Return Of The Gods!

 

When my comics collecting had begun to wane after the turn of the century, it was a welcome surprise to see a new volume of Thor appear on the stands in 2007--its third volume (if you're not counting the 1962-66 issues of Journey Into Mystery separately) and of particular interest, with its characters reappearing to chart their own destiny after having at last broken the cycle of Ragnarok and freeing themselves from the specter of doom which, given its perpetrators, had literally shadowed their existence. Initially plotted and written by J. Michael Straczynski, the volume would comprise thirty-five issues that would conclude in a series of crossovers which would see the end of Norman Osborn's rise to power, as well as the return of Steve Rogers to the land of the living.

This new series would have a bumpy ride in terms of its publishing schedule, going back and forth between a monthly and bi-monthly (even tri-monthly) status--in addition to mirroring the fluctuating issue numbering of other titles which resumed their original numbering at a certain point, with Thor taking advantage of its 600th issue by picking up that number after its first twelve issues. Yet it's the initial stories by Straczynski (who would depart the book after fifteen issues) which offer the most promise for the character--as Thor experiences a rebirth after nearly three years (our time) off the stands and, afterward, strives to seek out and return to a state of existence his fellow Asgardians. Yet Thor, himself, would be guided back to life by the last character we would expect--Donald Blake, whose final fate Straczynski glosses over using the essence of wonderment and the unknown, and who will come to play a compelling part in the formative issues of this series.

It's a curious scene that follows, as Thor has misgivings about returning to the land of the living, even though his reason--his people being shackled again to Ragnarok--no longer exists, something Blake shouldn't have to remind him of as Thor himself was the one who had made certain of it. Yet the scene can do little else, presented in flashback form as it is--most likely to give readers, old and especially new, a heads up on the priorities that Thor will have regarding his fellow Asgardians as well as Asgard itself from this point on.

As for Blake, we now see that he is more than a mirror image for Thor to pose his questions and concerns to--he appears returned to the state at which we first came to know him in the early 1960s, as Thor in human form. But while in those days Thor was able to draw on Blake's knowledge as a physician but otherwise retained his own identity as the son of Odin, here there is a more symbiotic relationship between himself and Blake. "In this time, in this moment, we are both children of Mjolnir," he said to Thor as they conversed in the void, implying a connection beyond any they knew of before; and when Thor does indeed choose to live again, we find it's Blake who heads for and arrives in the town of Broxton, Oklahoma, where he will decide as Thor to plan for the future of both himself and his people.

Like Blake, I quickly found the characters of Broxton to be endearing in their own right, and I was pleased they would grow to be a vital part of this new direction that Straczynski has chosen for this very different take on Thor.

And given the magnitude of Thor's next task, their town is about to receive, ah, one doozy of a landmark, as they might put it.

"Where there is Thor, there is Asgard"--a pregnant statement from Blake while in the void, but one that Thor apparently took to heart in this act which appears to have come about by combining Thor's own power with the "Odin power" which was passed to him upon the death of his father. (If so, an interesting contrast from the uses of Odin's power we've seen in the past, with Thor preferring to add his own flair.)

The appearance of Asgard on the Oklahoma plains certainly serves to cement in our minds the striking change in both the Thor series and its title character from the minor shifts we've been accustomed to in the past, especially taking into account the number of writers who might have had opportunity to break with comics "tradition" and pitch a stark new direction for the character (the Lord Of Asgard arc being the most vivid example). It also makes perfect sense for Thor, the one Asgardian who feels a strong connection with Earth and its people and wishes the new existence that will greet his own people to be different than his father's vision.

Of course, there's the comical aspect to all of this, as even the choice of such an out of the way location-- "[n]othing but miles and miles of miles and miles," as Blake put it--will potentially face the hurdle of mortal laws, and those who unfortunately in this case have the jurisdiction to enforce them.

Thor isn't out of the woods yet, as the owner of the land in question stops by and makes clear that he owns the surrounding land (including the area which Thor is "squatting" on), but offers to negotiate a price for Thor to buy it. One look at Asgard's treasury, and "Ed" is happily backing up his small pickup truck to load all the gold he can carry and depart.

But on to more serious matters, as Thor pivots to finding his lost people who unknowingly inhabit the bodies of currently existing mortals. The first Asgardian Thor locates is Heimdall in New Orleans, his human "host" a bitter and destitute man living among others who survived the disastrous landfall of Hurricane Katrina--while in Africa, he comes across three others (I'm sure you can guess which three) inhabiting the forms of a security contingent of the Doctors Without Borders group which Blake accompanied to a refugee camp. Once back in Asgard, Thor explains his wish to locate the rest of his people with dispatch, as well as confirming his intention to omit from his search those he feels would detract from the Asgard he wishes to see thrive.

It's not difficult to compile a shortlist of those that Thor might have in mind to decline their return. Loki would be an obvious choice; there are also a host of enemies along the lines of trolls, storm giants, the Midgard Serpent, Surtur, the Enchantress (though the Enchantress might require some deliberation, along with Karnilla); and Hela would qualify, given that her absence hasn't triggered this time the worldwide chaos witnessed in a previous scenario. Judging by the scene above, it's an uncomfortable topic that is broached with Thor as if one were walking on egg shells, one that could at some point benefit from the input of Thor's fellow Asgardians rather than a decision made unilaterally.

Yet interspersed with such scenes are other moments which underscore the intriguing direction which Straczynski has chosen for this new series. For instance, our hotel clerk, Beth Sooner... "If you need anything, just call. My name's Beth Sooner. You can remember it because if you call me, I'm always there--sooner or later." ... brings it to the attention of her fellow diners* that when it comes down to it, Thor is a new neighbor, and the neighborly thing to do is to "make him feel a part of the community." And so artists Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales provide a transition scene, marvelous in its simplicity, which can't help but pique the interest of even an Asgardian.

*If you've been lucky enough to live in such a town, a diner is much like a barber shop in terms of being a place where folks informally congregate and offer an opinion about most everything that's going on locally. It's a delightful aspect to the story on Straczynski's part.

You don't want to miss the town hall gathering, in attendance by Thor's fellow Asgardians, where a move to convert a segment of Broxton's homes from septic tanks to sewers is met by an uncomfortable but rather blunt query by Volstagg.

Meanwhile, Thor's efforts to expedite his searches while maintaining a pick-and-choose position on the matter run into one hell of a complication, however, with the appearance of the Destroyer, which has done its own gathering of mortal Asgardian hosts and forces Thor's hand in terms of using his power on all of them to extract the Asgardian spirits within them before lives are lost. By battle's end, a number of them have departed unseen without a word, an indication that they could well have been among those whom Thor wished to "weed out" of this process. But one such individual stays behind--Loki, greeting Thor in a most unexpected change in form. "It should not be so great a surprise that I would come through the fires of Ragnarok different than when I entered them, for I am not truly of Asgard, but rather the child of frost giants. We have always been contrary in our ways." (Whatever you say, Mr. Straczynski, but it's still a stretch, albeit a sure attention-grabber.)

Loki being Loki, he manages to smooth things over with Thor as far as deserving a chance to prove he's changed his ways--but in a later scene, it's clear that even as one of the "dead" he was able to orchestrate the battle as well as Thor's response to it, having previously contacted his old Acts of Vengeance associate.

But the real elephant in the room--or in the story, in this case--would be Odin, though it bears mentioning that he met his death before the events of Ragnarok. That's a distinction that may not apply if we're to believe Thor, as he makes use of his new relationship with Blake to "confer" with him unseen in the diner on the subject. In the end, though, he knows he has to make his peace with the situation, one way or the other.

At a stroke, Thor casts his power worldwide to free every Asgardian still entrapped in a human host--his main hope, however, being to ensure the return of his love, Sif, though we would find that Loki has his hands in that, as well. As for Odin, Straczynski, along with the art team of Marko Djurdjevic and Danny Miki, crafts a two-part story which does a splendid job of resolving the situation while staying true to his efforts to have Thor stand on his own two feet.

As early as its third issue, we see signs of how the book would shape up following Straczynski's departure, as Thor and the Asgardians become embroiled in the post-Civil War events born of both Tony Stark and Norman Osborn. If you're interested in reading further, you can likely find the series at most online comics-reading outlets; or, if you'd prefer something for your bookshelf, I might suggest taking advantage of either the hardcover or paperback compilations of Straczynski's initial issues (Vols. 1 and 2 comprise the first 13 issues). Either option will let you read these issues as a whole, which, along with making it a more satisfying reading experience overall, lets you avoid the shaky and head-scratching distribution problems associated with its original release. (There are times even Loki would have a thing or two to learn from Marvel.)