Secret Wars: Thors #1 - Review

Written by Jason Aaron. Pencils by Chris Sprouse. Inked by Karl Story. Colored by Marte Gracia.
Published by Marvel Comics; June 17th, 2015.
Rating: 4.5/5
Worth the $3.99?: Yep. If you're reading Secret Wars this is a great companion series.

If the main Secret Wars book is the Marvel to Game of Thrones than Thors is the Marvel Law and Order. That's right, if you wanted a cop drama where every police character is replaced by some crazy version of Thor than you've come to the right place.

Basic breakdown of the story, Thorlief or the "Ultimate Thor" as other members of the Thor Corps refer to him (try to guess which comic he hails from) and his partner Beta Ray Thor (aka Beta Ray Bill) are on the scene of a murder. As it turns out, this murder is the same as four others recently. The rest of the book follows a fairly standard cop-drama story (pissed off Chief, visit to the forensics lab, detective drinking when he's run out of answers, etc) except all layered with insane Thor references.

The book hits the stereotypical points of a serial killer drama right on the nose here, but that's a good thing. Keeping it in familiar territory let's the details of the mystery shine. Who are these women getting killed and why is someone going after them? We can focus more on how this all builds out the world of Secret Wars and the fun of the different Thors (Groot Thor FTW), because the baseline of the story is so familiar.

Of course, if you're going to start a Thor themed mystery it makes perfect sense to go to Jason Aaron (the writer behind the recent mystery of the new female Thor's identity) and he lays it out in a smart way. He builds a mystery of who these five women are and you never question that it's five different people, until he suggests they might all be the same person (something just plain old normal on Battleworld) and then it's the only possible conclusion. He also manages to end the book by answering part of the mystery (the identity of the victim), but leaving more mystery (the murderer's identity) to solve. It leaves the reader satisfied, but begging for more.

Now, let's take a look at the big twist at the end. (**SPOILERS FOR THORS and THOR #8 AHEAD**) We find out in the last moments that the victims are all various Jane Fosters. This is an obvious choice given that Jane is so central in the classic Thor stories, but it's a very interesting choice based on the recent revelation about Jane Foster being our new 616 Thor. My instinct says that these two things are directly related, the question is how. So let's play detective.

QUESTION: What motive could someone have for killing all of the Jane Fosters?

1. Maybe they are in love with Thor Odinson and are eliminating competition (I don't like this theory, but hey... no judgement in brainstorming). 
2. They are trying to eliminate Jane Thor and figure this is the best way to be sure.
3. A revenge plot against the Thors (we've seen that many people throughout the Battleworld hate them).
4. Trying to pull Thor Odinson (616) or Jane Thor into the open. 

Of those theories I'd have to say 2 is the strongest. Not only does it make sense to tie the current iteration of Thor into this book (she's the only one on the cover that doesn't appear in this issue), but it would feel downright wrong not to. This book seems to have every Thor ever (even Throg!) and leaving her out would feel like an oversight.

So who could it be? It would have to be someone who can cross borders undetected and if the above theory is true, would have to be someone who knows Jane's identity. Right now I see three options.

1. Loki - Loki is the last person we see with Beta Ray before he dies. Loki presumably tells Beta Ray that the women are Jane Fosters and that is why he gets killed. As the god of mischief, crossing borders seems like a cake walk for him, but I don't see the motive or how he would know about our main Jane. I think this is a red herring. 
2. Odin - In the main Thor book up until now, Odin has been the bad guy to Jane's Thor and it seems like it would fit to continue that storyline here. It wouldn't be the same grudge per se, but that hatred may carry over despite the lack of memories pertaining to why. Do I mean 616 Odin? Some other Odin? All the Odins? Great Odin's Raven, I have no idea. This is why Secret Wars is so damn complicated...
3. Doom - God-Doom is supposedly omnipotent on this world, or at least he claims to be. That seems like enough of a step that he would know Jane Thor's idenitity. In Secret Wars #3 we found out that Jane Thor was aboard the life raft with several of our other 616 heroes, but that doesn't mean that Doom hasn't been searching for her. Since she has been missing for so long, this could be his way of trying to find her and snuff her out. 

FUN STUFF WITHIN

Let's take a look at the most ridiculous Thors in this book (just 'cause it's hilarious and fun):

Odison makes a stink.

• Thorlief (Thor of the Ultimate Comics universe)
• Beta Ray Bill (Alien from 616)
• Ororo Stormbreaker (Of course Storm is a Thor...)
• Groot Thor (who could resist making a flying tree shout "I am Thor!")
• Throg (the Thors forensic scientist is a Frog carrying a hammer. Yes, yes to this all day.)
• Destroyer Thor (aka 'Stroyer. Yep, that's right: the Asgardian weapon The Destroyer has picked up a hammer of his own and now has a cape and winged helmet. Basically... run.)
• Old Man Thor (Thor of the future, this elderly man who lost his eye is that classic pissed off Chief of Police)
• Odinson (yep, if you look real close, it appears that the recently unworthy Odinson has been found on Battleworld, and all he wants is a drink. I'm glad he survived and found his way into at least a part of this book. His shouting about being proud of his unworthiness as freedom is interesting and even though it's not needed, I kinda hope we see him again soon. 

LONG STORY SHORT

Needless to say, I'm very into this story. I love a good comic book themed mystery and this has started out great. I'll be interested to see what Aaron does as the story unfolds and how he keeps the twists coming. The art here by Sparce, Story, and Gracia is great. It's nothing crazy or out there, but there are some absolutely beautiful scenes unfolding in these pages. 

What did you think? Who's your favorite Thor so far? Will you be back for issue 2? Sound off in the comments below and, if you're still reading here at the bottom of this, thanks for geeking out with me!