Post by Doctor Doom on Sept 12, 2007 12:47:29 GMT -5
Doom's Deconstruction: The issue opens recapping on the destruction and death faced by the city of Orleans in France, then moves on to the present day, as Thor enters NEW Orleans which was not spared- by Hurricane Katrina of course. Thor wonders why there were not heroes present to help stop the devastation.
He lands in the city and begins talking to a boisterous man, who shouts at him, hating the "capes" for not helping them out. Thor informs the man that he was dead, but the man is still bitter and very angry and resentful. As Thor listens to him, another voice speaks and he turns to see Iron Man.
Iron Man greets him and says he's glad to see him back, it's been far too long etc. Thor remains silent. Iron Man effectively sighs and says if Thor's going to be like that, it's time to get on to business. Thor has to move Asgard from Oklahoma, as it's... well, it's in Oklahoma. He explains that a lot has changed and Thor should join the government lest he become an enemy. He basically threatens him should he choose not to. Thor stands there, arms crossed, silent for this.
He then unslings his hammer. Lightning starts tearing up the place, and he informs Tony that he believes him to have betrayed their friends, and worse, far worse- to have created an abomination from Thor's genetic code. "Is this the act of a friend?" he asks the stunned Iron Man. "Is it?" Then lightning smashes apart the ground all around them- "IS IT?"
Iron Man asks Thor to let him explain, as he wasn't there, in response he gets smacked by Mjolinir and flies backwards. He then says he'll apologize later, if this is the way Thor will be, and blasts him full power. Thor stands there, undamaged. Iron Man then charges him to fight close up, but is walloped by the hammer and swatted away.
He struggles to get up, remarking on how powerful Thor has become- the God of Thunder simply says he isn't holding back anymore, before SMASHING Tony with a massive bolt of lightning which all but obliterates his armour. He grabs him by the throat and rips off his mask. He then tells Iron Man that he has no intention of joining him, nor does he intend to join his enemies, but will remain neutral. He threatens Iron Man, should the government *Ever* approach Asgard, and creates thunderstorms in Washington DC and airports to illustrate his point- stir up his wrath and they can't even fly.
He drops Tony, who goes for a compromise and suggests that Thor and Asgard be given a kind of diplomatic immunity, like an Embassy, so he doesn't have to register and the government won't bother with him. Thor tells him that will suffice- but they aren't done talking about the Thor cyborg, that's for another day. Iron Man then asks how he's supposed to get back to base with his army blasted and ruined. Thor's response? "Walk".
Thor turns back to New Orleans and the man from earlier keeps shouting at him. His neice tries to apologize to Thor from him but Thor realises the man is harvouring the pain of a God which he is not meant to. He calls on his friend to come from the man, who floats in the air and is then revealed as... Heimdall, guardian of the Rainbow Bridge!
On the SHIELD Helicarrier, his next set of armour almost ready, DIrector Stark is told that there's another life form on Asgard. He replies that they do nothing- they let it go.
For now.
We see Heimdall standing guard on Asgard, and Thor looking over at him.
End issue.
The View of Doom:
Okay, here's my problem. This was a great issue marred by a heinous fault. It was very well written- great dialogue etc. There was generally good characterization of Thor. There was PHENOMENAL art which has now completely won me over to Coipel. But there was also horrible miswriting of Tony Stark. I'll address this first.
The Tony Stark from Thor #3 jives with... let's see, jives with the Tony Stark of She-Hulk 18, CW: Frontline and Amazing Spider-Man. Unfortunately, he does not jive remotely with the Tony Stark from Iron Man, from Mighty Avengers, from Nova, from New Avengers, from Captain America, from THe Order, from Sub-Mariner, from World War Hulk, or indeed from basically any marvel comic except those listed.
JMS has softened a little on Iron Man since Civil War though. In general, much of what he does and says is reasonable. He immediately expresses that he's glad Thor's alive again. He is fairly reasonable in his demand that Asgard be moved. We see him try to talk and explain things to Thor after being outright threatened and in imminent danger, and he offers a reasonable compromise later in the issue and does not go back on his word, however easy it would be to sic the Sentry on Asgard or whatever. BUT... it's all marred by a half page of Iron Man making some kind of villainous rant which is totally uncalled for and which isn't even filled with truths. (Work WITH the government or AGAINST the government. Unless you're the Eternals. Or Doctor Strange. Or the Fantastic Four. Or the large number of registered heroes not working for the Initiative. Or...) That's a big problem because it just makes Iron Man seem like an idiot. It's followed by Thor making a rant which is also spoiled by being full of half truths and whatnot. This is a pretty huge flaw.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the writing is good. In general, JMS has a great feel for Thor's voice, and I enjoy the little Katrina segment at the start of this issue- even though JMS implies the Civil War was responsible for the lack of heroes at Katrina which is clearly wrong as Katrina was before this. Iron Man is written competently except in his little villainous rant. There's nice dialogue.
The battle itself is... fairly well done. Thor needs to be established as a powerhouse, so he beats down on Iron Man,who was unprepared. I have no big problems with how easily it's done (After all, Thor could destroy ANYONE that easily) though I do have a problem with Iron Man spontaneously losing his lightning resistance which has ALWAYS worked against Thor in the past. It's well done, if a little too one sided. It DOES feel to a degree like he's taking some kind of savage peasure in writing Iron Man's beatdown.
Iron Man's compromise is smart and predictable- though the IM we see most places would have trotted out this as a possible solution immediately. It's also perfectly reasonable, which is nice, and doesn't drag Thor into the "Fight the government!" arc which would be predictable and far too distracting from the story JMS is trying to tell. Not sure he'd take Thor threatening him like that, but I'll take it- there's a nice little bit of the two of them walking away, symbolising their broken friendship.
HEIMDALL'S BACK! Whoo, yeah! This God always looked cool (and has NEVER looked cooler than now) but was always a minor player. Hopefully JMS plans to make him a big fish, which is great, as I love each and every one of Thor's supporting cast and cannot wait for the return of the Warriors Three! A nice hook ending to keep us interested as well. I was dreading this issue, but it was better than I feared and with this bump behind us, hopefully JMS will never ever write Iron Man again.
The art is gorgeous, overcoming any doubts I had on Coipel. Seriously, it's the most beautifully drawn beatdown I've seen in a while. I'm slowly starting to dig Thor's costume redesign and as I said before, Heimdall looks better than ever.
Overall, it's a very, VERY good issue with a single huge flaw which causes it to lose points, but I'm generous and enjoying the relaunch so...
Doom decrees that this issue shalt be given... Eight Gold Dooms Out Of Ten.
He lands in the city and begins talking to a boisterous man, who shouts at him, hating the "capes" for not helping them out. Thor informs the man that he was dead, but the man is still bitter and very angry and resentful. As Thor listens to him, another voice speaks and he turns to see Iron Man.
Iron Man greets him and says he's glad to see him back, it's been far too long etc. Thor remains silent. Iron Man effectively sighs and says if Thor's going to be like that, it's time to get on to business. Thor has to move Asgard from Oklahoma, as it's... well, it's in Oklahoma. He explains that a lot has changed and Thor should join the government lest he become an enemy. He basically threatens him should he choose not to. Thor stands there, arms crossed, silent for this.
He then unslings his hammer. Lightning starts tearing up the place, and he informs Tony that he believes him to have betrayed their friends, and worse, far worse- to have created an abomination from Thor's genetic code. "Is this the act of a friend?" he asks the stunned Iron Man. "Is it?" Then lightning smashes apart the ground all around them- "IS IT?"
Iron Man asks Thor to let him explain, as he wasn't there, in response he gets smacked by Mjolinir and flies backwards. He then says he'll apologize later, if this is the way Thor will be, and blasts him full power. Thor stands there, undamaged. Iron Man then charges him to fight close up, but is walloped by the hammer and swatted away.
He struggles to get up, remarking on how powerful Thor has become- the God of Thunder simply says he isn't holding back anymore, before SMASHING Tony with a massive bolt of lightning which all but obliterates his armour. He grabs him by the throat and rips off his mask. He then tells Iron Man that he has no intention of joining him, nor does he intend to join his enemies, but will remain neutral. He threatens Iron Man, should the government *Ever* approach Asgard, and creates thunderstorms in Washington DC and airports to illustrate his point- stir up his wrath and they can't even fly.
He drops Tony, who goes for a compromise and suggests that Thor and Asgard be given a kind of diplomatic immunity, like an Embassy, so he doesn't have to register and the government won't bother with him. Thor tells him that will suffice- but they aren't done talking about the Thor cyborg, that's for another day. Iron Man then asks how he's supposed to get back to base with his army blasted and ruined. Thor's response? "Walk".
Thor turns back to New Orleans and the man from earlier keeps shouting at him. His neice tries to apologize to Thor from him but Thor realises the man is harvouring the pain of a God which he is not meant to. He calls on his friend to come from the man, who floats in the air and is then revealed as... Heimdall, guardian of the Rainbow Bridge!
On the SHIELD Helicarrier, his next set of armour almost ready, DIrector Stark is told that there's another life form on Asgard. He replies that they do nothing- they let it go.
For now.
We see Heimdall standing guard on Asgard, and Thor looking over at him.
End issue.
The View of Doom:
Okay, here's my problem. This was a great issue marred by a heinous fault. It was very well written- great dialogue etc. There was generally good characterization of Thor. There was PHENOMENAL art which has now completely won me over to Coipel. But there was also horrible miswriting of Tony Stark. I'll address this first.
The Tony Stark from Thor #3 jives with... let's see, jives with the Tony Stark of She-Hulk 18, CW: Frontline and Amazing Spider-Man. Unfortunately, he does not jive remotely with the Tony Stark from Iron Man, from Mighty Avengers, from Nova, from New Avengers, from Captain America, from THe Order, from Sub-Mariner, from World War Hulk, or indeed from basically any marvel comic except those listed.
JMS has softened a little on Iron Man since Civil War though. In general, much of what he does and says is reasonable. He immediately expresses that he's glad Thor's alive again. He is fairly reasonable in his demand that Asgard be moved. We see him try to talk and explain things to Thor after being outright threatened and in imminent danger, and he offers a reasonable compromise later in the issue and does not go back on his word, however easy it would be to sic the Sentry on Asgard or whatever. BUT... it's all marred by a half page of Iron Man making some kind of villainous rant which is totally uncalled for and which isn't even filled with truths. (Work WITH the government or AGAINST the government. Unless you're the Eternals. Or Doctor Strange. Or the Fantastic Four. Or the large number of registered heroes not working for the Initiative. Or...) That's a big problem because it just makes Iron Man seem like an idiot. It's followed by Thor making a rant which is also spoiled by being full of half truths and whatnot. This is a pretty huge flaw.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the writing is good. In general, JMS has a great feel for Thor's voice, and I enjoy the little Katrina segment at the start of this issue- even though JMS implies the Civil War was responsible for the lack of heroes at Katrina which is clearly wrong as Katrina was before this. Iron Man is written competently except in his little villainous rant. There's nice dialogue.
The battle itself is... fairly well done. Thor needs to be established as a powerhouse, so he beats down on Iron Man,who was unprepared. I have no big problems with how easily it's done (After all, Thor could destroy ANYONE that easily) though I do have a problem with Iron Man spontaneously losing his lightning resistance which has ALWAYS worked against Thor in the past. It's well done, if a little too one sided. It DOES feel to a degree like he's taking some kind of savage peasure in writing Iron Man's beatdown.
Iron Man's compromise is smart and predictable- though the IM we see most places would have trotted out this as a possible solution immediately. It's also perfectly reasonable, which is nice, and doesn't drag Thor into the "Fight the government!" arc which would be predictable and far too distracting from the story JMS is trying to tell. Not sure he'd take Thor threatening him like that, but I'll take it- there's a nice little bit of the two of them walking away, symbolising their broken friendship.
HEIMDALL'S BACK! Whoo, yeah! This God always looked cool (and has NEVER looked cooler than now) but was always a minor player. Hopefully JMS plans to make him a big fish, which is great, as I love each and every one of Thor's supporting cast and cannot wait for the return of the Warriors Three! A nice hook ending to keep us interested as well. I was dreading this issue, but it was better than I feared and with this bump behind us, hopefully JMS will never ever write Iron Man again.
The art is gorgeous, overcoming any doubts I had on Coipel. Seriously, it's the most beautifully drawn beatdown I've seen in a while. I'm slowly starting to dig Thor's costume redesign and as I said before, Heimdall looks better than ever.
Overall, it's a very, VERY good issue with a single huge flaw which causes it to lose points, but I'm generous and enjoying the relaunch so...
Doom decrees that this issue shalt be given... Eight Gold Dooms Out Of Ten.