The Mighty Thor! A new volume for a new chapter in the tale Aaron has been telling since Thor: God of Thunder.
spoilers:end of spoilers
We open in a hospital room, with Jane Foster receiving chemotherapy for the cancer that is slowly overtaking her body. The pain and the transformation are expressed first in words, then in the image of Jane huddled cold and frail under blankets. She casts a professional eye on the figures around her and reflects on the junk food satiated, sleeping figure of Volstag as a ‘co-worker’ and nominated driver back to her home in Asgardia.
At one end of the room the TV is showing ‘Roxx News’ and by it we are introduced to the ‘Roxxon Meteorological Embitterment Program’ orbiting Earth and controlling the weather for a fee. A disembodied blue hand outside the station heralds the arrival of a rain of Elven corpses from Alfheim. The most prominent bearing a scarified message on his exposed chest “So Begins the War of Realms”. The corpses smash into the station and cause it to break apart. The central hub plummets towards Earth.
Recognising the danger Jane calls Mjolnir to the ally besides the hospital and transformed into the strong healthy Thor she flies to Washington DC. Here the falling station is on a collision course with the Lincoln Memorial and Thor brings it down safely in the reflecting pool while the Avengers watch on. We learn during the transformation to Thor, the chemotherapy drugs are rejected from her body, counteracting the treatment.
Pausing only to advise a Roxxon employee on his life choices (and paying no heed to Iron Man) she retraces the path of the station back into space where she witnesses the dead elves and recognises the touch of Malekith.
Collecting Volstag as Jane Foster, she returns to Asgardia,where every spare foot of building seems covered with Thor wanted posters. Jane and Volstag take their respective places in the Congress of Worlds where we learn Odin has pulled Asgardia further from Midgard both physically and politically. He is pursuing an isolationist policy over the conflict between Alfheim and Svartalfheim while remaining absent and holed up in his castle.
After the congress, Jane visits Freyja who has been imprisoned by Odin and they discuss the conflict and how Thor should concern herself with Alfheim’s plight rather than Freyja’s. Freyja tells Jane that she should be resting but walking home Jane can only ponder the image of Thor on the posters and transforming once more, she flies to the Bifrost where she tries to convince Heimdall to allow her passage to Alfheim. She is confronted by Cul Borson and his Thunder Guard seeking to arrest her with prejudice.
Meanwhile, in the dark reflection of Asgardia that is The Yawning Void, Malekith is holding court in the Dark Council. The council is composed of Agger from Roxxon, Ulik king of trolls, a delegation from Muspelheim who are also on the congress, and towering above them Laufey. Agger is disappointed by the loss of his space station but Malekith compares this to the wealth he is mining in Svartalfheim and argues for the inclusion of Loki in their council. By way of introduction and as a token of faith Malekith suggests he murder Thor.
Please forgive me if I pause after that synopsis before I start any discussion. I am fatigued by all that weird spelling. Feel free to kick off any discussion in the meantime.