The Mighty Thor, Vol. 3: The Asgard/Shi'ar War

Thor by Jason Aaron #9

by Jason Aaron

Two of the Marvel Universe's mightiest races are on a collision course - but first, Thor must deal with the escalating War of the Realms! To face Malekith, Loki and an all-new Kurse, she'll need a team of her own. Prepare for the triumphant return of the League of Realms! Far across the galaxy, though, another conflict is brewing - as the most powerful super-army in the cosmos prepares a surprise attack on the city of the gods! The Shi'ar Empire will lay siege to Asgardia - and their target is the Goddess of Thunder! But why? And what does the fate of Midgard have to do with it? And where the Shi'ar go, the Phoenix Force tends to follow - which is bad news for Thor! Maybe the returning Odinson could lend a hand - or perhaps, Quentin Quire?! COLLECTING: MIGHTY THOR 13-19

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Fantasy, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2017

About the author

Jason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.

Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.

In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.

Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.

In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.

In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.

After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman’s once-great Thor series tanks HARD with this turd volume, The Asgard/Shi’Ar War, a boring book full of inconsequential, dull stories. Malekith’s still kicking up a stink with the War of the Realms storyline but that nonsense only lasts for a couple of issues before we get into a useless five issue storyline where Thor has a contest with the Shi’Ar Gods over who’s the better god. And will Jane Foster hang onto her senate seat?! Snore…

Aaron’s War of the Realms arc proves to be an unexciting dud. It’s just Thor and co. punching monsters. The Shi’Ar shi’te is worse and way overlong too for what is essentially a B-plot. At the end Malekith remarks how pointless a sidetrack it all was so even the characters are aware of how stupid it all is! Cameos from old schoolmates Quentin Quire and Kid Gladiator from Aaron’s quality Wolverine & the X-Men series don’t make this any more interesting.

The only positives about this one is the outstanding art from Steve Epting and Russell Dauterman. As uninteresting as the meaningless fighting was, Dauterman in particular made it all look stunningly beautiful and eye-catching.

The Mighty Thor gets mighty dull with this crappy volume. And I’m done with this title!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story here is pretty good, it seems like something of a side quest. How long are we going to sit in a holding pattern until the War of the Realms actually happen? Or will this be the premise of every volume? Loki tricks someone into attacking Thor. Chaos ensues. The more other Gods are involved, the less interested I am. The book has never looked better though with the likes of Steve Epting and Russell Dauterman handling the art chores.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, as usual, but the story was a little weak in places, unfortunately. The new, female Kurse annoyed me. Just because we have a female Thor doesn't mean we also need female versions of the original Thor's rogues for her to fight! Come on, Marvel, that's just sexist!

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so epic omg!

So it starts with Jane reforming the League of Realms with some new members and then we focus on them battling the dark elves in Alfheim and its fun and the way they take down their enemies and yeah its a short story and ties into the longer WOTR story.

Then the Shi'aar attacking Asgard and taking Jane to meet with their gods Sharra and Kyth'ri and thus we have challenge of the gods and the machinations of Loki behind it and the big battle then and the trials of Jane and what Asgardians led by Cul borson do next and the big fight and its epic the contest and just shows how Gods are so arrogant sometimes and then the coming of the Phoenix force and its her vs Jane and the big revelations and cameos by some big characters!

Its an epic story in every sense of the word and pays off so many things established earlier and really the art is what sells it, its so beautifully rendered in particular the whites and the orange shades and you feel the epicness of the fights! So yeah a must read for sure!

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fun stuff with Jane Foster as Thor being caught up in the War of the Realms, confronting a couple of jerkface Shi'ar gods, and dealing with the Phoenix force. But not Jean Grey as the Phoenix, which was a relief.

[Artemy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe it has come to this, but The Mighty Thor, previously one of the best Marvel titles from one of the best current Marvel writers, has become an awfully convoluted, unreadable, overwritten mess. By this point, the only good things about this series are the artwork and the occasional Roz Solomon cameos (hence the two stars instead of one). I can't even begin to write a proper review for this, because slogging through this comic took me a lot of time and energy, and now I'm super grumpy. Long story short, this is a good place to abandon this series — but check out The Unworthy Thor! Much better than this one.

[Jesse A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep waiting for this series to slip and it just hasn't. Great stuff.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
The Gods of the Shi'ar have heard of the Mighty Thor, and now they challenge her power - to prove she is a stronger God than they, or die trying. But if you declare war on Thor, you declare war on all of Asgardia! Plus, the League of Realms rides again as the War of the Realms ravages Alfheim!

The Mighty Thor goes from strength to strength, and this new volume is no exception. The League of Realms two-parter that starts off the book is excellent; Aaron manages to build up a huge amount of tension with only two issues as Alfheim falls to Malekith's hordes and a new Kurse rises too. Plus Steve Epting's on art, so it looks phenomenal. If your fill-in artist is Steve Epting, you're doing something right.

Then the Asgard/Shi'ar War is exactly what Aaron does best, playing on a massive stage with as many characters as he can get his hands on, even dragging up some old Wolverine & The X-Men continuity that hadn't been addressed for a long time as Thor tries to deal with the Shi'ar Gods and their warped ideas of what gods should be. And of course where the Shi'ar go, the Phoenix isn't far behind. Russell Dauterman draws all five issues here with an assist from Valerio Schiti in the last one, and his art continues to look absolutely blinding. The level of detail, the character acting, and the gorgeous colours from Matt Wilson are just perfect.

Jason Aaron's Thor run has had few missteps, and this arc continues an unbroken run of amazing storytelling with art that is a treat for your eyes.

[The Lion's Share · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this comic book. The background ahead of this volume: The Odinson is now unworthy of wielding the hammer, Mjolnir, and Jane Foster has taken up the mantle of Thor. She's dying of cancer though and the hammer is stopping chemotherapy from working. Dark elf Malekith is on a mission to conquer the ten realms and has support from Loki too.

This volume opens with a two-issue story where Thor reforms the League of Realms- a group of creatures from across the realms- to fight Malekith. Their first mission is to rescue the queen of the light elves but things don't go to plan and Thor finds herself going up against the new Kurse. It's a good story and I am enjoying this War of Realms develop- I have no idea where it's going to lead in the end.

The bulk of this volume is the titular Asgard/Shi'ar war. Gladiator arrives on Asgard and promptly kidnaps Thor. The Shi'ar gods want a contest against Thor which involves rounds such as "disease" , "natural disaster" and "genocide". Clearly it's not Thor's sort of contest. Meanwhile, the Asgardians come to rescue Thor. I wouldn't have thought this whole section would have worked. The mythical characters from Thor coming up against cosmic/X-Men characters. But it's really a lot of fun. Oh, and inevitably there's a fight with the Phoenix, which is not an easy thing to fight.

Other than the fantastic art, the humour and the general comic book awesomeness, the thing I love about this series is how Jason Aaron has been playing such a long game with it. He's been planning the War of the Realms for years now but will happily take as outside of it for an awesome new plot, the Shi'ar War here. It does work in terms of the ongoing plot though. I did wonder if Aaron had been planning this story for a while and felt he had to do it now before the Phoenix returns in the new Jean Grey book.

Mighty Thor somehow manages to improve with every stunning volume. If anyone loves Thor but aren't reading this because Thor is a woman now they are really missing out.

[Aldo Haegemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is still as beautiful as ever. However Im finding the story losing its appeal. Im not sure it has much more to tell. I love the Jane Foster angle but it just seems to be bunch of random story arcs, some beginning and some ending and never really being written or developed. Will give the next Vol a read to see if its worth continuing.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of people seem to be giving this lower ratings than other arcs but I found this to be one of the better arcs since the title relaunched as Mighty Thor. Enjoyed Thor clashing with the Shi’ar Gods and the battles that followed. Probably could have done without the Phoenix turning up again, but I think that comes back to what Aaron did in the Legacy one shot right?

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sei que ainda faltam mais 2 encadernados para encerrar essa fase da Thor, mas até o momento, esse quarto volume foi o meu favorito. Tudo que fora construído envolvendo o plano de Malekith e suas manipulações em parceria com Loki, culminaram na guerra Shiar-asgardiana presente nesse encadernado em 5 partes.

Na trama, acompanhamos uma invasão inesperada em Asgard, que de começo, não entendemos o motivo, até que Jane Foster é levada até a presença dos deuses Shiar: Sharra e K’ythri.Tal sequestro, tem o objetivo de forçar Thor a participar de um desafio dos deuses, em que Thor enfrentará os deuses Shiar em algumas provas estranhas, que testam a fé dos seus seguidores. Entretanto, muitas provas são desumanas, onde os deuses Shiar provocam desastres e afins em locais habitados para ver se os seres ali presentes irão adora-los e suplica-los. Enquanto isso, Thor não pensa duas vezes e tenta a todo momento salvas esses seres.

Embora não é explicado exatamente qual as regras dos desafios e como funciona para vence-lo, é notável a ideia trabalhada aqui de deuses sádicos e arrogantes, que literalmente se consideram uma divindade acima dos mortais, a ponto de massacra-los em prol de orações e oferendas. Essa visão de Deus arrogante e punitivista, é presente em diversas mitologias, e é trago a tona aqui para traçar uma linha entre esse tipo de Deus e o que a Deusa do Trovão representa, que é totalmente o oposto.

O que a Thor representa é tão oposto, que também vemos nesse encadernado Jane Foster tendo que lidar com sua vida se esvaindo, ao ponto de seu cargo como representante de Midgard ser questionado, e posteriormente, substituído por uma amiga. Porém, nada disso a impede de continuar agindo como Deusa do trovão, mesmo que isso piore sua saúde enquanto humana.

No que tange a guerra que mencionei anteriormente, temos o exercito de Asgard lidando com suas diferenças e marchando até o local onde Thor e os deusas Shiar estão. A guerra atinge um ponto crucial em determinado momento, que por sua vez, é intensificado por um ser que �� convocado pelos deuses Shiar, trazendo dificuldades extremas para Thor e seus aliados, que buscam ajuda de uma figura inusitada para encarar essa batalha.

Ainda nesse ensejo de batalha final, trago uma citação de uma frase proferida por Thor que me marcou durante a leitura e me fez refletir sobre o quanto a Jane Foster está sendo uma Deusa do trovão incrível: “Não te contenhas, Mjolnir, eu preciso de todo o teu poder, assim como estou te ofertando toda a minha vida. Eu não quero morrer no leito. Eu sou Thor”.

Ademais, há o retorno da Liga dos Reinos, que logo no começo do encadernado, realiza uma missão de extrema dificuldade para enfrentar Malekith e recuperar a rainha dos Elfos da Luz.

[Ola G · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10 stars

Not all bad; rather, as other reviewers pointed out, inconsequential: a side quest that goes on for far too long. A filler, and a painfully obvious one - but still retains a bit of fun notable in the previous volumes. Aaron seems to be enjoying his run with the female Thor (I still can't get over that name abuse, sorry) and I like to see the interrealm UN portrayed with all its faults and weaknesses but also with a sense of hope. Plus, call me sentimental, but I do like that Falstaffian Volstag, given his shot at redemption from being a completely useless, blundering side character.

Aaron's infatuation with Phoenix is obvious by now; but here it seems he's beating a dead horse, as this particular entry doesn't offer any new insights. Still, it's better than the weird challenge of Shi'ar gods which seems like a rather unsuccessful attempt at funny.

That said, I'll be reading the next one, just to see what else can Aaron and co. come up with here :). Let's hope the run recovers some of its previous originality!

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The distraction with the Shi'ar has served us well," says one of the villains at the end of this book. I wish I could say the same, but this was obviously meant to allow the creative team to spin their wheels a bit before getting on with things in their great war in the Norse realms.

Dauterman's pretty pictures once again carry the day, though Aaron throws in some fun vikings-in-space gags.

[AJ Kallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars ;)

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟

[Imogene · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I was considering 4 stars as one who is up to date on the latest Thor stories. If I wasn’t, my score would be considerably lower.











Jane foster continues as The Goddess of thunder even though it’s killing her, and calls back to Unworthy Thor, Godkiller, and a whole lot of Shi’ar history and continuity.

I freaking love her decisions to do what she considers right, even if it’s not “godly”or adding to the points tally.
I love that Odinson (aka ex-Thor turns up from his own story for those few panels.

Jane is beautiful and heart-breaking, and honestly, why couldn’t we have had this incarnation of her in the MCU (Sorry NataliePortman, but NO)

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, this was lame and dumb. I loved the 2nd volume of this run of Thor, so I was looking forward to this, but some reason the main plot was brought to a screeching halt so that Thor could have some kind of pissing contest with some other gods?? It was boring and felt pointless. I'm curious if this was shoe-horned in for any particular reason (ie. due to bigger Marvel stuff happening or some kind of tie-in?) - I don't keep up with a lot of Marvel publications so that kind of stuff usually goes over my head.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was annoyed that the Shi'ar just showed up out of nowhere and interrupted the flow of the war of the realms story. And then Quentin Quire showed up and I forgave a fair bit. I still think it was a weird choice of plot for that moment in the life of the book. Unless it was an editorial mandate to get certain plot points wrapped up for other stories in other books?

[Ross Alon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thor vs. Gladiator, Shi'ar vs asgardians. So silly, yet written so well. This is one of the most marvel est stories I've ever read, so I was geeked out through most of it. It was fun seeing the adversaries from The dark phoenix saga as they are today, still strong and with different context.
Not the greatest story ever written, but in the great marvel universe it it well deserved

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was ok too.

Mediocre story with an ok artwork that sometimes were too much for my taste, and being all over the place with too much happening, kinda picked up at the end there but overall was almost losing interest with the Shi ar war.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

War of the Realms. Blah blah blah. Senseless Shi'ar challenge. Blah blah blah. Everybody hits stuff until problems get solved offscreen.
Blah.
Blah.
Blah.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight. Plays great games with the line between superheroes & gods. High volume action & marvel deep cuts from the past 40 years.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

WELL THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY

IDK... This one got weird. I'm not sure why they used Thor to set up the Jean Grey run, but that's what most of this book was doing in a really convoluted way. There was just a lot of stuff in here that felt very unnecessary and over complicated.
Yeah, I'm pretty meh about this one.

[ellis]

tbh.... i'm losing interest. there are too many characters i don't know and too much fighting for my taste. the dialogue is fun & the art is all kinds of pretty, i just...am a little worn out, i guess

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art here is so, so good. But the writing takes a sharp dive here. Not my favorite, but I love Jane Foster Thor so I'll keep going.

[Ryan Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big step back from what came before, but not bad.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars