When he's on his game, J. Michael Straczynski is fast becoming my favorite writer working in comics today. (Aside from Joss Whedon, but that goes without saying, and Whedon doesn't comics enough anymore, which is part of the problem. In THOR Vol 2., much as he did in the first volume, Straczynski has reinvented one of Marvel's great characters and is on his way to creating a masterpiece in the genre.
Vol 2. starts off with a bang. If you recall in Vol. 1 Thor raised Asgard in the sky above rural Oklahoma. It's still there, and Thor in his human guise as Donald Blake, tends to the natives of the nearby town as if they were his own Asgardians. But in re-raising the Gods, as in did in Vol 2. Thor intuits that something is wrong in Asgard. And he must separate from his human form and undergo the Odinsleep to find his father who dwells in the Norse equivalent of purgatory to find out what it is.
Where Vol 1. was the obvious set-up for the following stories, Straczynski doesn't disappoint, and while there is plenty of action in Vol 2., it is the complications of the relationships among the Gods that makes the book so intriguing. Of course Loki has a plan in motion to destroy Thor, and sending him/her (in this guise Loki appears as a woman) to Vegas to carry out the plan is a hilarious stroke of genius. Strazynzki gives us a brilliant glimpse into the back story of Loki's origin and his complicated relationship with Odin and Thor.
And, as a special treat, like in Vol 1. when Iron Man shows up to tell Thor he must 'register' under the new law, and Thor gives Iron Man the subsequent ass whoopin' he deserves, here Thor visits the grave of Captain America. In a touching scene, Thor calls back Cap's spirit to tell him how sorry he was and what an honor it was to fight as his side. He tells Cap there is a place for him in Valhalla, to which Cap's spirit replies "I never believed in Valhalla." And Thor then explains to Cap that it matters not what we believe but how we live that determines where we dwell in the afterlife and Cap's heroic life will assure his spirit dwells in Valhalla forever. It could have been clumsy and corny, but Straczynski's spare, lean writing makes it work.
There is a lot to love in this book, and the Informant is a 'non-spoiler' site so I won't unveil the big reveal in Thor Vol 2. But if you've ever wondered about the complicated relationship between Thor and Balder the Brave, let's just say you'll get more than a glimpse inside it, in Thor Vol 2.
This is a book that we definitely recommend. In fact, you may want to spring for it in hardcover and add it to your shelf, because I am sure it's one I'll be reading again and again. I'm guessing you will too.
Posts
