It’s time to parley with some gods of the Shi’ar as Thor may be facing her most powerful foes yet. Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman bring us “The Asgard/Shi’Ar War Part Two”, but is it good?
The Mighty Thor #16 (Marvel Comics)
So what’s it about? Read the preview.
Why does this book matter?
Jason Aaron’s run has been spectacular for so many years it’s practically a buy on site book at this point. Add in the fact that it’s one of the only cosmic books on the shelf and it’s a no brainer every issue.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
They assume she’s dumb. Typical gods.
You have to hand it to Aaron, he knows how play with your expectations. As Thor listens to the Shi’ar gods explain themselves, her bravado never wanes which is one of the more fun elements of this character. Later, she does something even the Shi’ar gods didn’t expect, which further proves her worthiness as Thor. Speaking of the gods, the Shi’ar have some impressive ones; they act as you might expect an all powerful being would, right down to the arrogance and egomania. They’re an interesting duo that set up a very interesting challenge for Thor that should be fun to follow as the story progresses.
The politics of Asgard are on point in this issue too. The current lord of Asgard Cul the Borson must parley with Thor’s friends as they demand Asgard strikes back on the Shi’ar. The back and forth is intriguing as claims of cowardice are thrown about, but more interestingly Cul must decide whether to do the right thing and be the hero, or let Thor rot as he so wishes. This dramatic scene builds to a point, and then Aaron cuts away back to Thor, but believe me when I say this scene pays off in the spectacular cliffhanger. In a short aside of sorts, we get to see what filibustering looks like at the Congress of Worlds. Yep, it’s just as boring and ridiculous as American filibustering.
Russell Dauterman knows how to use blur effects and he uses them often in The Mighty Thor #16 with great results. The scope of power Thor is facing against is grand and you get that from not only the glow of these characters (thanks Matthew Wilson on colors) but also the way they exude speed. Props go to the way they glow white and how Dauterman draws them so smug and arrogant. Gods, psh. Later, the size and scope of a killer wave is rendered very well which is a lot harder to draw than you’d think. Blur is used again here to show the scale of the wave just as a camera would since the wave is so huge but far away the elements in the foreground are not in focus.
It can’t be perfect can it?
My one complaint last issue was how little Thor played into the narrative. That is very much not a problem here.
What a perfect response.
Is It Good?
Mark The Mighty Thor down as the most epic and fun filled time you can have when parley is involved. Aaron and Dauterman have a series that’s epic in scope and a thrill to read.
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