Thor #16 // Review
Odinson takes his throne in issue #16 of Thor, written by Jason Aaron, with art by Mike Del Mundo, and colors by Del Mundo and Marco D’Alfonso. But does he even care? Previously, Thor Odinson became worthy once again and resurrected his hammer Mjolnir just in time to end The War of the Realms waged by Malekith the Dark Elf. In the aftermath, he accepted taking on the role of All-Father, ruler of Asgard, from his father. Now, on the day of his coronation, he’s missing in action, more focused on helping the people. People of the Ten Realms that were devastated by the war than celebrating his new title.
While this issue serves up some nice character moments, it’s mostly the second part of an epilogue that could have been told in one chapter. Thor works to make amends for the war that raged over the Ten Realms. And shows that he’s going to give his all to be a good king, while Odin throws a fit over his son’s absence from his crowning. If the two chapters of this story had been combined, it would have been a pitch-perfect ending to Aaron’s run. But as they are, the latter half just seems like stretching the story to fill a quota or just overindulgence by the writer. It’s not a bad issue at all, but it does come across as filler in the second month.
Odin is the character that really shines this issue, though. He’s as angry, and boisterous, as ever, but underneath it, all is a proud father. Who just wants to show his son the love he has always denied him. Aaron has always excelled at writing both sides of the Thor/Odin relationship. His last issue of the ongoing series is no exception, even if the two characters never share the same panel. The next writer would do well to study his take on the subtleties of their complex relationship and build from there.
Del Mundo also exits the series this issue, teaming with D’Alfonso only on the colors. Unfortunately, the art suffers from a darker palette that makes it hard to tell one character from another at times. This is not typical of Del Mundo, and he has truly done masterful work on this series throughout his run, so it’s sad to see him go out on a sour note. Especially since there was barely a complaint to be had in any other aspect of this issue’s art.
Overall, if you’ve followed this title throughout Aaron’s run, and you read The War of the Realms, you could probably skip this issue. And still, feel pretty satisfied with what you read as an ending. If everything else is a tasty ice cream sundae, this issue serves as the cherry on top. It’s not necessary, and you wouldn’t necessarily miss it if it wasn’t there, but you wouldn’t complain about it being there, either.
