Tag: Matt Wilson

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!