It didn’t take long, but Loki has already messed with Thor’s life in Al Ewing and Martín Cóccolo’s series Immortal Thor. Always the best at timing, Loki also struck when Thor was weakened and needing an All-Sleep, but does he mean ill will, or is he trying to help his brother? That’s the central focus of Immortal Thor #3, which feels very classic in its take on the characters.
That classic feel is obvious from thought balloons, which have been out of fashion in comics for quite some time. Pair that with the old-school feel of Thor’s speech and the classic feel of Loki in this tale, and one has to imagine Ewing is celebrating the good old days of these characters.
Set on an undisclosed planet too far from Earth for Thor to fling himself to, this issue is all Thor trying to solve a problem using his wits, not his might. In the grand scheme of things, it also appears to show Ewing is reminding us a lot of what Loki does is meant to help his brother rather than hinder him. Given he used all the power he had within him to defeat an ancient god in the first two issues, it’s a nice change of pace. Thor isn’t just all brawn, but also intelligent.
The more singular focus does try the patience, however. The larger story takes a pit stop as Thor tries to figure out what Loki is up to and escape from the planet. By the end, something is achieved, and that’ll play into defeating Toranos, I’m sure, but something about the trials in this issue feels a bit overly done. An entire chapter devoted to solving a riddle feels steep, even if the captioning, thought balloons and Loki appearances are exciting and compelling.
After the last five years we’ve all had, I think we could all use an All-Sleep.
Credit: Marvel
It probably doesn’t help that Thor’s mostly in his head in this issue. Ewing does an admirable job keeping his thoughts interesting as he bounces between thoughts, but with nobody to talk to for chunks of the book, it can feel like it’s sitting on its own hands. The big win for Thor by the end is also not visually interesting. He puts something together, but it could have been more focused. Instead, it’s something he does and ends up with rather quickly.
Speaking of Loki, Cóccolo does a great job animating this character’s facial expressions. There is a bit of a jester here, but also maniacal and furious. They’re going full villain here and relishing tormenting Thor. Given their history, one can see in Thor’s face he’s used to this and patient enough to wait. That isn’t to say Thor doesn’t lose his temper, which he does, and it’s captured well by Cóccolo.
Immortal Thor #3 is a nice bottle story, focusing Thor’s attention on a problem only Loki could devise. While it doesn’t build too much on the story of Toranos, it does have a classic Marvel feel that’s unmistakable.
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