Speak softly and carry a big HAMMER

review of Thor trade #1
by Michael Lagocki
J.Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel have Thor on lock. What I like about the new Marvel series is the sense of power behind everything here. Thor isn't a superhero...he's a God. And Gods don't need a lot of dialog. The book is brilliantly underwritten and overdrawn. I mean that in the best way. Thor looks like he weighs about two thousand pounds in these drawings. He looks strong. He looks like he can kick the entire Marvel universe's ass. And he doesn't have a lot to say, but he does have a lot to do.
The first six issues cover Thor's return to earth and the rebuilding of Asgard. The illustration is lush throughout with Coipel really investing the time to draw the Gods' intricate outfits, and seemingly really enjoying Thor's imposing stance over everyone else. There's a lot of "holy $&%*" moments in here where you get the sense of what it feels like to be staring down the last son of Asgard.Iron Man takes it on the chin too. The whole book's worth it just to see Tony try to face down Thor. (Hint- it's not much of a fight). Last note- Laura Martin proves once again why she's comics' best colorist. All in all a great book and a perfect example of how to make a comic with it's own identity. I just feel like the team on this book had a vision that they were confident in and stuck to, one that really got at the source of what makes their character cool.
Looking forward to trade #2.
-Mike Lagocki is one-fifth of the mighty ghostWerks crew, as well as being the driving force behind the pleasantly notorious art activist massive called ArtLoveMagic, dedicated to overcoming Evil with good art.