REVIEW: Thor #3

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ADVANCE REVIEW

Thor #3

Writer: J Michael Straczynski

Pencils: Olivier Coipel

Inker: Mark Morales

Thor spent a few years dead. He’s back now, in Donald Blake’s body, and hunting for the remaining gods of Asgard who are trapped in human form. Thor is being played as a god set against human struggles again, always the more interesting take on the character than just straight superheroics. He has a distinctly different point of view, for entirely obvious reasons, and it’s good to see that being played up.

The issue sees Thor visit New Orleans and lament that it was not protected properly. This, of course, is a parallel to what occurred with Asgard. Naturally, considering Thor’s quest, how this advances the larger plot should be obvious. That’s not the point of interest in this issue for most, however.

The point of interest in the issue is that this is the first meeting of Iron Man and Thor since Civil War, where Iron Man attacked a whole load of Thor’s friends and allies and created a badly made clone of Thor. This is a short, amusing fight where Thor’s perspective is clearly stated and obvious. Iron Man is set as a future antagonist, but no physical match for Thor. That works perfectly for the future and Marvel seems to be setting up a point of Thor’s mythology against his superhero career.

This book is about two specific moments. These moments are plot points, but they are essentially made to set up later confrontation and make it feel like the plot is being advanced, without causing the action to rise too much. The art is gorgeous and perfect, but unless you really are into seeing that Iron Man confrontation, you don’t need to go out of your way for this.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.