Thor is sometimes a hard character to keep fresh. Iconic to the point of, well, godhood, the character has a hard time being relatable or human. This isn’t to say that Thor comics haven’t had great periods that juggle new concepts and bold, frightening opponents. It’s just that the scale is often so large – so godlike – that the threat of mortality and emotional connection are hard to come by. Thor’s ongoing sagas tend toward the monolithic and have the habit of running overlong.
Marvel
Both the continuation of an ongoing saga and a bold new reboot, The Mortal Thor Vol. 1: No Gods, No Masters breathes fresh thinking into a character who easily stagnates. Stripping our hero of his godhood – and his memory of said godhood – the book likewise strips the world of its knowledge of Thor. The book resets the status quo to zero, and in the process, it elevates the stakes.
Presenting a very Thor-like man named Sigurd, the book drops the reader into the middle of urban struggle – Sigurd lives in a cruddy apartment that he can’t afford, and is desperately seeking work. He’s got a nice neighbor, Kris, and knows a subtly Loki-like street urchin called Lucky.
Sigurd does not know that he’s Thor (or Thor-like), nor does he know that there are forces moving against him – supernatural forces as well as theological. One group of toughs revere a false idea of Thor as a god who mete out violence for glory; Sigurd runs afoul of this group when they attack him in an alley; incensed, he hunts down their leadership and goes to town on them with a hammer.
The book pulls the focus into a close-up on Sigurd, but it also plays with much larger concerns. One issue sends us to Asgard, where Thor’s son, Magni, is being maneuvered for the throne in Thor’s absence via Enchantress’s intrigues. Earthside, the forces against Sigurd are being marshaled by an evil Donald Blake. However tight the focus, writer Al Ewing is playing an epic, operatic game.
Marvel
Artist Pasqual Ferry handles the pencils on the Earth-based narrative, fleshing out the new crew with a slightly stylized, surprisingly brutal hand. Asgard is handled by Juann Cabal, who delivers a more classic depiction of the godly cast. Both artists live up to what can be considered the modern Marvel house style: incredibly talented artists delivering beautiful artwork without being allowed to quite distinguish themselves from their myriad peers.
No Gods, No Masters is a promising start to a new chapter of the Thor saga, one that feels exciting and fresh even as it plays with old building blocks. There’s a real feeling of danger that often eludes the God of Thunder, and the mysteries draw the reader along, hungry for answers.
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