Young Thor is back in this one-shot issue telling a unique and thrilling story to cap off the third volume of this series. Is it good?
Thor: God of Thunder #18 (Marvel Comics)
I went into this issue with sky-high expectations. This issue is beautiful with a surreal, washed-out yet gnarly look to it that makes the tone just right for fantastical action. One-shot storytelling is usually some of the best, so naturally, we should expect Jason Aaron to be on the top of his game. I wasn’t disappointed, per say, I just wasn’t blown away.
This story is very unique, yet not entirely convincing. Thor was drinking mead hardcore with a dragon when he and the dragon both wake up in the middle of a village with accusations being tossed around that the dragon was terrorizing the village and even more huzzahs to Thor who “saved them all” by killing the dragon. It turns out, however, that the dragon is alive and wasn’t the problem after all, and that Trolls were the ones who were making all the trouble. Thor shows the ladies of the village that he killed all of the trolls and the partying continues, with the dragon’s life spared.
Later on in the issue the dragon is tormented by his dad when he reveals that he thinks of his son as a human-lover and a weakling. The dragon dramatically announces that he wants nothing to do with his dad and storms off to actually burn-up the village. Thor comes to the rescue, this time killing the dragon.
My takeaway from this issue was thus: Thor learned a lesson, but not a clearly defined one, and not one that is at all memorable. He now has a better understanding of how his actions have consequences, and that sometimes even friends can be influenced by their community to turn against their comrades. It seems somewhat depressing and not that valuable a maxim.
Jason Aaron is definitely on this issue with some great pacing and dialogue for the ages. Young Thor is very brash and arrogant, much like he always is, but has a nice tinge of remorse to him and plays the leading role well. The dragon is also nicely characterized as sort of lost and confused, especially considering he was introduced and killed off in this story.
There isn’t much negative to this issue, it just wasn’t Jason Aaron’s best story on the series to date. He could have done so much more with the situation, he just didn’t add that feeling of epicness/grandiosity that I’ve become accustomed to throughout Thor: God of Thunder. I think the problem was that he didn’t let loose and just blow everything to hell, he kept the tale pretty tame and skimmed over most of the action.
Is It Good?
It was good, but it certainly doesn’t live up to expectations. The art is absolutely beautiful and encouraged me to look into more into Das Patoras’ work, and on that front I was really pleased. However, it just doesn’t seem like Jason Aaron was trying with the story and just thought he could disguise a weak plot with clever dialogue and awesome art.
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