Thor: God Of Thunder #13

Writer Jason Aaron Artist Ron Garney

Introduction

Thor: God Of Thunder just wrapped an incredible story with the recent god butcher arc. After that, readers were hand wrapped one of the best stories featuring the norse god in several years. Marvel characters are not usually allowed to change in an organic manner, but issue #12 showed how incredibly different the son of Odin has become. In a recent Hulk storyline the younger character was brought up and illustrated to be vain and arrogant. When looking back at the older stories from the 60’s up to the 80’s. Twenty years will completely alter a persona of anyone. Yet the story written by Aaron illustrated the progression of character seldom felt in superhero comic books. The hero visited some old friends whom we have and have not seen before in many cases. The most touching visit occurred when former lover made an appearance towards the ending of the title. Jane Foster is stricken with cancer, yet does not want mystical healing ailments because she wanted to experience the natural cycle of life. After all the years spent between the two lovers this has never seemed to be more appropriate.

Writing

Jason Aaron has a lovely Shakespearean motif of telling readers exactly what is going to happen in his work, before the story even begins to take place. The trend continues in this new arc of the storyline. Narration from the Dark Elves towards the beginning of the book is absolutely stunning. Aaron can deliver some dialogue as lovely as some of the modern masters writing. Before going into this comic, I would assume that Malekith would be painted in a more deadly fashion, as his previous appearances paint him as a weakling. This assumption proved to be correct, however the shackles of chains over the span of a couple years would serve as a solid explanation for why the villain is more deadly this time around. The leader of the dark elves does not hold back in this new form as he instantly begins slaughtering for pleasure. This serves as a solid first outing for the brand new story arc of the comic.

Art

Ron Garney has considerably upped his game coming off of the subpar work from Uncanny X-Force. To be fair the strange inks and colors have always put the artwork at a disadvantage on that title, but comparing those pencils to this interior work is night and day. The pencils in this issue are wonderfully refined, featuring an artist doing what he does best. The aliens and strange creatures populating the title, look absolutely realistic. There are no shades of things looking fake, or even dimensions and draftsmanship looking unrealistic. The penciller takes great advantage with his environment with cavernous ice structures filling the halls of the background in the world. Atmosphere is another aspect which can also be credited towards colorist Ive Svorcina. The pastel and airy nature of the book, adds to the mythological style being established by both the art and writing. It is great how the artist changes up some of the different styles from scene to scene. The art with Thor and company has a noticeably brighter and more colorful tone. This is some beautiful artwork that is slightly marred by the expectations that previous artist Esad Ribic put into place, yet it is great in it’s own right.

Conclusion

Thor: God Of Thunder continues to be one of the best books over at Marvel right now. While it may be off the radar of most people, the story I excels week in and week out. There is no reason why any fan of the character shouldn't be reading these new adventures.