The Unworthy Thor #1 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Beware the Goat

Written By: Jason Aaron
Art By: Olivier Coipel, Matthew Wilson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 2, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

One of my favorite books that came out of All-New, All-Different Marvel was easily The Mighty Thor title which followed the story of Jane Foster in her new role as Thor. So, when I heard about the same creative team coming together to create another Thor story, this time focusing on The Odinson, I was beyond excited for it. I’m so interested with what Jason Aaron is doing with the Thor section of the Marvel Universe and he’s been at it for four years now. He and his team have created some of the best Thor stories ever, in my opinion, and seeing him not ignore the story of The Odinson despite the fact that he is no longer Thor is something that I’m really grateful for. I feel like when most characters are succeeded by another character it is due to death or something like it and we lose the story that follows the character that we’ve known for a long time but this book seems to be diving headfirst into The Odinson’s life after Thor. How will he fare? Let’s find out.

Our issue begins with a small inner monologue from The Odinson. He talks about his past but that he is no longer a god. Meanwhile, we get scenes of a massive battle between several creatures and we soon see that one of them is The Odinson. He seems to be held by some kind of group and he talks about how he fights every morning and fails. We notice his left arm is covered in some kind of black material. Despite The Odinson’s strength, he is soon overpowered by the group holding him and is electrocuted until he submits. Despite his defeat, The Odinson still believes that he will one day overpower them and that he will be Thor again. This is when he reaches out his hand and in the distance we see an axe.

We then flash back to three months earlier on the moon of Earth. The Odinson has been approached by Alpha Flight due to some of Earth’s satellites going missing in the past few weeks. We see The Odinson standing above a large hole in the ground and next to him stands a giant goat. He tells the goat to eat anything that comes out of the hole that isn’t him. Turns out that a group of trolls has made their way to the Moon and quickly the encounter turns violent. Trolls had long been wanderers in the realms due to the fact they have no realm to call their own. However, despite the fact that it seems The Odinson can handle the trolls, he is suddenly beaten down by Ulik, the King of the Trolls. Luckily for The Odinson, his goat joins the fight and it’s intense strength saves him from Ulik.

Thor and his goat, named Toothgnasher, fight off the trolls but eventually are unlucky enough to find themselves at the bottom of a pile of rubble. The trolls leave but The Odinson is not without strength and he is able to free himself. He chases after the trolls who have boarded their ship and are fleeing the Moon. The Odinson launches his axe at the ship but misses, allowing the trolls to escape. The Odinson chooses to sit on the Moon and rest when he is approached by a being. The being mentions that there used to be The Watcher but now there is only it. The Odinson questions if it is some kind of new Watcher since the previous one was murdered on the Moon. We learn the being is called The Unseen. The two talk for a little while and it is revealed that The Unseen knows of another hammer and that it is most likely in Asgard.

The Odinson climbs aboard Toothgnasher and the two fly off toward Asgard. However, once they get to the location, they are shocked by what they find. Asgard is someone missing and The Odinson is unable to find it. This is when Beta Ray Bill shows up and the two talk. Beta Ray Bill reveals that Asgard has been taken and that they will need an army to take it back. He knows who stole it as well but first he must address the elephant in the room. The rumors saying that The Odinson has lost his hammer are true but Bill has a way to fix this. He kneels and offers The Odinson his own hammer. This is where the issue leaves us

I have to give this issue a little leeway. After all, this miniseries is just starting and many people are probably jumping on right now with little to no knowledge of The Odinson’s story up till now. Thus there is a lot of backtracking and explaining to the reader what has happened previously. That’s not great but it is to be expected. That said, the rest of the issue is mostly set up which is also to be expected but doesn’t exactly thrill people. The goal of set up is to pay off later and I have high hopes that it will. However, as for this issue, things seem kind of bland. We do get a great insight into the mind of The Odinson and where he is mentally but other than that we only get a small fight scene and a really great cliffhanger. I’m still excited for this series but this issue wasn’t anything special.

Bits and Pieces

While it’s to be expected of a first issue, this one does little more than set up story and recap the past. We get some great characterization of The Odinson and we end on a nice cliffhanger, however this issue falls a little flat. No need to jump ship from this book yet though as the future still seems bright.

 

6.0/10