When Dr. Jane Foster lifts the mystic hammer Mjolnir, she is transformed into the Goddess of Thunder - the Mighty Thor! Her enemies are many, as Asgard continues a descent into chaos and war threatens to spread through the Ten Realms. Yet Jane's greatest battle will be against a far more personal foe: the cancer that is killing her mortal form. As Loki steps back into Thor's life, the dark elf Malekith continues to fan the flames of war. And the skies will shake in one of the bloodiest battles of all time: Thor vs. Odin! Meanwhile, Roxxon and S.H.I.E.L.D. complicate Jane's life - but can anything prepare her for a war between Asgard and the Shi'ar? Perhaps the returning Odinson will lend a hand as the conflict escalates - and the Phoenix Force rises from the flames!
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.
During the previous volume of Jason Aaron’s epic run, a new Thor was introduced in the shape of a masked woman. Despite the character being well-written and well-designed, the mystery surrounding her secret identity caused a disconnect between her and the reader. At the very end, the identity of Thor was revealed to be Odinson’s former lover, Jane Foster, who is stricken with breast cancer.
In this new phase of the run with the comic retitled as Mighty Thor, we see how Jane copes with her illness, whilst Asgardia continues a descent into chaos and war threatens to spread through the Ten Realms. With early signs suggesting a War of the Realms, Malekith the Accursed is planning a conquest towards Alfheim, the Realm of the Light Elves, with the help of some of the God of Thunder’s rogues gallery.
Although the character of Jane Foster dates back to the very beginning of Thor’s Marvel Comics history, the decision to make Foster the Goddess of Thunder whilst she wrestles with cancer adds a whole new perspective to the decades-long comic. Suddenly, we have now a human just like us given the chance to become a god among others, even if not everything is not on her favour as Thor has been branded a fugitive, as well as a pretender to wield Mjolnir, not least from Odin himself. As a cancer-ridden victim, she’s not going to let that get her down as being a doctor herself, Jane just wants to help, whether it is towards fellow patients suffering from similar diseases or travel to the Ten Realms to save those from the carnage of war.
Despite the more human angle from its hero, Aaron is also aiming for something bigger with the storytelling that will set up the 2019 crossover event The War of the Realms, as most of the nineteen issues here comprised of extensive battles, such as with Dark Elves, evil corporate heads (including one turning into a minotaur) and even the Shi’ar Imperium. You could argue that these grand action-centric arcs are there to show off Russell Dauterman’s hyper-detailed artwork that dominates most of the volume, in which his inventive panel layouts brings something fresh to the action. Along with Matthew Wilson’s colouring, Dauterman shows distinction each of the Realms that are presented here. There are a number of guest artists such as Rafa Garres, Steve Epting and Frazer Irving, and even though none of them don’t live up to Dauterman’s work, they are efficient with their own visual identity.
As grand as these storylines are, whenever Aaron throws in a touch of characterisation, even if there is an ounce of humour, these are the moments that you’ll remember. Very much an ensemble piece, Loki may not be in the comic a lot, but when he appears, the God of Mischief steals the show, whether it is him being self-aware of the comics history or presenting different incarnations from over the years. Despite having comic timing, the book does not shy away from Loki’s darkness as he commits acts that are unforgivable and possibly sets up another agenda that he has in mind that opposes the other villains.
There are a couple of issues that feel like filler and Aaron expanding upon the world-building, tying into the Viking roots. As a whole, this volume can feel disjointed in how it jumps from one extensive action set-piece to set-piece, all of which functions as the slow build-up to an upcoming event. However, Jason Aaron and the number of artists has done enough right with individual moments that may not reach the brilliance of Aaron’s initial Thor run, but I’m excited to see where the story goes.
This collection has 448 pages and once or twice I thought it was turning the corner and really becoming the great story the creators thought they were making all along. Both times I was let down as it snapped back to the same drivel that's been rammed down fans of Thor for way too long. There was a chance to really make something special with Jane as Thor and a redeemed Thor(which when it comes down to it, making him think he needed redemption was the dumbest idea they ever had), instead, we are fed the same idea over and over.
3 stars might be generous but like I said there were a few pages that truly stood out. What really pisses me off is after forcing us to read all this nonsense, they still haven't got to the War of the Realms that they've been talking about for 3 collections. Utter nonsense.
In the opening it stated "So begins the war of realms". A whole volume later, we're not even there yet. I also found quite a bit of the dialogue, particularly the trash talk, really cringey.
The best parts were the flashback stories about the strongest viking, and the origin of Mjolnir.
Not sure if I'll get volume 4 when it comes out.. We'll see.
Aaron's Thor continues, now with Jane Foster fully in the role. The first half is this volume mostly follows the Roxxon/Malektih storyline, with Odin and Freya in supporting roles. It's engaging stuff that's on par with what came before. Jane is great as Thor, and I like Roz Solomon's role here. There's also a two-parter about pre-worthy Thor battling an evil Viking dude, and a Mjolnir origin issue. Both decent, but they feel like they're just filling space. We also get an interlude story about the League of Realms reforming and fighting monsters. Again, decent, but hardly memorable.
The last storyline, "The Asgard/Shi'ar War," is basically Jason Aaron trying to be Grant Morrison (or something) and failing to stick the landing. It also seems like an unnecessary diversion from the main plotline. The War of the Realms is still going to happen, right?
Outstanding art from Dauterman, Steve Epting, and others make this a beautiful book. It's a shame all the stories aren't their equal.
I still don't really understand how Aaron achieves the perfect blend of "I am taking this worldbuilding so seriously and this story is serious and we're all serious the stakes are so high" with "hi here's the most insane storyline you've ever seen in your life. This CEO is a minotaur and this elf is using sugar ants as a torture device GET OVER IT". I don't get it but I'm absolutely here for it. Hail Thor goddess of thunder 💪🏼
The series remain incredibly compelling, with Jane Foster continuing to be such an interesting Thor put into great situations. A bit bored by the Roxxon stuff, feels like that is dragging on. The war of the realms, however is excellent. Mailketh is box office
Potężna Thor 1-19 (Grzmiąca krew, Władcy Midgardu, Wojna Asgardu z Shi’ar)
To ciekawe, jak rysunek w ramach wydawanej serii może się zmienić. I to u tego samego autora. Pokazuje on piękny styl w retrospekcjach, ale ten normalny też lekko się zmienia z 12 na 13 zeszyt. Projekt postaci Thor jest lekko zmodyfikowany, a wraz z nim kreska (czy jakkolwiek to mądrze nazwać).
Przez to jak pochłonięty jestem czytaniem dużymi partiami, to mam problem z pamiętaniem, co gdzie jak i kiedy. Trzeba sprawdzać. Wady binge czytania, czy tak da się to nazwać. Binge-reading?
Grzmiąca krew — nie pamiętam, początek wojny, zajęcie Alfheimu, duplikaty lokiego i na koniec Thor przywaliła Odynowi, Loki x Laufey się formuje i Frige uratował Loki.
Władcy Midgardu — szczyt w Davos, nie podoba się, że Roxxon monopolizuje 10 światów i chcą go sprzątnąć. Przy okazji przygłupi agenci z archiwum X starają się rozpracować tajną tożsamość Thora.
Wojna Asgardu z Shi’ar Liga światów powraca w nowym rozszerzonym składzie, Potężna Thor zamiast Thora, Lady Sif, Angela i jakiś szamano magiczka (Ro Krwawy Korzeń z Wanów) zamiast mrocznej elfki, a i teoretycznie Ross też jest w drużynie. A poza tym wracają Troll Ud, Sir Kolbus i krasnolud Rico Kaboom (Krętobrody). Był jakiś górska olbrzymka – Tytania.
Skomentowali, że Angela nosi więcej ciuchów. Kocham, poza tym baba chodząca w obcisłym kombinezonie komentuje, że ktoś powinien nosić spodnie i golf. Bardzo poważne amerykańskie standardy. "Powinnam ją rozpoznać? Musiałabym sprawdzić na swojej stronie w Wikipedii" dużo komedii w tym zeszycie Ale też dzieje się wiele tragedii – Ros nie lubi "Władcy pierścieni" (filmu).
Pojawia się także szczyt symetryzmu, czyli Czarny Bifrost. Jane zaczyna także dostawać cool koszulki i pierwsza z nich przedstawia "big gay ice cream".
Nie wiem, co napisać. Działy się rzeczy. Rozwinięto mitologie Thora i nie chce mi się pisać o Thorze. Wole czytać.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
After seeing Thor: Love and Thunder, I wanted to check out how the comics were, and whilst I think both the movie and the comics have its strengths and weaknesses, at least the comic had a bit more of an engaging story and less dumb humor. The first 5 issues were fine, but then they had to be ham-fisted and add a “Like it or not, she’s here to stay!” at the end, like why? Then issues 6-7 had an interesting story involving a viking becoming a hulk from drinking dragon’s blood, but it had TERRIBLE artwork! (At least to me). Then there was the “Lords of Midgard” storyline which was a lot better than the first storyline, but man, Dario Agger is the most heinous character ever, this guy is like Joffrey Baratheon-levels of evil and annoying, I just wanna see this guy suffer the most painful, gruesome and horrific death imaginable. Then we get a whole bunch of Fantasy Battle Nonsense with the characters fighting for Alfheim, and some unnecessary hate towards The Hobbit movies for no reason whatsoever. Then we get to the best part of this collection, “The Asgard/Shi’Ar War”, which basically ends with an almost literal Deus Ex Machina. Also, the story about the origins of Mjolnir was great in terms of art and writing. The artwork by Russel Dauterman for most of the series was an acquired taste for me, the one thing that bothered me the most was how odd Loki’s stubble looked on his face. One thing that I did like about this series so far was how it wasn’t too interrupted by other things within in the Marvel Universe, sure there was one reference to Sam Wilson!Captain America and some small setup for a Jean Grey series, but nothing much, and not a lot of team-ups or cameos from other characters (apart from the necessary team-up in the Asgard/Shi’Ar War). One thing that I did find odd was the fact that Jane Foster wasn’t a very engaging character, like her whole gimmick is that she has cancer and is dealing with it and being Thor at the same time, and the problem falls on how Jane Foster doesn’t grow as a character very much and any sympathy/compassion we, the reader, would have towards her would be based on her diagnosis, like why do that? This ain’t The Fault in Our Stars! In Thor: Love and Thunder, this really isn’t the case as much as we get to see Jane Foster have some fun in her new role. Also, the original Thor was barely in this and I think it’s kinda sus that he was sidelined like that.
Overall, this was better and less annoying than the 2014 Thor series, and I do like the direction this series is going in, and I’m interested to see where it goes from here.
P.S. the amount of different iterations of “Complete Thor by Jason Aaron” collections that exist is extremely annoying, but I do recommend this particular series of collected editions as they have more issues contained within. What would make far more sense is to have had these collected editions be labeled as “The Mighty Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection”, because stuff like this makes comics feel like homework.
This collection was pretty much a sandwich in terms of quality arcs. I loved the beginning and ending, but not so much the middle. The Asgard Civil War and Asgard/Shi’ar War arcs were super fun and enjoyable, but I just couldn’t get on board with going back to the Roxxon well again. Fair play to Jason Aaron if he likes writing about them, but Thor fighting a corporation just feels a bit small scale for me. I must point out that this has some of my favorite writing for Loki. The way Aaron is able to write him as a conflicted villain who doesn’t necessarily like being bad, but can’t fight his better nature makes him super compelling and truly makes him stand out over the rest of the cast.
Volume 3 and I'm still enjoying this. I love the segments that focus on Jane Foster as a character and the parts where Thor is unleashing the insane power of Mjolnir. The story is not perfect. Every section with the Congress of Worlds left me wondering what the point was. I also don't love when it starts bringing in more X-Men lore at the end. I tend to like my comics to require as little knowledge from other series as possible. All that being said the series still nails the epic tone. I definitely intend to finish Aaron's run with the character.
The worst of the volumes so far, but still decent. I like loki and Malekith as villains, but I do not like Jane Foster as thor. She is far too powerful- she just became thor, and yet she can go toe to toe with Odin himself? I read thor comics because I want to see Thor Odinson, and he was barely present in this whole volume. The story was also very middle of the road.
Have enjoyed re-reading these, they were my favourite marvel comic for a while as a teen, but this volume is definitely the weakest so far, not that interested in all the different bits of space nonsense going on, preferred the high fantasy bits