Trade-waiting fans can pick up the last Thor collection featuring stories by Donny Cates this week with volume 5, Legacy of Thanos. It’s a collection that has three different stories, starting with one scripted by Al Ewing, moving on to a Thanos one-shot, and then wrapping up with Thor #29-30, written by Torunn Grønbekk. Due to these shifts in the story, the trade reads a bit wonky, but it’s as epic as they come.
Kicking things off is Thor #27-28, featuring a story by Cates and Ewing. Salvador Larroca draws what is basically a Venom and Thor team-up. The story ties into Venom’s ongoing adventures of time travel and his competing with his future self. It’s a good two-parter because it utilizes a character from older Thor lore while also leaning into the fact that both Thor and Venom are kings now.
Next up in the collection is Thanos: Death Notes #1, an anthology spinning out of the events crafted by Donny Cates in Thor. It follows the Asgardian hero who aims to get more info on Thanos, knowing the villain will rise again. Thanos: Death Notes #1 opens with Thor arriving on Titan. Torunn Grønbekk writes this story, which is the main story that discusses the issue. Thor seeks information on Thanos and soon finds filing cabinets filled with stories connected to Thanos. He also finds someone else has been rifling through these files, which should get fans interested in where this all goes from here.
Cantwell and Foreman’s story is incredibly creepy.
Credit: Marvel
This opening bridges us to the first story titled “All That Is” by Christopher Cantwell and Travel Foreman. The story takes us back to an earlier era for Iron Man as he’s trying to figure out how a Thanos robot works, let alone how to turn it on. Foreman captures the dead eyes of the Thanos bot well, and when it does come back to life, it’s creepy as hell. This story is incredibly trippy, too, as Iron Man is threatened with the idea that life as he knows it may be a simulation. If Thanos did acquire the Infinity Stones, couldn’t he make us believe this is all fake and he rules all? It’s a creepy idea articulated well through story and art.
Next is “Love and Death and Much in Between” by J. Michael Straczynski and Geoff Shaw, revealing a moment Thanos shares with Death. She’s having him remember his first love and its tragic end. This tale is very well written, capturing the complexities of a younger Thanos who can fall in love and maybe even be a little naive. Not only revealing a terrible event that happened to Thanos involving a past love, this story also reminds us of Thanos’s perspective on killing half of all life in the universe. You might actually see his side of things since it’s logical and fair and not, in actuality, evil.
If the first two stories showed how complex and intelligent Thanos is, the final story by Kyle Starks and Ron Lim shows how powerful he is in battle. Opening on Thanos entering an empty bar, we soon learn an entire armada is waiting for him outside. That’s not all – that armada is capable of taking over entire worlds, yet Thanos jumps into battle with them without even a weapon or a plan. He’s just that strong. Lim’s art is exceptional and will take you back to the good old days. He hasn’t skipped a beat.
Closing out this collection is the first two issues of Grønbekk and Nic Klein’s story arc. It reads like a fresh slate compared to the previous works in this collection. It opens with Corvus Glaive kidnapping Thor’s sister and taking her to a most dangerous place. A good adventure tale, Thor must enlist a friend for help, go to a place that is very dangerous to himself, and even witness an ancestor tussle with Thanos. It’s a bit unfortunate they couldn’t start the next trade paperback with these issues since it ends on a cliffhanger, but it’s hard not to love everything about it. From the detailed art by Klein to the zombies, the sense of doom the heroes are under, and the mystery, it’s a great yarn.
Thor by Donny Cates Vol. 5: Legacy of Thanos is a good collection with plenty for fans to enjoy. Thanks to its collecting a two-part story, a one-shot anthology, and the beginning of the next story arc, there’s something for everyone here.
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