A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
For the first time since Avengers: Endgame we know what the outline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will look like through 2021. In a blend of unmitigated excitement and reaction to 8 million requests for related reading orders (which I have for every Phase 4 movie outlined! Planning!), I’ve put together a reading companion for all of Phase 4.
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[Read more…] about The Road to MCU Phase 4! Reading Companion For Every Movie & Show!Thor wastes absolutely no time in teaching you how to watch.
Whereas most action movies would spend a full two hours building to a confrontation between the God of Thunder and Surtur (aka Asgard’s DOOM!), Ragnarok barely wastes five minutes. Even then, Surtur’s realm-conquering monologing is record-scratched over and over by some semi-predictable gags.
At the end of the day, that’s the magic of Thor: Ragnarok. Even in a land replete with gods, absolutely nothing is sacred. [Read more…] about Thor Ragnarok Review: Hey Man, It’s The Best Marvel Movie This Year
Modern Thor reading order! Loki! Angela! Kid Loki! Lady Sif! The Warriors Three (sometimes four)! And oh yeah… The Mighty Thor!
If you’ve ever wanted to explore the God of Thunder, you won’t find a better guide to Asgard. So be it!
Jason Aaron has been writing Thor since 2012’s Thor: God of Thunder, now with a legacy that covers close to 75 issues.
I wrote recently that Brian Michael Bendis has built a deceptively lengthy Iron Man run over this same time period, but apart from Dan Slott’s stranglehold on Amazing Spider-Man, Aaron’s ties to Thor are one of the longest running arcs in Marvel Comics. [Read more…] about I Can Legacy Clearly Now #12 – Mighty Thor #700: The Victory Lap
In a week already overbrimming with Gods of Thunder, the team of monthly Thor shrugs off an additional internet spoiler leak and still stands worthy. In the vacuum of the moment, that kind of pre-emptive takeaway could prove damaging- to a lesser work. Fortunately, the regulars yield anything but, turning out a superlative concluding chapter.
Before reaching “the big finale”, writer Jason Aaron crams a lot into the proceedings. The forward half is the culmination of a two issue stand-off against the Asgardian Destroyer (the time-honored rite of passage for any Thor). While it is unabashedly a straight-forward fight sequence (okay, there is much bash), artist Russell Dauterman cuts loose with a lot of non-standard, angular layouts. It really helps convey the melee’s chaos- multiple powered combatants against a singular opponent forcing them all to constantly stay on the move. Kin. Et. Ic!
Assisting in so small way to the dizzying visuals is color artist, Matthew Wilson. Throughout the issue, as well as the entire current volume, Wilson runs the entire palette from cold to lush and vibrant to washed-out. He also displays skills at stopping on a dime, switching-up and juxtaposing mood and lighting like nobody’s business. Sometimes this magic even occurs within the same panel!
Despite the fight’s anti-climactic finish (Odin realizes he’s just really old and out of touch, calling it), there’s a lot of justifiable and genuine fist-pumppery. That being said, the back-half is where things start to hit critical mass. Aside from the pronounced framing of the crescendo, the other transitions do little to actually resolve anything. At best, everything is brought to a broil if only to be left to simmer for the duration of this summer’s Secret Wars event.
In that, there is reassurance. Jason Aaron shows no signs of abating his plans because all of creation, including Asgard’s cosmology, has Katamari garbage-balled into Battleworld. The current chapter may be over but going forward, knowing who wields the hammer makes everything that much more compelling. The Odinson will always have his name but the new Thor’s place is foreseeably secured.
