing is going with this. It’s a very meta comic, poking fun at the comics industry with playful satire that also has serious teeth when it wants to leave a mark. Some of it does feel a little heavy-handed, but it works, especially since Ewing’s delivery throughout this run has been very arch. I’m hoping the various threads and tones he’s using come together eventually, but even if they don’t, I’m down for the ride if it can keep up this level of higher-concept comic book-ing.

[Oscar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to love this book, but I don’t. I like it. And I think I’ll continue with it. But I just don’t love it. This one focuses on Roxxon taking over the trademark and publishing of Thor and rewriting stories of Thor and Loki in the past, which bridges the story to the rewriting of who Thor is in the present. Naturally, Thor must battle Roxxon Thor and the outcome, while predictable, leaves me intrigued on how Thor will be perceived by the public. Getting a little bit of some Department of Truth vibes with this story.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like this graphic novel until the very end issue. Filled with "Thor tales" that eventually are shown to be in a comic created by Enchantress (at the behest of Dario Agger) to weaken Thor and establish her own. BUT, in a double cross move, Skurge kills the head of Roxxon with Thor's axe, just as Thor kills the Roxxon Thor and summons the axe to him. The trap of murder is sprung around Thor and won't be solved until the next Volume.

Overall, not loving this run so far, but it is getting better. Hopefully Vol 3 will improve things.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening arc of Al Ewing's new Immortal Thor series saw the Thunderer team up with allies to form a new version of the Thor Corps to take on Toranos, the self-styled "Utgard-Thor" who hails as an Elder God who controls storms. Epic in scope, but it ultimately fell a little short for me because of how straight Ewing played the whole storyline (aside from a fun twist with Toranos' defeat). Ewing is at his best when he gets a bit weird, and thankfully this second arc goes in some pretty bizarre but fun directions. Teased towards the end of the "All Weather Turns to Storm" arc was the return of Dario Agger, the monstrous minotaur who controls the Roxxon Corporation (first introduced in Jason Aaron's and Esad Ribić's Thor: God of Thunder run), who seeks to undo his enemy in a very different kind of way. Agger has bought out the rights to Thor's likeness and has since used it to pump and dump monthly comic issues of Thor that feature him in slapstick adventures that has subtly eroded Thor's godlike stature amongst the people of Earth to an everyman superhero.

It's through Loki, God of Stories, that we are once again reacquainted with the power of stories in building reality. As a Skald of old, Loki takes Thor on a journey to explore the fate of the Nine Realms, but the pair learn that Thor's history is being changed by conflicting narratives. Here, Ewing gets very meta and soon the events of previous adventures (like that of Thor #272 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema) become muddied. The arc takes a brief sidestep with the extremely self-aware Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 (drawn by guest artist Greg Land, which to me seems like an even more meta choice) where the pulpy, comic version of Thor named Chad Hammer begins to take shape in reality. It's a hilarious critique on comic tropes with editorial gaffes and notes, fake ads and also on the consumerism aspect of the medium. The criticism isn't biting by any means (nor novel), but Ewing's script is genuinely hilarious.

This volume is a definite step up from the first, even if the routine artist shifts were a little distracting. Ewing previously delivered a solid Loki featured series that gave me hope for a well written Thor run, and it does feel like he's found his footing here. Hoping for more peculiar and fun stuff to come.

[Alex Sarll]

A lot of the elements I wasn't so sure about in the first volume bed in here, a (re) retelling of an old myth reminding us that it was hardly the first time Thor, for all his might, faced others of much greater stature. Al being Al, he also ties this into the weirdness of deep Marvel time, hinting at further threats, and bouncing it all into our own looming apocalypse, Thor's mother the Earth reminding her son that the humans are storing up their own downfall with their treatment of her.

Of course, Marvel Earth's humans have a little more of an excuse than the ones here, because they're not the only ones to blame. The central villain this time out is Dario Agger, the decomposing minotaur CEO with the most stupid, flimsy, believable villain motivation of all - he likes it when the number goes up. And in a spectacular piece of biting the hand that feeds, his company, Roxxon - the most ubiquitous of all Marvel's megacorps - have bought up the long-standing, if not that frequently referenced anymore, in-world version of Marvel Comics. In our own world, the equivalent acquisition was just about leveraging synergy and other hideous buzzwords, but in a world where the gods are real, and defined by the stories told about them, there's the added benefit of not only being able to sell propaganda about an enemy, but actually changing his nature in the telling.

Which brings us to the centrepiece of this collection, the delightedly hideous Roxxon Presents: Thor. One of the rare occasions when a legitimate use has been found for the airbrushed, static softcore art of the otherwise lamentable Greg Land, I read it on the tube and could feel people around me's opinion of comics dropping with every page. Roxxon-sponsored hero Thor (secret identity: "Chad Hammer, leading influencer in the field of AI-based hedge funds") teams up with his ally the Minotaur to find what could possibly be manipulating America's youth: "why have the kids embraced the lie that capitalism doesn't work?" It doesn't stop there, dispensing a flurry of perfectly placed jabs at infuriating tech bro bullshit and rightwing talking points, but also at specifically Marvel annoyances, like the sheer volume of ads in the comic itself - before turning around and reminding us that if this sort of self-mockery makes us think a big company is cool, that's part of the trap too. A masterpiece of situationist superhero comics. Alas, the return to the 'real' world for the finale is lumbered with art that I devoutly hope is a fill-in and/or unusually rushed, because it's really not up to the standards Coccolo has previously established for the series.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art on this series took a bit of a downward turn for me. Not a fan of the style. And the story for so weird and meta. Not sure how I feel about it. I get the joke of the “Roxxon Presents Thor” comic but it was just too dumb to enjoy, parody was not done well these last few issues. But everything around that was good, the build up has been fun, just not a fan of how it turned out. Now that it’s mostly done though the ending has me interested to see what happens next. Although it looks like next issue starts a whole new arc that doesn’t touch this one.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

After dwelling with memories with Uthgard-Loki Thor takes on Roxxon and Hell breaks loose. Meta piles up on meta- the Roxxon special issue is excellent and hilarious- and the trap is set.

I kinda liked Ewing’s stories so far but his take on Immortal Thor truly impresses me. It’s well written, clever and fun and a real pleasure to read.

[Pyramids Ubiquitous · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty uneventful for a second volume in a brand new Thor arc. I get what's it's trying to do with the revisionist history and anti-capitalism angle, but it just doesn't make an interesting story.

[Adam Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't been AS blown away by his Immortal Thor run so far as compared to Immortal Hulk or X-Men Red, but Al Ewing is always doing interesting things. I really loved the first two issues of this collection, with some meta story-within-a-story elements that really worked for me, and great art. The Enchantress/Roxxon arc that it all leads into is also generally enjoyable, if just a little less effective for me. I cannot express how much I hate Greg Land's art, but I guess in a weird way it actually works for the Roxxon Presents: Thor story-within-a-story -- form and content, something something something.

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this volume continues the trend of the first volume, with more interesting insights into the history of Marvel's elder gods; the flashback to Thor and Loki's youth being the best story in the collection. The second half pits Thor against super-villainous corporation Roxxon; while the meta-commentary on corporate ownership of creative works is understood and appreciated, it feels like Ewing needed to dig a little deeper than he did to really make it work. Quite a cliffhanger, though! (A-)

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 1 left me a little underwhelmed but this really nailed it. From the retelling of the classic myth of Utgard-Loki's contests, this establishes the magical power of storytelling in the Norse tradition, and perverts that through Dario Aggar's corporate acquisition of Thor's comic line. This is immensely clever and a biting satire of media execs and Elon sycophants. ("'Art.' I never liked that word. I prefer "'content.'") The real lynchpin of Ewing's statement is when Dario Aggar interrupts the narrative to remind the reader that even self-parody ultimately enriches the capitalist, that criticism of capital can be turned to the capitalist's favor. It is immensely funny, but also a bleak look at our putrid media environment where consumers are desperate to claim radical messaging in Disney slop.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loki and Thor on an adventure in Utgard kicks off the book with exactly the kind of mythic weirdness I enjoy. Then, Ewing gets meta, which works a bit less well, though it certainly kept me turning the pages in curiosity. Essentially, Dario Agger, Enchantress, and the Executioner have been buying up Thor comics to take over the idea of Thor, thus making the real Thor into more of a doofus.

This all comes to a head in a comic-within-a-comic, where we see doofus Thor having various Roxxon-branded adventures. It's a weird hoot - and I'm glad it lasted only a single issue. The meta stuff was neat, but here's hoping the next volume returns to some more mythic tales.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually pretty good and just shows Thor at his peak and it starts off with a great one and done adventure with Thor and Loki in the past vs Skyrmir and who he is and then going to Utgard and meeting the Utgard-Loki there and fighting his insane challenges and some of them are so funny, until you learn the dark secrets of what the challenges are and this is one of those retcon "this happened in the past story" that sort of connects the character to the present thor run and I like it, same happened with Gorr under Aaron and this sort of things works well with Thor since he has been around for so long and it fits really well.

Then the other story vs Gaia and her giving the explanation to Thor about whats happening and all that and its the usual retcons and I kinda like it too, it really delves into the complex nature of his origins and it teases some characters to come down the line.. I am assuming opponents for Thor that will be fun to read about and that was well done. Another issue vs Minotaur who tells him about how his comic TM got hijacked by them and Enchantress and Skurge the executioner and it leads to one of the most non-sensical Thor stories, a parody for sure and it hits at the major themes of today and ridicules them and its kinda tough to read for sure and not that good.

But the last issue vs the villain and how cool it is seeing Thor let loose but then the mystery of "Fugitive" happens and well it will be fun to see how Thor addresses this issue and its a good mix of high fantasy, ancient gods, regular enemies but also murder mystery now and all that and really makes this run stand out, like the way it tests the character of Thor.. its just awesome!

So yeah its a pretty good volume and has so much good stuff and the art continues to be the highlight and its a delight to read! I highly recommend it!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

First up, a flashback to Thor and Loki's first encounter with the Utgard gods, which sheds some light on just how big of a problem these guys are going to be. Then, it's Thor vs. Roxxon - with a hell of a twist.

Honestly, the Roxxon one-shot is worth the price of admission here alone, because it's satire and parody and all those good things all wrapped up in one little package that I'm surprised Marvel let them get away with. It's a clever counterpoint to the more sweeping storyline in the first two issues, and goes to show how versatile Thor is as a character that he can fit in both kinds of stories easily. The greater storyline has definitely shifted by the time this volume ends, and everyone's a lot worse off than we started. Poor Thor.

Ewing continues to impress as always, in new, unexpected, and utterly hilarious ways.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ewing has some big "meta" plans for this book, but they're not really gelling at this point. Yes, the Roxxon Presents Thor issue is fun, but it's over-the-top fun and gets a bit old before its conclusion. The inclusion of four different artists within six issues is a bit much--one of the reasons Ewing's Hulk was such a success was the consistency of the artwork. Still, this is very much worth your time and a title I'll be continuing to follow.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its getting to recommend this Thor run however there is one of the funniest single issues collected here. Its a parody of..well, society and capitlaism but its hilarious. Other than that and the final coupe pages, this was another boring, slighlty convoluted mess. Al Ewing, who I've enjoyed a lot in the past, is struggling to hit his stride with Thor other than the Roxxon stuff. The art is still very good. Overall, read the Roxxon issue on its own and save yourself some time.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

First up is a flashback story where Loki and Thor relive the Marvel version of some traditional Norse myths centered around Utgard-Loki. Then Dario Agger, Enchantress and the Executioner return to mess with Thor's History. The Roxxon Presents: Thor issue is genius. The rest just OK. This arc has four different artists on it so I could hope for a little more consistency through a story.

[Shivesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For the All-Father hath raised no bums."

A weird and wacky foray into meta-comics and commentary. Al Ewing continues to bring it heavy against comics consumerism and mindless corporatism. The irony of doing all this within a comic with Marvel on the cover is not lost on anyone. Let the man cook! I am here for the ride.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75
6 through 8 were good in the way Ewing usually is. But the Roxxon-Thor issues...one of my all-time favorite Thor stories. The meta and social commentary mixed in with the actual story was woven together in such in a complex but reader-friendly fashion. Some of Ewing's best work. A masterpiece from a comic writing master.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

BEHOLD: this volume thou holds in thy mortal hands be a vast improvement on its predecessor. Perhaps then, all is not lost. If thy writer has a chance to change his fates, he must be allowed to try, and I will defend his right to do so.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this whole arc so clever and so brilliant, both the Norse mythology references and the satire of the meta 'Roxxon Presents Thor' being especially my favorite. Al Ewing is among the best comic writers now!

[Rockito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is a more like it. Agger here is used far better than in Immortal Hulk (and does not overstays his welcome) and there's a pretty good commentary of the dumbing down of storytelling in modern media. This might be the only instance where a "He's behind me" joke made me laugh.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I completely and wholly LOVE the first issue here. I love skald Loki so much, and Ewing really shines when he's working on a mythic level. I was less into the rest of it. It was trying to be awful and painful and it sure did succeed

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as individual comics, ratings below:
#6= 2 stars
#7= 3 stars
#8= 2.5 stars
#9= 3 stars
Roxxon Presents= 5 stars
#10= 3 stars

[Hayley Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chad Hammer.

[Ziyad Baksh · Rating 3 out of 5]

what is the story?

Thor fights storytelling itself as Ewing indulges in some meta commentary. Both the Enchantress and Loki try their hand at shaping Thor's story with varying degrees of sucess. An interesting read but kinda flew over my head.

[brokengnius · Rating 5 out of 5]

the mf goat.

i love every single page of this.