Thor: God of Thunder #25

by Kalem Lalonde on September 22, 2014

Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Various

Thor: God of Thunder #25 closes off this volume of Thor, paving way for a new one. Unfortunately, that’s close to all there is to it.

Thor: God of Thunder has been a great series. Godbomb and Last Days of Midgard were phenomenal while the Accursed was decent. Issue #25 closes off this era of Thor in disappointing fashion.

The issue revolves around 2 tales and one brief tease. The first of the stories is the origin of Malekith the Accursed. The tale itself was quite interesting, full of treachery, war and a macabre ending.  Portraying Malekith as a truly twisted and malevolent individual. His characterization was a tad insipid during his previous appearance in this series, but Aaron has crafted a very compelling backstory, enriching the character.

The second tale revolves around a young Viking Thor battling frost giants in Midgard. It has some interesting dialogue and some enjoyable character moments but the simplicity of it leaves you with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Its sole purpose is to set-up an upcoming storyline involving a skull that was lost at sea. This story serves no greater purpose and Aaron blatantly expresses this.  

The third could not be described as a story, whereas it’s a splash-page featuring the all-new female Thor.

These three tales are read to us by the future Thor’s granddaughters and while it is a joy to have them back. This expresses the comic’s main flaw. It doesn’t give Thor enough attention before his series changes protagonist. I would’ve liked to see Thor dealing with his unworthiness, exploring the emotional climax of the last 25 issues but this issue spends too much time with the supporting characters. It doesn’t feel like the end of an era, it feels like a casual transitional issue.

The art is also a mixed bag. Three different pencillers cover this issue. One of them is amazing, one is good and the other is quite mediocre. The former of the three (Ribic) is allocated a modicum of pages which leaves me disgruntled because he was the main artist throughout this series. The art for the Malekith story (Guera) was somber, dreary and portrayed Malekith’s world quite well. It added atmosphere which hence, bolstered the story. The final artist, Simon Bisley, came across as a problematic addition. His unstable and somewhat messy art detracted from an already flat story.

All in all, Thor: God of Thunder #25 closed off the series in disappointing fashion. Fortunately, a solid Malekith story and beautifully rendered pages by Esad Ribic saved the issue from becoming bad. Aaron has crafted a magnificent run with God of Thunder and instead of closes the volume off with a climax, he teased and set-up future storylines. In short, it's not the ending this series deserved.
 

Our Score:

6/10

A Look Inside