Best of Marvel: Week of February 12th, 2020

Best of this Week: Thor #3 – Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino

Thor has lived for a millennium and has fought in thousands, if not millions, of battles… but the one he will remember most was against his brother in arms: Beta Ray Bill.

That’s the tale that Donny Cates is spinning as we see the fallout from the last issue of Thor as Beta Ray Bill comes to find his brother standing side by side with the Eater of Worlds, Galactus. Their stare down is intense and readers can feel the vortex of thoughts in both of their minds. Nic Klein and Matt Wilson frame their confrontation excellently with a pulled out shot, showing them both with Bill floating hesitantly and Thor standing still, unaffected by Bill’s appearance. In the background looms the World Eater with neon oranges coloring his body while all of them are in space.

Cates does an amazing job of portraying Bill as someone who cares for his people, specifically Thor, given Odin and the Thunder God gave him a home and people after Galactus destroyed his. He tells Thor that he will have his revenge against Galactus for corrupting his brother’s honor and attempts to strike the Thunder God. Unfortunately for him, with the Power Cosmic, Thor backhands Beta Ray Bill into the recently destroyed planet of Clypse.

It’s an excellent show of power as Thor barely moves an inch and as Bill crashes, Klein draws an excellent pair of panels showing Bill being flung into the ruins of the planet, with Wilson offering amazing and dynamic oranges for the subsequent explosion and an awesome DOOM lettering from Joe Sabino as Bill hits the surface. The next panel shows Bill trying to stand with his armor and helmet in absolute tatters. Thor then comes to him and says that in the past they were equals, but with the Power Cosmic and his new All-Father abilities, he is far beyond what he was.

This is absolutely true as well. In their first meeting in The Mighty Thor #337 (1983), Bill was able to overpower Thor and use Mjolnir as a weapon against the Thunder God, thinking he was a threat to Bill’s fellow Korbinites. Soon after, the pair became the greatest of allies, even brothers when Odin forged a new hammer for Beta Ray Bill called Stormbreaker and allowed him to fight through the cosmos as an Ally of Asgard. However, it has been quite a few years since then and Thor himself has gone above and beyond his capabilities from their first meeting.

In the almost forty years since that story, Thor has beaten the Mangog and Thanos back-to-back (Thor, 1998), knocked out the Phoenix Force (Avengers vs. X-Men, 2012), fought back against the forces of the Collecter for a straight two years in order to reach a hammer from another universe (The Unworthy Thor, 2016) and repelled an interdimensional invasion from Malekith the Accursed (War of the Realms, 2019). He is now the All-Father of Asgard as well and Bill has lagged behind.

Thor tries to calm his brother by using the Thunder to transform into his non-Power Cosmic form, showing Bill that he is completely in charge of his own decisions. Wilson does an awesome job of using blue to contrast the raging fires of Clypse and Thor looks absolutely heroic and badass in his new costume with his regular, non-glowing, hair. Galactus blasts at Thor, telling him that he is not above the Power Cosmic, but Thor overpowers him with Mjolnir alone as the scene is colored with intense white and purple hues.

Bill calls Thor a traitor for choosing to help Galactus and gives the Thunder God a nice whack across the face that BOOMs out in his anger. Beta Ray Bill is angry and where he might have been holding back before, he questions Thor’s integrity for siding with a monster like Galactus and the two have a savage fight against each other. It’s intense and paints their formerly friendly rivalry in a new and painful light as every strike is filled with venom, rage and anguish. Both men even have great points during the fight as they speak between punches and hammer swings.

Bill tells Thor that he is a king and he has an army at his very command. He could have sent forces to the edge of the universe and fought to his last to stop the Black Winter from taking another Universe. The most powerful line comes when Bill says, “You could have come to ME!” and this hits far harder than every thunderous blow the pair have made to each other. Thor did have options and he always has his brother as the two have fought side by side through worse.

Thor needed Bill’s help when Asgard was about to crash into the Earth during Secret Invasion (2008) and Bill even offered Thor Stormbreaker when the Thunderer found himself Unworthy. Bill has always been there when Thor has needed him, but this time Thor has chosen to go to the shadows rather seek help from his friends in the light.

Thor owns up to the fact that he has to become something almost evil because there’s a far larger picture that Bill isn’t seeing however. The Black Winter has destroyed Universes and it will destroy this one too unless Thor allows Galactus to consume the planets that he’s heralding him to. Thor understands the responsibilities he has as King of Asgard and he is completely right. Bill is an idealist in this situation, but realistically Galactus, having survived the previous Winter, is their last hope (at least until something better comes along later down the line).

After smacking each other around for several pages, Thor attempts to throw Mjolnir at Bill and the Korbinite catches it, trying to keep it away from Thor. The Thunder God attempts to call it back, threatening to take Bill’s arm if he keeps fighting against him, but Bill does not relent. Klein frames this as not just a struggle of power, but of honor. Thor initially stands firm, trying to reason with Beta Ray Bill, but Bill is steadfast and struggles against the weight of Thor’s power. We get a pulled in shot of Bill holding on through sheer will before he tells Thor that he truly is unworthy of Mjolnir.

Klein then gives us an amazing shot of Thor lowering his head, a moment of pained realization as Bill’s words strike him to the core as he’s unable to say a word against it. But it is for only a moment as Thor then calls Stormbreaker to his hand and we get an almost heartbreaking and powerful double page spread that is best read for yourself.

Overall, this was yet another phenomenal issue of Thor in what I believe is an absolutely worthy successor to Jason Aaron’s years long epic with only three issues released so far. Donny Cates understands the sheer power that these characters wield and scripts them to great effect. He also understands their personalities and strives to give us a badass story that leans on Marvel’s past while also creating a new history in the process. I honestly haven’t felt this energized about a Thor story since The Unworthy Thor almost four years ago and I feel the same gravitas from this story as I did from that one.

Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino absolutely pull this issue together with their excellent pencils, colors and lettering respectively. Klein has an excellent eye for scale and fight scenes in particular which gives this book a grander feel while also highlighting the brutality that Thr and Bill are capable of as warriors. Wilson accentuates Klein’s lines with stunning colors that pop off of the pages and create the intensity and heat from the raging fires and crackling lightning. Sabino places word balloons and sound effects to give the book a voice and sound for every hard hitting action or line of dialogue.

With all of them together, this book is the Perfect Storm of what a great Thor comic can be and the awesome potential of singular events taking place in one issue. So far, I’m absolutely enthralled with this book and the cliffhanger from this issue absolutely ensures that I’ll be back for more – High Recommend.

Best of Marvel: Week of January 1st, 2019

Best of this Week: Thor #1 – Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino

What a Thunderous way to begin the New Year! What better way to celebrate than with a glorious new #1 for the new King of Asgard helmed by the ever amazing Donny Cates, Nic Klein and Matt Wilson with awesome letters by Joe Sabino! This book hit so many good notes and lets me breathe knowing that one of Marvel’s most storied characters is continuing to be in good hands, especially after such an epic run by the awesome Jason Aaron.

The book begins with an amazing splash page of Mjolnir flying through space and then crossing into each of the Ten Realms as someone narrates Thor’s rise as the new King. It’s a beautiful sequence that alludes to the millennia of war between the realms, culminating in Malekith’s Invasion of them all very recently. Klein and Wilson treat the reader to a variety of landscapes from the bright pinks of Alfheim to the cold blues of Jotunheim. The pair do an amazing job characterizing these locales through visuals alone.

Of course, the reasoning behind the monologue and the throw itself is a show of force. Under Odin, the Realms fought each other as they pleased. Asgard was left in ruins because the All-Father was too stubborn to try and rally his people during Malekith’s Invasions. Under Thor, that would not be the case. As Mjolnir cracks through each Realm, without any of them hearing his words, they know to listen and fear him because of his power. This epic opening climaxes with Mjolnir crashing through the head of some monster the Avengers were fighting before Thor calls it back with a smirk from Asgard.

It is at this point that we finally see Thor, months after the War of the Realms. He is gruff, his hair and beard have grown out again and we learn through Tony Stark sharpie-ing a message on Mjolnir that Thor has retired. Sif the All-Seeing reiterates this as she informs the reader that Thor’s smiting days are over and that he must go and be King.

This is…saddening in all honesty. Thor has spent many a lifetime fighting, drinking and avoiding his destiny for so long. He has always wanted to be king, but even as he walks down the Rainbow Bridge back to New Asgard, he looks as if there’s nothing but melancholy about him. The way that Klein frames this panel makes it seem as if there’s a wide divide between Thor and Asgard. The Realm flourishes now that life has been brought to it under Yggdrasil, but Thor is bored.

As he takes a seat on his new throne, we’re shown just how different he is to Odin. Instead of a shimmering palace, Odin’s hall is made of wood and stone because of the World tree with a rune etched just above his seat: Thurisaz, a symbol of defense and destruction (as the book describes) and perfectly fitting of the warrior king. He ushers his court out of his presence and sighs as he prepares to speak to his people and Loki appears from the shadows.

The brothers relationship here is far more confrontational than I would have expected. Granted, I didn’t read the Loki mini-series, so I don’t know if the Trickster did something to draw his brother’s ire. Thor is very terse with the King of Jotunheim and even throws Mjolnir in slight fury after Loki notes that Thor had to grunt when he lifted the hammer, something he’s never done before and a black portent for Thor’s future. Loki didn’t come out with any of his normal witticisms which was unexpected, but Cates does hint that there a potentially big things in store for the brothers through some narration.

Thor had been meant to speak to his people following the restoration of Asgard, but just as he’s about to regale his people of the new era of peace, his nervous butterflies turn to abject horror as a one armed Galactus crashes into Asgard, right on top of the Asgardians. Nic Klein and Matt Wilson spare no expense in making this one of the most epic double page spreads imaginable.

Galactus face of pain and sends a shiver down the spine as one wonders what could possibly have sent him crashing in the way that he did. The debris, people and smoke fly around the edges of the pages as Galactus’ impact and the snow that follows him creates a sense of unease. Klein makes sure that the reader can feel the weight of the crash and Sabino accentuates it with his EXCELLENT “KRAKOOOMM” sound effect. Wilson excellently blends Galactus varying purple tones to the fire just behind his head to create a sense of extreme heat. Klein creates a grand sense of scale as Thor appears miniscule to both Galactus and the incoming threat.

Not knowing what the hell had just occurred, Thor leaps a Galactus with every intention of sending him to Hel herself until the Eater of Worlds pleads with him to stop, warning him of something called “The Great Black Winter.” Part of said Winter had followed Galactus and caused the skies of Asgard to be cursed with rain and The World Tree began to turn black and die. Thor then calls previous Heralds of Galactus to see what is going on. At the table sits Firelord, Cosmic Ghost Rider and others until the Silver Surfer arrives, still black and intangible (See Silver Surfer: Black).

Thor is angry and demands answers which the Surfer is able to provide. We learn that The Great Black Winter was the event that destroyed the Universe before the one we know today and that the Surfer had hidden away powerful planets for Galactus to consume precisely for this occasion. Cates has done an amazing job in building a new lore and power scale for the Silver Surfer in particular as normally he’d have no secrets from his master.

As Thor dons his vestments of war, he thinks back to Sif and Loki’s words of his bygone days as a warrior. It’s a powerful set of panels as Thor seemed ready to enjoy his days of peaceful boredom. He grunts like an older man only snapping his cape on, but that doesn’t stop his kingly heart as when he approaches Galactus, he commands the World Eater to kneel to him. As The Surfer fills Galactus in on his plan, Galactus tells all about what lies in the void of the Great Black Winter; The form of ones own true death. Galactus reveals that he had gazed into it twice. First he saw the void because he couldn’t father the future things that he would see and next… he saw Thor.

The revelation comes as a shock to everyone as Galactus then blasts Thor with an immense amount of energy. Kein and Wilson make sure to shower the pages with bright light, intense lines and posing until revealing Thor: Herald of Thunder, similar to the cover of the book with Thurisaz as the new symbol of his chest.

Donny Cates has a particular style when he writes. He scripts grand moments interlaced with shorter ones that build character. It worked when we got into the psyche of the Silver Surfer as he explored the primordial state of being and Thanos as he watched a future where he had killed all of life. Cates has an affinity for the cosmic characters and it shows as he’s taken the reigns of Thor and reminds us of why he and his lore have been able to capture our imaginations for so long.

Thor has the ability to transverse the Ten Realms, the entire universe if he wishes, but even he suffers the melancholy of duty and boredom. He is a warrior at heart and he needs a great battle to fight in or he loses a part of himself that kept him motivated. With that in mind, Cates is looking to take Thor on a grand adventure in the stars with a buffed powerset that hopefully will expand on his greater strength in the Old King Thor future.

Nic Klein and Matt Wilson make all of this possible however with their amazing art. Klein is easily able to get into the groove of drawing these vast environments, amazingly dynamic poses and heavily expressive faces. Wilson brings it all to life with beautiful and vibrant colors that make you feel as though you’re in there, interacting with the characters. Without them, this wouldn’t feel as epic as it does.

This was a very explosive issue and I’m absolutely excited for the future of this series as I have been with all of Cates’ other work up to this point. It’s definitely a high recommend from me for a promising story and absolutely fantastic art!

Best of Marvel: Week of December 18th, 2019

Best of this Week: King Thor #4 – Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, Joe Sabino and a Cadre of Guest Artists and Colorists

Seven Years.

Seven years that Jason Aaron has been the primary writer of one of Marvel’s most popular heroes – redefining his history, character and just about everything we knew about the God of Thunder, Asgard and everything within the Norse plane of Marvel’s universe. It has had it’s ups and downs, but through it all, Jason Aaron and his various art teams have stuck things out to tell an amazing story that will be regarded as some of the most important and game changing material in Thor’s publication history.

This final issue of King Thor ends where it all egan, with Gorr the Godbutcher and his fight against the God of Thunder, both of them now at their most powerful. Immediately, the weight of the situation can be felt as Ribic gives us a beautiful double page splash of Thor smacking away debris as he approaches Gorr the Necroplanet. Ribic paints this scene with Gorr’s enormous eyes staring holes into Thor, accentuated by Ive Svorcina’s amazing purple glows as he looks on with anger. The entire scene is coated in the same hue with Thor furiously fighting his way to his much larger enemy.

Aaron writes captions calling Thor Ragnarok, giving him many nicknames – Thor the All-Butcher, the Annihilagod, The END-FATHER as his lightning reverberates across the cosmos, destroying everything in the way of him and Gorr. He notes how easy it is for Thor to destroy things and furthers the idea that’s plagued Thor for centuries; that Gorr was right the entire time. This simple truth has been hanging over Thor’s head since the end of the Original Sin (2014) event which saw Nick Fury whisper those very words into Thor’s ear, making the Odinson into the Unworthy Thor. At the end of Time, it still echoes in his mind.

Gorr, however, revels in his newfound necro powers. He has become death and welcomes the end of all things, especially the last of the Gods including Loki, Thor and the Granddaughters of Thunder. His mission has been one of destruction since his introduction way back in Thor: God of Thunder #2 (2013). He had systematically killed as many gods as he could before his supposed last confrontation with Thor in the Godbomb storyline. In the midst of this battle he nearly swallows Thor whole.

Gloriously, Loki rides into the fight on Toothgnasher, one of Thor’s trusty goats, and does his best to distract Gorr in his own way. Even though the God of Mischief is blinded by the darkness, he still has his tongue and taunts Gorr while Thor fights his way through the darkness. An Unseen narrator speaks about Thor’s own fights with depression over his worthiness. How he wished to one day be able to conquer his demons, but learned that it’s a constant battle that he would learn to live with and channel into his own Storm.

We get another double page spread with Thor’s lightning escaping the blackness of Planet Gorr, cracking dead planets in half as Loki looks on with laughter. Ribic and Svorcina work together seamlessly to make this entire battle seem epic. Thor’s centuries of Rage spring forth and in an excellently colored flash of blue, Thor destroys Gorr with his Storm. However…the cost of this action was immense as the Sun remains black and the edges of the universe are collapsing.

Before we reach the final conclusion, we get a short segment between the Lord Librarian and Shadrak, two characters from the God of Thunder run, as Lord Librarian chastises Shadrak for allowing a set of books to fall. However, upon seeing that they were a bunch of Thor stories, he tells Shadrak that some of the books are old stories and stories untold. We then get a montage from a bunch of Marvel artists of various possible stories for the God of Thunder and the final conclusions for present day character like Baldur, Jane Foster Valkyrie and Sif the All-Seeing.

Back to the far future, however, we learn that Loki thrust himself into the dead sun and began to speak into it, bringing the fires back to life with his many stories to tell. Unfortunately, the edges of the universe forever remain frayed, so Thor has one final thing to do. He whispers final words to Mjolnir, embraces his grand daughters with tears all around and boards a ship to stave off the collapse of the Universe with his Storm.

This was certainly the perfect way to end an awesome run with the character. Jason Aaron reinvigorated Thor even after great series by J. Michael Straczynski and Matt Fraction. Aaron pulled almost everything from his run back into the King Thor storyline and the War of the Realms event that preceded it. This book gave us a final ending for the Old God of Thunder that we’ve been waiting for since he was first glimpsed in the beginning of Aaron’s story.

As Always Ribic reminds us that he’s worth all of the money as his art stuns here as it always has when he’s worked on Thor. His lines are smooth, thick and he puts insane amounts of detail into characters and debris. Everything he draws has a sense of floatiness to it that would be detrimental to other artists, but he used it as an advantage to also display the weight of the situation and the Godly nature of the battle taking place.

Ive Svorcina was the perfect colorist for this because his colors give this entire story an air of bleakness up until Thor’s final victory. His purples are hazy and his blues show the strength of the Thunder. When the time comes for Thor to fight off the darkness, he appears as a glorious shining beacon as the blue shines on him.

With Donny Cates run on Thor coming next year, he has big shoes to fill after seven years of pretty good story telling. Jason Aaron and his team knocked everything out of the park with this final issue of King Thor and I can’t wait to see what’s next for him as well as his continuing runs on Avengers and Conan the Barbarian. High recommend!

Best of Marvel: Week of November 20th, 2019

Best of this Week: Captain Marvel #12 (Legacy #146) – Kelly Thompson, Lee Garbett, Tamra Bonvillain and Clayton Cowles

Captain Marvel is supposed to be Earth’s Mightiest Hero.

She recently just fought off Star, a new”hero” siphoning off her power, while dealing with the world calling her a traitor when her Kree DNA came to light to the world. Because of only one little girl protecting her, she was able to defeat Star and regained the love of humanity. After the battle, she breathes a sigh of relief that they saw her in a good light again, but wondered about their fickle nature and if they’d eventually turn on her again. So it begs the question, what happened to her?

This issue begins with Carol barreling towards the Earth, her inner monologue talking about never knowing what’s waiting and how preparing for things is pointless. We see Thor picking the mounds of snow off of Avengers Mountain when suddenly someone comes crashing into him; that someone being Captain Marvel, clad in all black with a mask now adorned with a bright red Kree Star on it. She knocks Thor into another mountain and depressingly muses that she always thought that she’d be the hero in the end.

Thor soon calls Mjolnir and cracks the helmet off of her face with an amazing shot by Garbett and Bonvillain. The lightning cracks so smoothly with all of the impact of a thundercrack as Carol is sent flying back, revealing her face to the God of Thunder. It’s an amazing visual made even more powerful when Thor towers above her, ready to strike again, but finally sees that it is in fact his teammate. His face turns from anger to concern and she apologizes before blasting him in the chest.

The next few pages see Carol and Thor fighting their way through just about everywhere. They make arenas of Greenland, Manitoba, Kansas, California and Mexico all the while a gorgeous splash page acts as their background. Carol and Thor are locked in a battle of wills, thunder crackles from Mjolnir and bother of them look at each other with rage on their faces. Thor looks far more imposing, but Carol is able to hold her own against him. It’s the fight I’ve always known I’ve wanted to see! Though of course the tables get turned when Thor overpowers her and calls the lightning down.

Thor continues to plead with her, asking her to stand down, knowing that she cannot defeat him while he wields Mjolnir and she even acknowledges this to be true before blasting the hammer away. Thor believes this to be a trivial act before Mjolnir is sent across the cosmos and doesn’t return, allowing Carol to take advantage, giving Thor everything she’s got. I can’t even describe the page and give it the credit it deserves.

Bonvillain’s colors are amazingly well done and help to make Captain Marvel look like an evil firebird, almost like her Binary form, but more controlled. Bonvillain’s excellent use of yellows and oranges gives these scenes some powerful heat, especially as Garbett makes Captain Marvel look like a force to be reckoned with. She’s absolutely terrifying with all of her power and the black face paint around her eyes. Her new costume design was amazing as well, cause I’m a basic guy and love red and black color schemes. I love the torn sash, the red line down her arms and the Kree star aligned to the left side of her costume.

In a shocking twist, after Thor’s defeat, we see Carol delivering his head to Vox Supreme, possibly the new leader of The Kree people following Donny Cates’ Death of the Inhumans storyline as the Vox were introduced there. However, I honestly do not think that Thor, nor any of the impending deaths in this arc will stick or will be real in the first place. Though, I do have to say that this story has me very intrigued. I want to know what’s going on with Carol, why has she aligned herself with Vox and what does all of this have to do with the Kree?

Throughout the book, Carol notes that she doesn’t want to do this. In her mind, it’s something she has to do and asks Thor and presumably the other Avengers to forgive her for all of the things that she’s going to. I like the seeds of mystery that Kelly Thompson is sowing here as we are given almost no answers as to what happened between issues eleven and twelve to get us here. I also like that she chose to have Carol fight Thor, the “Strongest” Avenger, first. This showcases Carol’s strength and gives us the impression that maybe the other Avengers will be easier pickings…save for She-Hulk.

After the roller coaster that the last arc was, I can only hope that this one will live up to that and show just how fearsome Captain Marvel could be if she turned evil. She’s got the strength, but does she have the mean streak to go through with it through her Avengers team?

Best of Marvel: Week of June 5th, 2019

Runner Up: The War of the Realms #5 – Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Matthew Wilson and Joe Sabino

There aren’t many other words to describe this issue other than EPIC.

The War of the Realms is in full swing and the forces of Midgard are mounting their comeback! Thanks to the work of Shuri, communications are restored, allowing the various heroes of Earth to coordinate their actions, allowing for everyone to be teleported to areas that need them the most.

This leads to various amazing shots drawn by Russell Dauterman. The visual of Black Panther on a winged horse as Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight off the Angels of Heven is the background is stunning, Captain Britain and Captain America fighting off Dark Elves to the shores of France is amazingly inspiring and watching Wolverine be welcomed into the Warriors Three by Hogun and Fandral as he tears through Muspelheim’s demons is brutal and hilarious.

Not only these moments, but the ones that are even longer look badass! Watching Volstagg return to his normal self as he dons the Destroyer Armor to fight Kurse is awesome because he shows that he’ll never give up, even while suffering from his injuries against The Mangog. Frank Castle leading the Light Elves of Alfheim, wielding GUNS to fight the dark elves is AMAZING. And watching Roz Solomon and Jane Foster team up to fight Dario Agger, giving him the comeuppance he deserves is so fulfilling.

While all of this war is going on, Thor is being ferried to the World Tree, Yggdrasil, by Daredevil. Surprisingly, it has been surviving on the surface of the sun as a seed of it was on Asgardia when it was being destroyed. To attain knowledge of how to win the war, Thor has Daredevil pin him to the tree in a fashion similar to when his father hung himself on the tree for seven years or so(?).

He returns in a series of shots, thunder rumbling as he crashes through the enemy forces, looking for Malekith. Hoping to mark the end of a rivalry that’s been years in the making.

Because of the vast nature of this book and its extra size, there’s so much to cover, but the main points are there. This is a Thor story, but it’s a Marvel Event. An initial criticism that I had was that it did not feature Thor enough, casting him away to fight Frost Giants in Jotunheim for most of it, but honestly that’s a good thing.

If Thor had remained, then we wouldn’t have gotten the struggles that all of these heroes had to face while going up against Thor’s magic nonsense. It’s been a wild ride seeing Daredevil as The God Without Fear, seeing him use powers and a newfound sight to fight the forces of evil. Watching Frank Castle’s profile raise CONSIDERABLY because of how integral to the War he has been is something else entirely. Most importantly, watching Black Panther coordinate everything alongside Lady Freyja cements him as a leader right on par with Steve Rogers.

When Malekith took Thor’s arm back in 2014, no one knew that the villain would grow into such a huge threat this many years later, except for Jason Aaron. The War of the Realms is the culmination of everything that he’s been building since 2012’s Thor: God of Thunder. It’s been a WILD and fun ride throughout and this penultimate issue has me salivating for the epic final confrontation between the Accursed and The Unworthy.

Best of Marvel: Week of May 22nd, 2019

Best of this Week: War of the Realms – Land of Giants #1 – Tom Taylor, Jorge Molina, Adriano di Benedetto, David Curiel and Joe Sabino

Leave it to Tom Taylor and Spider-Man to make me almost tear up about horses.

An upside and downside to these one-shot team up books is that they put on very unexpected teams together. The Darkforce Avengers are okay, but the War Avengers are just awful. The team sent out to rescue Thor, consisting of Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, however, are perfect. These guys know each other and play off of each other very well, making them an impressively cohesive unit.

Spider-Man sits at the heart of this team, acting as the narrator and the only one that chooses not to kill the Frost Giants. Everyone else does of course, and this even affects their weapon choices later in the book. Cap takes Thor’s axe, Iron Fist takes twin swords, Luke takes a hammer, Wolverine is his weapon and Spider-Man takes a shield and Wolverine gives him a helmet.

Each man mounts a flying horse and with Daredevil’s help, enter Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants. Immediately they’re attacked by archers who kill every horse aside from Spider-Man’s, who he has affectionately named Buttercup and protects with fury. After the fight, Spider-Man finds that the helmet allows him to communicate with Buttercup, revealing herself to be named Queen Arctorious, leader of the horses. She sends the group away to find Thor and says a prayer for her fallen comrades.

What Tom Taylor does especially well is weaving these somber moments into this action packed and sometimes jokey story. Spider-Man is written like a goof here, but when he needs to be serious, he’s treated as the most honorable and bravest of the team. The others are also written well enough with Luke and Danny being their monk and hard selves, Logan being the morbidly hilarious one and Cap taking the lead as always.

Coming upon Thor in a Berserker Rage, all of the team, sans Spider-Man, remark of times when they’ve gone into similar states of blind fury. They then help Thor tear through the armies of Frost Giants. Throughout the book, Jorge Molina struts his stuff as an artist alongside Curiel and Benedetto. While hits and falls don’t feel like they have the serious weight that they should, everything is beautiful to look at. Colors are bright and stand out greatly against the mostly white backgrounds and of course every hero is distinct by body type and fighting style. Even the art depicting the deaths of the horses is amazing.

The very end of the book is extremely heartbreaking and really makes this particular one-shot worth reading. While War of the Realms is very expansive and has to give a little bit of focus to everything going on at once, it is nice to have these stories being smaller scale. High recommend!