Thor by Donny Cates vol. 1: The Devourer King

Well, if anyone was going to be crazy enough to follow Jason Aaron’s legendary run on “Thor,” it would have to be the man who gave us the Cosmic Ghost Rider.  Donny Cates begins his run on the God of Thunder’s ongoing title, with artist Nic Klein by going big.  Not at first, as the initial pages show us a Thor who isn’t settling into his new role as the King of Asgard all that well.  He’s cranky, restless, and dealing with a Mjolnir that’s getting heavier to wield by the day.  So when Galactus comes crashing into Asgard, it’s almost a relief for Thor to have a familiar threat to face.  Except the Devourer hasn’t come here to fight, he’s come here for help.  An ancient force known as the Black Winter has come for him and he needs the power to fight it off.  While the Silver Surfer knows where he can get that power, Galactus has a much more specific plan in mind when it comes to Thor’s role in this.

From there, we get a big cosmic story which sees Thor thrust into an uneasy partnership with Galactus and having to make a lot of compromises in order to stave off this latest galactic threat.  His work on “God Country” showed that he could do big, cosmic stuff and we get to see Cates go for broke on the canvas of the Marvel Universe — this is a story where telekinetic, precognitive space-bears are an afterthought.  The writer does know how to ground all this in more universal concerns, as the only thing that hurts more than destroying a planet is going through your sworn brother to do it.

There are also plenty of hints for future stories as Yggdrasil is dying, and Loki is up to something… unexpected.  These subplots, and the main story look mighty impressive coming from Klein who has a rough-hewn style that looks like he carved the art out of rock in the same impressive way that Doug Braithwaite does.  So whether it’s epic lightning-based fights in space or a two-page spread of years-long war that Thor fought and forgot about, the God of Thunder’s latest adventure looks as impressive as anything that’s come before.  That, along with the writing are enough to get me to stick around to see where Cates is going with this.

Even though he makes it clear that he’s not above milking that one story for just a little bit longer…