Thor #1 spoilers

[PocketfulofKryptonite]

Magic can accomplish what an I-phone can manage?

It was upside down when Thor was trying to lift it. It's engraved in metal, it's not a phone screen. If you turn an engraved object upside down, the writing doesn't tend to turn itself over. So perhaps it's not actually Mjolnir and Nick Fury had a copy made and the engraver did the job wrong?

[Michael P]

How the hell is Thor's secret ID suddenly a man? Its like Superman and Clark Kent splitting up and leading different lives.

I remember that story. Waid's JLA. Good times.

[DurararaFTW]

Yeah, Odin not being able to lift it certainly requires a good explanation in the end, but I'm fairly confident that Aaron will provide one. He's clearly aware that Odin has always been able to command the hammer in the past, since after all Odin himself is flabbergasted that he can't do so now. Of course, some still won't be happy when the explanation is provided, either because they'll feel that whatever character or power is responsible is not at Odin's level, or because they won't acknowledge any entity up to and including the Living Tribunal or One Above All being able to pull this off, but that's on them. If it turns out that the All-Mother is capable of altering Odin's enchantments, but just hasn't displayed the ability before this, I for one will have no problem with it.

And I like it, too... Odin's hypocrisy in demanding humility of his son when he has none of his own does get tired. That brings to mind my favorite candidate for the new Thor, even above the obvious Jane Foster - Judith, Odin's friend from when he was wandering the Earth as the amnesiac Uncle Jesse lookalike Orin. Judith, whom Odin even said when parting that he owed a debt of gratitude to - a debt that's never been paid, even by a moment's hesitation in Odin proposing to burn Midgard (with Judith on it) in Fear Itself. I would love it if the All-Mother had used Odin's acknowledged debt to Judith to use his own power to alter the enchantment so Judith could wield the hammer and become the new Thor.

Wouldn't it be better to just write him with some humility instead. Mjolnir's enchantments were suppose to help him be worthy of being Odin's heir. Odin himself not lifting it means he is thus not remotely worthy of being the All-Father. We can do something about that but given that Thor, Odin and Loki are the three most recognisable names of Norse Gods means he's gonna keep being mentioned. So write him with some respect, we'd really be none the worse for it.

[themortalfist]

Dauterman's art was brilliant. There were definitely hints of Quietly there. What's interesting is Thor's seen some of the most quioxotic art talents in recent years: Olivier Coipel, Esad Ribic and now Russ Dauterman. I don't think any solo Marvel book (obviously Avengers and X-Men have had a murderer's row of great artists) has had such a great run of artists over the last few years.

As for the story... the premise is interesting. Something is definitely wrong -- it could all be tied to Odin's return or it could be a wibbly wobbly timey wimey hammer thing. It could be anything but if even Odin -- who's been shown over the years as having absolute control of Mjolnir -- can't lift it, something is very wrong. People seem to think Fury whispered to Thor -- but Thor says Fury didn't really say anything -- so maybe he wasn't the intended audience. What if Fury was whispering to Mjolnir? This recalls that scene from the first Thor movie right as Odin/Tony Hopkins was in the midst of banishing Thor to Midgard -- Odin seemed not so much to be casting a spell as speaking to Mjolnir. He was talking quickly and in a soft voice... whispering?

Thing I didn't like: powering down Thor (again -- sigh). I thought Aaron was beyond this given that he had Old Thor kick Galactus' behind -- but it's a favorite trope among Thor writers. Now, Thor's supposedly lost a significant amount of his power without Mjolnir and he's some lesser warrior getting his mojo handed to him by Malekith -- certainly an insidious villain but not, I believe, all that capable of beating Thor even in a weakened state. In any case, I fully expect Marvel to retcon the whole arm thing at some point or fix it so that Thor gets his arm back -- if they can give Tony Stark a new ticker, they can certainly give Thor a new arm. Of course, everything's forgiven (as far as I'm concerned) if they let Thor wear his armor again (the Simonson-designed gold one -- I love that costume). Hey -- it was good for circumventing Hela's curse so why not a broken arm?

Having said that, I think the current storyline is the perfect opportunity for Thor to explore his elemental powers. Mjolnir was always supposed to be a kind of nexus for Thor's powers -- enabling him to channel his elemental powers in the same way Morpheus 'needed' his Eagle Stone (and other gems) to 'control' his dream powers. But to paraphrase what Dream said -- the gem was a kind of prison in itself.

Now that Thor's lost the use of Mjolnir (and his arm) maybe it's time for him to leave the prison of his own making and find other ways to be the deity he (still) is.

Semi-rant: Thor has always been my favorite character and I just think there's so much story that isn't being explored because writers (or editorial) want try to make Thor more 'relatable' by finding ways to limit his vast powers. So you get these sort of semi-clumsy story premises like this current one. Sorry Jason -- I really love your work and am willing to give this storyline a shot because you let Thor job Galactus -- but too many Marvel writers have tried weakening Thor over the years in uneven attempts to advance the character. It's cheap and it doesn't really work.

To be clear, I get the reasoning -- it's being done to show that Thor simply isn't a super-strength superhero archetype (a la Superman) -- but it also takes away from what makes Thor NOT Superman -- the fact that he literally IS the Norse Thunder God. Why not embrace the fantasy? Why not explore the mythology further? Why not make Thor the undisputed most-powerful Avenger -- their Nuclear deterrent? If the X-Men had the Phoenix, why can't the Avengers have a real God as opposed to this dude with a big hammer who likes to get into it with the Hulk?! It's not like they need Thor in every single issue. Frankly, the way they've used him over the years (with the exception of Jon Hickman) has made it like he's not even there.

That's why I've always hoped Neil Gaiman would write Thor someday (it was explored in the early aughts... sigh) -- Neil has no problem writing Dream Kings or Gods or Time Lords or entities of immense power and making them interesting -- it's not like he took their powers away. It was more like he put them in situations where absolute power meant almost nothing -- where a soft touch or a clever move was better than a flash of lightning or the rolling peel of Thunder. Neil also has the writing and popular clout to get Marvel editorial to let him do it. Not going to happen, I know, but here's hoping...

Completely agree -- I want to like this and likely will keep pulling it because a) I love Thor and b) the art is amazing. But I do agree with you that this almost stripping of Thor's powers -- or weakening or limiting him, as you say -- is comical. I mean, sure, you have characters like Daredevil who, until Waid took over, was fate's punching bag for a long time. But with Thor, especially since JMS and including Aaron, I feel that every victory he has comes with some huge fail or setback. The repercussions from his doing the right thing invariably come back to bite him in the arse. Restore Asgard and the Asgardians? You get Loki. Siege of Asgard? We know how that went -- we get Kid Loki (yay) and Matt Fraction (ugh)! I do wonder if it's one of these moments that's come back to make him unworthy of Mjolnir, though I find it hard to pick out which moment that would be.

[hawkeyefan]

It was upside down when Thor was trying to lift it. It's engraved in metal, it's not a phone screen. If you turn an engraved object upside down, the writing doesn't tend to turn itself over. So perhaps it's not actually Mjolnir and Nick Fury had a copy made and the engraver did the job wrong?

It's magic. Magic breaks the rules. That's its whole point.

[Rage.Of.Olympus]

Yeah, Odin not being able to lift it certainly requires a good explanation in the end, but I'm fairly confident that Aaron will provide one. He's clearly aware that Odin has always been able to command the hammer in the past, since after all Odin himself is flabbergasted that he can't do so now. Of course, some still won't be happy when the explanation is provided, either because they'll feel that whatever character or power is responsible is not at Odin's level, or because they won't acknowledge any entity up to and including the Living Tribunal or One Above All being able to pull this off, but that's on them. If it turns out that the All-Mother is capable of altering Odin's enchantments, but just hasn't displayed the ability before this, I for one will have no problem with it.

And I like it, too... Odin's hypocrisy in demanding humility of his son when he has none of his own does get tired. That brings to mind my favorite candidate for the new Thor, even above the obvious Jane Foster - Judith, Odin's friend from when he was wandering the Earth as the amnesiac Uncle Jesse lookalike Orin. Judith, whom Odin even said when parting that he owed a debt of gratitude to - a debt that's never been paid, even by a moment's hesitation in Odin proposing to burn Midgard (with Judith on it) in Fear Itself. I would love it if the All-Mother had used Odin's acknowledged debt to Judith to use his own power to alter the enchantment so Judith could wield the hammer and become the new Thor.

I wouldn't because it wouldn't make a lick of sense. The All-Mother is nowhere near as powerful as Odin. Not even remotely close.

Speaking of hammers, I don't think people understand just how silly the scene was with Odin. He's dropped all of the Serpent's hammers:
Fear Itself 7_0031.jpg

[PocketfulofKryptonite]

It's magic. Magic breaks the rules. That's its whole point.

The hammer is an object with enchantments, the inscription has never flipped upside down before. Obviously it's just a mistake the artist made for convenience because otherwise it would have been harder to read upside down but it's still a little lazy and wrong.

[jphamlore]

I really think we have already been shown all the clues we need to deduce who is behind the current change in Thor's status. We just have to observe that Marvel and Disney seem to have fairly decent coordination of books and movies these days. For example, Jason Aaron and Al Ewing seem to be working well together telling a coherent story, and Aaron appears to be using certain elements from the Thor movies such as Malekith.

We know that the All-Mothers decided to acquire some manifestation of an alternate future Loki. I assert we know that an alternate future Loki is saying that if the present follows his advice there will be a future golden age of Asgard(ia). We have seen Aaron and Ewing using alternate future Loki as trying to manipulate the present to his future advantage. And in the movies, Loki has been shown to have used deception to have maneuvered himself into a position of great power.

Future alternate Loki(s) have been shown to have motive, the opportunity, and the means to be the one(s) manipulating current events. At least one of them had ability to communicate with the All-Mothers. I conjecture he made certain predictions to the All-Mothers that turned out to be true such as the rediscovery of the Tenth Realm and told them they must follow a certain path to avert disaster from the attack by Malekith.

I also conjecture current developments in Thor are related to an agreement Natalie Portman has with Disney that if there is a Thor 3 she will feature prominently if not be the dominant character in that movie. That is why I think it is Jane Foster who must attain the power of Thor.

[jphamlore]

It should also be obvious that due to recent world events there is a Marvel line-wide trend by the writers to show secrecy and dirty tricks played by the good guys blowing up in their faces. See Hickman's Illuminati in New Avengers. I conjecture the reappearance of the Tenth Realm, Odin's actions such as unilaterally freeing his brother Cul, and Odin's saying nothing about the Tenth Realm's existence to even his son Thor has swung the All-Mothers to really listen to what alternate future Loki is saying. Odin's secrecy has become a clear and present danger to the continued existence of Asgard(ia). In such troubled times, the voice of scoundrels can seem like words of reason when those who are supposed to be better fail to be better.

[Inertia]

Gorgeous.
Top to bottom. Front to back. Dauterman crushes it.
From the emotional beats to the scope of the action, Russell is on point.
And Aaron does a terrific job with all the interplay between characters -- the All Mother and All Father exchanges in particular were tremendous to read.

So excited for where this leads.
Poor Odin Son.

This. I couldn't be more excited about this. And I'm sure that, by the end of this particular story, Aaron's will give us a glorious return for the Odinson.

[zlbenson]

Really dug this. Art-style wise it'll sit well next to my issues of JiM with Valerio Schiti and Jordie Bellaire (the Sif stuff). I hadn't been reading Thor for whatever reason, but I'm board.

[wolvie17]

Freya as the new Thor would be intersting, but...

The only shot we get of Thor : she looks younger than Freya and she has a different shade of blonde.

[Fokken]

I'd like to extend my sympathies to the Thor fans who are so upset about the loss of his hammer.

I found myself miffed whenever someone else was carting around Illyana Rasputin's Soulsword, so I get it.

That being said, I'm still very much enjoying this first issue. My heart goes out to Thor. Also: Odin is a dick hole.

[vitruvian]

Which leads you to wonder how he became such a loser as to have Odin, the most obscenely arrogant character in Marvel comics call him out on it. Like I said, I like this new development as it sets the hammer apart from Odin's standards which always led to confusion about worth. It is now what was always the real intention, that it is OUR standard of worthiness. What makes a hero. And that is defined as Blake.

I never took it as him being a loser prior to the Don Blake period, just being too arrogant for Odin's taste. Which seems quite hypocritical coming from Odin, to be sure, although part of that is just that what with the Odinpower, what is arrogance in others might seem to Odin like just acknowledging his own true status. But then, even pre-Ragnarok, pre-Thorforce Thor was plenty powerful enough that the same excuse should have applied, if you believe in the might makes right concept at all. Which I don't, therefore wanting Odin to be reminded that he too has been down and out and that he needs to learn humility too.

[vitruvian]

It was upside down when Thor was trying to lift it. It's engraved in metal, it's not a phone screen. If you turn an engraved object upside down, the writing doesn't tend to turn itself over. So perhaps it's not actually Mjolnir and Nick Fury had a copy made and the engraver did the job wrong?

A wizard did it.

But seriously, it's a magic hammer. Engravings can indeed turn themselves over if that's part of what it was enchanted to do. Shoot, there have been times the words weren't visible on the hammer at all.