Rorschach Reviews
Loki's Latest
Comic Book: Thor-God of Thunder No. 3
Creative Team: Writer-Jason Aaron
Art-Esad Ribic
Colors-Ive Svorcina
Cover-Esad Ribic and Daniel Acuna
Release Date: 19th December 2012
Score: 9/10
Pros:-Tighter focus on one Thor timeline
-Jason Aaron draws from the past in contrasting a young Thor's arrogance and present Thor's humility
-Finesse art from Esad Ribic
-Haunting scenes of dead God's provide insight into the fearsome mystic of Gor the God butchers character
-A psychological look into a god's mind, his life span and questions regarding their mortality
Cons:-Not much presentation of the wiser and war torn future King Thor
Main Events: Thor visits Omnipotence city (nexus of all gods), He studies on the lost gods, Thor visits all the places where the lost gods lived and finds them all dead, Thor faces off against Gor's minions, In the past Thor wakes from his beating received from Gor, Thor walks off to find Gor but stumbles on a dead god, Thor finds Gor's hideout in a cave, Iron Man cameo, Present Thor uses Iron Man's help to find cave, Thor decides unlike first time he needs help and asks Tony,present Thor enters cave and warns Asgard, young Thor enters cave and is ambushed, future old Thor is subdued by Gor minions, Elder, Younger and present Thor are enveloped in darkness.
Memorable Quote(s): "Gods come and go, son of Odin. Such is
the way of things. And one group never much care what has become of the other.
Why someday even the great Thor himself may be forgotten."-Librarian of Omnipotence
Memorable Panel(s): Thor visits different heavens and witnesses bodies of massacred gods. Poignant and haunting image which makes reader question the lengths of their mortality.
Thor remembers his arrogance in entering the cave alone when he was young, he then asks Iron Man for help.
Entering the cave scene shows duel moments where present Thor enters cautiously while warning those he loves in Asgard. This is contrasted with young Thor after having been taken a beating, still enters the cave in a boastful manner.
Action panels move smoothly between timelines as Gor shadow creeps on young Thor and changes to the minions shadows trashing future King Thor
It seems whether it is New 52 or Marvel NOW! The Gods reign supreme, like with it's DC counterpart Wonder Woman, Thor is essentially is the best new volume out in Marvel's own NOW initiative. It's been an interesting concept from the get-go as Jason Aaron crafts a saga spanning tale. The crime noir elements added within not only a book about a superhero but one involving a god is surprising. These themes and genres are reinforced when Thor visits Omnipotence (the nexus of gods), here using the vast library (presenting that even gods are constantly learning) he searches for those gods that have been presumed missing for centuries across the cosmos. At this point Esad Ribic's art kicks in, with the most haunting and despair filled panels as readers witness through Thor the bodies of massacred deities.
The essential narrative with this issue follows present Thor as he witnesses the audacious and vomit inducing work that Gor has been doing. One of the frames of using the present Thor allows the use of his memory to visualize the younger arrogant Thor of past. Here we see the brash prince, walk out alone into the bitter frost even after being at death's bed to find and confront the god butcher who he fought last issue.
It's interesting to see the contrasts between both the past and present with their attitudes towards their immortality. With the encounter from the previous issue and it's ramifications here, there is the hint off another added layer to the Thor myths. That establishes the change from arrogance to humility, being that the god of thunder didn't merely begin his path to redemption once he was exiled but it was through lessons and experiences before that, began the change from selfish prince to selfless hero.
The contrasts allow for a neat cameo from Iron Man (he seems to be drawn perfectly in every book apart from his own) just like this weeks Indestructible Hulk issue. He is used as a visible vehicle that Thor-even though a god-does not necessarily have to take this quest alone.
The best thing Aaron and Ribic can do is to keep Gor hidden for the time being, it provides him with a much more mystic and enigmatic personality. This with the fact that we see brutally disturbing God bodies with no knowledge of how they were killed makes Gor seem like a really powerful psychological yet even physical villain. Gor for at least this arc should provide the allegory of a Gods own mortality and in turn also question the reader of the length of their own mortality as well.
The art apart from the death scene is all round smooth. I do not know how to properly explain it but i believe the word would be a finesse painted form. The nature of both pencils, inking and color seems to represent the kind of silkiness(?) you would associate with gods. Panels to watch out for a include the splash page of Omnipotence city, of course the dead gods, Thor and Iron Man flying above lake ladoga, scenes within the cave and the ominous blackening with King Thor losing grasp of his sword and it's counterpart losing the hammer.
This brings me to the only negative within the book, the lack of King Thor. As I am writing this however I realise that with the narrative framed around present day Thor, there can be no way for the reader to look into future old Thor as present Thor himself does not know about him.I believe the next issue will tackle this frame and then round out with all three for the final issue of the arc.
'Nuff Said
Aneesh Raikundalia
The essential narrative with this issue follows present Thor as he witnesses the audacious and vomit inducing work that Gor has been doing. One of the frames of using the present Thor allows the use of his memory to visualize the younger arrogant Thor of past. Here we see the brash prince, walk out alone into the bitter frost even after being at death's bed to find and confront the god butcher who he fought last issue.
It's interesting to see the contrasts between both the past and present with their attitudes towards their immortality. With the encounter from the previous issue and it's ramifications here, there is the hint off another added layer to the Thor myths. That establishes the change from arrogance to humility, being that the god of thunder didn't merely begin his path to redemption once he was exiled but it was through lessons and experiences before that, began the change from selfish prince to selfless hero.
The contrasts allow for a neat cameo from Iron Man (he seems to be drawn perfectly in every book apart from his own) just like this weeks Indestructible Hulk issue. He is used as a visible vehicle that Thor-even though a god-does not necessarily have to take this quest alone.
The best thing Aaron and Ribic can do is to keep Gor hidden for the time being, it provides him with a much more mystic and enigmatic personality. This with the fact that we see brutally disturbing God bodies with no knowledge of how they were killed makes Gor seem like a really powerful psychological yet even physical villain. Gor for at least this arc should provide the allegory of a Gods own mortality and in turn also question the reader of the length of their own mortality as well.
The art apart from the death scene is all round smooth. I do not know how to properly explain it but i believe the word would be a finesse painted form. The nature of both pencils, inking and color seems to represent the kind of silkiness(?) you would associate with gods. Panels to watch out for a include the splash page of Omnipotence city, of course the dead gods, Thor and Iron Man flying above lake ladoga, scenes within the cave and the ominous blackening with King Thor losing grasp of his sword and it's counterpart losing the hammer.
This brings me to the only negative within the book, the lack of King Thor. As I am writing this however I realise that with the narrative framed around present day Thor, there can be no way for the reader to look into future old Thor as present Thor himself does not know about him.I believe the next issue will tackle this frame and then round out with all three for the final issue of the arc.
'Nuff Said
Aneesh Raikundalia
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