Thor, Ages of Thunder was released this week. I am not sure to how much fanfare, but since Darkseid is dead and we are getting little in the way of him in the comics currently I am sure everyone has also noticed my favoritism to the God of Thunder. I picked up a copy of Thor, Ages of Thunder yesterday and I have to say I was slightly impressed. When reading I had to keep in mind that these Marvel one-shots are meant to be a summary of the Thunder Gods history in the Marvel universe. Matt fraction did well in wrapping up Thor’s beginnings prior to his exile from Asgard at the hands of Odin. His writing also depicts very well the decaying and gluttonous state of the Asgardian’s at this point in Thor’s history.



One thing that did shine through to me and which stood to question Fraction’s decadent depiction of the Asgardian’s alongside Thor’s growing isolationism and arrogance, was the question burning; How is Thor arrogant or wrong for isolating himself from his fellow spoiled gods?



It is a question that burned in my mind as I flipped through each page. Patrick Zircher wears both hats of pencil and inks for this story and his work really comes to life, abandoning the page flipping format each section is a two-page layout that allows Zircher to depict the vast openness of the Asgard terrain and the magnitude in which these Norse Gods are living. While the idea of them being the sole gods in the Marvel universe comes across somewhat flippantly in Fraction’s writings it does well addressing the decadence the Asgardian’s find them.



The initial pages deal with how the Asgardian’s are capable of maintaining their power through the apples of the Yggsadril tree (If I misspelled that then shoot me) and Enchantress be such a vital member of the Asgardian’s way of life as she is the only one capable of picking the apples. Right away Fraction gets into showing how distant Thor is from the other Asgardian’s. Thor’s will not be a glutton with his apples; instead he saves them and hordes his share in his own place where he dwells most of the time with his concubines unless he is hunting. Later on we get Odin begging to Thor for the sakes of the other gods for them to share in his fruits he has saved up. Thor even requires Odin to all but grovel to save Enchantress from a frost giant, the major plot point of the issue.



All in all the issue was magnificent and got off to a good start. I can’t say where the story will go and how it will be received by fans and new readers because it is Thor and it is so different than the Thor Straczynski is currently writing about in the mainstream. Despite my lack of enjoyment for Djurdjevic’s work in the ongoing Thor series, I thought he did a wonderful job with the cover; it is definitely a cover favorite of mine now.



I am looking forward to the next issue Thor, Reign of Blood. Hopefully, Fraction stays on track and picks up the pace. I really love the two-page layout and hope that is not abandoned as well.


I know I have been promising and promising to get back on track with VS Reflections Thor and I will, but with all the MUN preview cards that have been flooding the various blogs around the web it has been difficult, not to mention GTA IV has taken up a fair share of my time. Next week is huge for comic reviews, so check back for Nova #13 which should be exciting as Galactus and his Herald, Silver Surfer enter the picture, Cable #3, Mighty Avenger #13 Secret Invasion tie-in, Secret Invasion #2, The start of the ongoing review of Moon Knight #18, check back for a catch-up on all Moon Knight this weekend and more…



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MUN PREVIEW: Frog of Thunder



It seems fitting that this card would be previewed today on the day when i would review the Thor, Ages of Thunder #1 issue. WHy? Well for those of you who do not know this was a very "real" instance in the history of Thor. Loki managed this feat after he, Odin and Thor battled Surtur. Using the draining powers of Surturs sword Loki managed to change Thor into a frog. He returned to form later when Volstagg a member of the warriors three stopped the draining power of Surturs sword.

This card i am happy to see for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is that it gives me hope, hope that the Asgardians in some form or the other will appear in the Marvel Universe set and hopefully Thor will have a bigger impact than Thor, Cyborg Clone.

The second reason is this card is not a bad effect. As detailed on rorscachinkblog.wordpress.com this card can be very useful in dealing with some rather annoying characters you would prefer not to see on the board such as those annoying beefed up Jean Grey's, Beast Boy's and any other character that is taking full advantage of pesky +1/+1 counters. How about dealing with Punisher and his sniper counters or Winter Soldier and his sniper counters. It has many uses and i think we will see this card see some play in some very inventive deck builds.

The on thing that worries me about the card is although it has the flavor text and picture text of all things Asgardian i would love to see in the game is it is not team stamped in anyway, nor is it character stamped even though we know this is only a feat Loki accomplished, here is to hoping...

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