Thor #7 - Review

Thor #7 - Written by Jason Aaron, Art by Russell Dauterman with Color by Matthew Wilson

Rating: 4/5.

Looking through my stack of comics for this week, Thor #7 was easily the one I was picking up first.

It feels right that Thor originated in "Journey into Mystery" because the most interesting part of this book has been the mystery. Who is the new Thor? Is she someone we know? It's not Jane Foster, it's not Angela, it's not Frigga. WHO ARE YOU?! But I digress. That kind of excitement? That need to get the next issue? THAT'S what most books are missing these days.

As far as that mystery is concerned, we open up on a scene that almost gives us an answer. Issue #6 left a cliffhanger that left us believing it was Roz Solomon, environmental activist and Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She's fighitng for the earth, a noble and selfless cause. Does that make her worthy? It certainly makes her a possibility, and a lesser known character might be a good way to go since we don't want to give up other characters who are busy doing stuff elsewhere. But of course we stop short of actual confirmation. We come so close (literally her standing over the hammer) that I almost think it's a misdirect.

We do get an awesome splash page at the end of the book. Odinson comes across the rainbow bridge with a team that is more or less comprised of every Thor suspect (other than Roz). Let's run through who's there. We've got Odinson, Frigga, Sif, Angela, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Scarlett Witch, Lorelai, Enchantress, and two other Asgardian women I can't confidently identify (Broonhilde and Hildegarde?).

They're all there to backup Thor as she faces the Destroyer. I'll be honest, although this is a cool visual, I don't really like the story that it presents. I get calling in back up, and I love that Odinson, Frigga, Sif, etc come to help but... why is Widow there? Why Jessica Drew? Captain Marvel's dealing with her own stuff (not to mention the Black Vortex), so why is she chosen to show up over say Iron Man or Wolverine? I'm all for the female empowerment at the center of this book, playing against Odin's misogyny makes for great character drama. That's part of why I started reading Thor again when this volume started. But when the only motivation for a character to be part of a team is that she's a woman... is that really moving things forward? Black Widow is a great spy and an amazingly deep character. She can hold her own in a fight, but is she going to be any help against The Destroyer? Probably not. We'll see how that unfolds next issue I suppose.

As for the rest of the story. The fight was cool. There were times that I legitimately thought this might be the end of our Thor and that Odin might get the hammer back. The psychopath duo of Roxxon and Malekith were in full insanity force when they slaughter a bunch of innocent fairies. The guys are nuts (N-V-T-S nuts!)

Overall it was solid outing with Thor. We're journeying ever closer to this mystery's answer and rumor has it issue #8 will finally give us an answer. If it does turn out to be Agent Solomon, the environmentalist superhero battling the corporate Minotaur Roxxon, could be a great dynamic. But we'll see... only time will tell.