by Taylor Anderson and Patrick Ehlers

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Taylor: When I’m teaching my students about tone and mood in class, my go-to lesson involves a Marry Poppins trailer. First I show them the original trailer for the movie and then I show them a trailer that Christopher Rule cut together, which makes the classic film look like a horror movie. It’s a great way of showing the kids that the same content can have a drastically different tone and mood based on how the artist presents the story. I was thinking of this as I read Thor 1, because the issue shares the same characters, settings, and even the same writer as the Mighty Thor, but it feels drastically different. It’s a textbook example of how a skilled writer can shift the tone of a story, and in this case, that shift is a refreshing change of direction for the Thor series.

Of course, this isn’t a knock against Mighty Thor. I love that series and can’t wait to reread it now that it has concluded. However, it is heavy, what with its themes of sacrifice, duty, and the cost of war and all. It’s great and epic, but I welcome the thought of a Thor title that isn’t a variation on gloom and doom each month, just in the way I welcome a sugary dessert after eating a savory meal. In this way, Thor 1 is welcome change from what we’ve come to know about a Thor series.

One way writer Jason Aaron accomplishes this refreshing shift in tone is making all of his characters extremely likable. Throughout the issue, everyone has witty dialogue and an airiness that I find magnetic. Even the Juggernaut, never one who wins people over with his personality, is enjoyable as he banters with Thor while they fight over an ancient artifact. The best example, though, of how the characters shift the tone of the story comes when Jane Foster talks to Thor while he’s on Earth for a spell.

The way Jane and Thor discuss their extraordinary lives here is wonderful. Having both been the God of Thunder, they have a common reference point when discussing things. Jane’s casual mention of a new lead to an infinity stone, her wanting to know if Thor’s new hammer drifts to the left when thrown, and her referring to Thor’s heroics as a job make it all seem just that — a job. Essentially, this is two Thors talkin’ shop in the same way you might discuss office happenings by the water cooler. This makes it easy to connect with these characters more than in the Mighty Thor. I don’t know what it feels like to punch a frost giant, but I do know what it’s like to casually discuss my job with a fellow teacher. This shifts the tone of the series by making these characters more accessible than they’ve ever been in the last couple years.

Mike del Mundo’s art also helps to make this Thor series feel immediately different from its predecessor. To start, del Mundo’s art is more elsastic that anything the artists on Mighty Thor did. This at once gives the issue a feel that is more lighthearted and not quite as cosmic and epic what came before it. While that shapes the tone greatly, what I appreciate more is the fun, little things del Mundo adds to his work to lighten the tone and make it buoyant. As with Aaron’s writing, he does things which endear us to the characters, like drawing Volstagg too big for his hospital bed so his feet hang off the end.

That’s a light way to hint at Volstagg’s sheer size and godliness. More than that though, it makes him likable. Most people have the tall friend or family member who is so damn big they can’t fit in a normal bed, car, or pair of pants. Volstagg is the same way — he’s huge. Shown with his feet hanging off the bed here, we can know Volstagg and also pity him a little bit.

Earlier in the issue, when Thor is fighting the Juggernaut, our hero is having a hard time landing hard punches against a strong enemy who is pumped up on the power of a cannibal god. Del Mundo hilariously shows Thor’s inability to hurt the Juggernaut by animating his punches with happy, smiling stars.

Juxtaposed with the hard hitting stars of the Juggernaut’s punches, these stars are a cute way of showing that Thor isn’t hurting his foe in the least. These stars are whimsical and funny, helping to make del Mundo’s artwork, even during a fight, endearing. While Russell Dautermann’s artwork is amazing, I’m not sure I would ever call it endearing, which is just another way the tone of mood of this first issue is different from the Mighty Thor.

Patrick, I really enjoyed this first issue of Thor. I think it’s a smart idea on Aaron’s part to take the series in a tonally different direction than his previous Thor series. It’s new and instantly enjoyable. Do you feel the same way? What do you think about the promised adventures of Loki and Thor in Hel? Also, I didn’t mention the coda at the end of this issue with Old Man Thor. Any thoughts on that?

Patrick: Oh, man, I love seeing the return of King Thor in the back-up story. I usually try to write about individual issues specifically and singularly, making a point to stick to the content of the issue itself without being withholden to the issue’s place within the context of a great narrative (or meta-narrative, as the case may be). But this issue of Thor prompts those long looks back in the Aaron’s past with the character. Taylor talked a lot about how del Mundo’s weirdo art style and cotton candy color palette (with an assist from colorist Marco D’Alfonso) set this issue apart from its predecessors. He’s not wrong to make those comparisons: and the presence of Jane Foster bonding with Thor over wielding the hammer keep drifting the chronological focus of the issue to the past.

The back-up story simultaneously draws the reader further into the publishing-past and into the far-flung future of the story itself. Drawn by Christian Ward of Black Bolt fame, “The Grace of Thor” ends up looking like a more stately version of del Mundo’s insanity. Part of that stateliness might just be in Ward’s subjects: Old Man Thor and his family. “Family” here is both literal and… slightly more figurative. Thor’s granddaughters are back, but perhaps more potently, the primordial woman that Thor created to repopulate Earth is also back. Of course, her name is Jane. The backstory here, and all of Thor’s emotional connection to Jane, are not explored in this short back-up story, instead asking the reader to bring as much Thor-knowledge as they can possibly muster to bear on this relationship. Ward keeps a respectful distance, letting the reader sit in the cold realities of their conversation.

There’s no big dramatic moment here: just a question about eternity, and a softly disappointing answer. That sets Thor off on a mission to the edge of space and time, where he encounters a figure that points neither forward or backward, but to a totally unrelated corner of the Marvel Universe: the X-Men.

I love this design. Ward commits to the monastic look of an immortal Wolverine in possession of the Phoenix. Even this line about “hope you brought some beer” sorta jukes our expectations. We’re at the solemn end of life in the Universe, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of levity.

So while all of these threads in the two stories point back to The Mighty Thor and Thor: God of Thunder, Aaron is also looping in some of the bigger questions coming out of X-Men Red and The Hunt for Wolverine. Aaron and his cohorts have repeatedly proven that they are prepared to tell personal stories about the God of Thunder, but this issue seems to insist that this Thor series matters more to the mythology than any before it. I loved the personal stakes of the previous series and stories, but, y’know, yeah, let’s blow this bad boy wide open.

For a complete list of what we’re reading, head on over to our Pull List page. Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local mom and pop comic bookstore. If you want to rock digital copies, head on over to Comixology and download issues there. There’s no need to pirate, right?