If you were starting to miss the fantastic magic of the Golden Realm and needed a break from Sigurd Jarlson, then The Mortal Thor #8 might be the book for you. The mean streets of New York and hammers tethered to bungie cords take a backseat this month to Magni and Blackjack traveling the cosmos and restoring thrones while we get a deeper understanding of Amora the Enchantress’s deeper machinations in a universe without Thor as we know him.
I feel like a one and done was just what I needed to feel refreshed on this book. It may only be eight issues deep, but this is a continuing story from 25+ issues of Immortal Thor, and the new status quo for Thor (read: Sigurd Jarlson), while executed well, has been moving a little slower than I personally would like. Thankfully, this issue feels revitalizing in all the right ways while taking its eye off the main protagonist and shifting it to the greater hierarchy of the world surrounding Thor and the hands that are directing the story from behind the curtains.
Marvel
Magni continues to be an interesting character doing his best Thor impression. With Blackjack at his side, the two travel to a leaderless Jotunheim and rather than fight, listen to what’s needed for the realm to succeed. From there, they take off on the burning road for Muspelheim, another realm that finds itself directionless without a leader.
Along the way, we get a siiiiiick page of our intrepid heroes riding Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher fighting fire demons with might, magic, and a laser gun that takes way too long to recharge. One magic sword later, and the ruling class of two realms is rewritten by a young Magni and his wisecracking sidekick.
This issue is light on meta commentary on the nature of fiction and its place in our lives, and instead focuses more on the fiction it’s about. The opening and closing pages are a heavy handed metaphor, for sure, but it’s introduced and addressed quickly enough that it feels more like a structure for specific tragedy rather than a treatise on storytelling
Magni is presented as a young hero with a good heart who feels like he’s doing an impression of Thor. That’s to say, it feels like he’s doing what he thinks he should be doing. It’s done with subtle looks from artist Juann Cabal and even more subtle lines from writer Al Ewing.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, which I suspect is what the team wants me to do, and I’m happy to oblige, but small moments juxtaposed against Amora’s ultimate goal this issue (and at large as well) set Magni up to feel like Diet Thor, technically something resembling the character you know, but just off. It’s incredibly fun to see him in situations like this, and while Blackjack can border on annoying, it keeps a childlike wonder affirmed to the character that makes his substitution always feel more sincere than sinister.
Marvel
It’s fitting that Magni was a character created in the 2000s during the Dan Jurgens-written and Scot Eaton-pencilled run, because the art here, especially the action scenes, feel reminiscent of that era. You feel the weight of each blow struck, and the weight of each weapon swung. This feels like the sword and sandal action you hope to find when you open a book called Thor.
Though it hits pause on the saga of Sigurd Jarlson for a month, The Mortal Thor #8 is a welcome break from the world of mortals. Exploring the realms through Magi’s youthful idealism has been a breath of fresh air that reinvigorates and reminds the reader this story is bigger than a New York City borough. The through line that opens the book, gives it structure in the middle, and closes it out is a neatly presented conceit that reinforces the fragility of these characters and the depths they’re willing to go.
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