The Mighty Thor

No.548 (or 46)

"By Fire Born"

(Part 1 of 5)

Writer: Dan Jurgens

Pencils: Tom Raney

Inks: Scott Hanna

     Odin is dead, Thor is lord of Asgard, and Tarene - the Designate (we'll get back to that shortly) has patterned herself after Thor and is trying to take his place on Earth. That's Midgard to you Asgardians.

     Tarene is essentially a teenager whose cosmically-appointed station is, as mentioned above, the Designate. Her ill-defined role is to lift humanity to the next level of evolution. Exactly how she's supposed to do this is uncertain, and for the moment it's unimportant. That she's become a surrogate Thor - almost as powerful, but ill-experienced. She's trying to learn both how to be a superhero and also how to be a human. The latter she's learning as Tara Olson, high school student.

     Oh, stop wincing.

     Sure, so much of this has become formulaic. Tara the Troll Slayer. But, really, it seems to be working.

     To say that Thor had become stagnant over the years would be a godly understatement. He desperately needed a shake-up. The death of Odin has forced Thor to grow up, so the question with him these days is if he's suited to the role. Plainly there are rumbles, both in the throne room and in several realms beyond where many see this as the beginning of something catastrophic for the universe. This issue introduces a possible evil influence for him, and as we haven't seen Loki for an entire issues we know he has to be up to something.

      Meanwhile, we have a surrogate, neophyte Thor on Earth, making it all new again. As it's all new to her, Jurgens is free to explore the battle-legacy of Thor - his rogues gallery, to be more specific - in a context where exposition will be as natural as it is necessary, as Tarene has no personal history with any of them.

      Speaking of such, this issue also sees the return of a long-time Thor villain. He's one of the ones who always seemed a little ill-matched to the Thunder God, but seems fairly well suited to this new thunder goddess.

      The Raney/Hanna art team is providing crisp, tight lines and expressive faces. The approach is story-focused rather than an attempt to create a series of pin-ups, and I appreciate that.

      I hope Marvel stays the course with this title, allows Odin to rest in peace (he kept taking those annoying naps anyway), and lets this story unfold for the long term.

      This arc appears to be a good point for new and returning readers to give it a look. Try the five issues and see if it's for you. I'm not promising ground-breaking, trend-setting comics, but this appears to be the best shot the series has had since the 80's and Simonson's take on things.

     Comments? Drop me a line or post something for all to see on the messageboard.

                                                                                                                                          ---Mike Norton