Thor by Jason Aaron vol. 2 (Actually vol. 15): Road to War of the Realms

It’s all about putting the pieces in place with this volume.  As the title implies, this volume is the lead up to the main event that is “War of the Realms” and Jason Aaron still has some setting up to do.  So it’s time to check in with the likes of Angela, Roz Solomon, Dario Agger, Baldur, Freyja, the Borson Brothers — Odin and Cul, Malekith, and even Loki to find out what kind of role they’ll be playing in the upcoming conflict.

BUT FIRST!  It’s time for another tale of Young Thor as he continues to drive his father up the wall with all the time he’s spending in Midgard.  Good thing Loki has a plan to sour his brother on the realm of man for good. It just involves having Thor fall in love with a woman whose viciousness is matched only by her bloodlust:  Erika the Red.

My surprise by seeing how Loki’s plan goes awry was matched only by my disappointment at how Erika’s characterization was botched at the same time.  I know that it’s really hard to screw up writing a character who only has two defining personality traits (viciousness and bloodlust) but Aaron manages it when we find out what happens to her.  She REALLY didn’t strike me as the waiting around type. Good thing we’ve got some spectacular art from Tony Moore, who brings the carnage and the romance to glorious life. It’s his work that ultimately makes this story memorable.

The next story has Thor teaming up with his sister, Angela.  Well, kinda. The God of Thunder and Valkyrie are trying to break Angela out of prison only to get caught and tortured by the Angels for their trouble.  Fortunately Thor has a plan. Unfortunately it’s a plan that appears to hinge on his dog, his goat, and Valkyrie’s horse.

While I can’t really bring myself to care about Angela all that much, the effort to rescue her does make for a good story.  It traffics in a lot of the casual over-the-top craziness that Aaron does so well in the Marvel Universe, and artist Mike Del Mundo is right with him on all of it here.  From a headshot of a mostly toothless Thor being surrounded by word balloons of his worst fears, to the bug-eyed expression of agony he displays as said teeth are taken out, Del Mundo’s work is very much on point here.  It makes for a story that’s much easier to appreciate than its predecessor.

Next up is Roz Solomon:  Agent of Wakanda! It shouldn’t surprise you that Aaron is extending T’Challa’s spy organization into the world of “Thor.”  Neither should the fact that it absolutely works here because Roz is a perfect fit for it. Having gone up against all sorts of magical and otherworldly threats during her time palling around with Thor, it’s no surprise that T’Challa would want to use her expertise.  Yes, we do have to deal with some angst on her part about her relationship with the thunder god, but it’s worth it to see how she turns up the heat on a frost giant.

For those of you wondering if there was going to be any real drama in all this build-up, Aaron was saving it for this issue.  As Odin makes his own plans for the war as he sits among the ruins of Old Asgard he encounters Thor as his son has come back to grab some new hammers.  Rather than offer his offspring his advice and knowledge, Odin browbeats his son as he always has. Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong time to get on his son’s bad side.

What follows is an ugly father/son brawl where Odin gives into his worst instincts even though we can see the voice in his head telling him that he’s going about this all wrong.  This works as a tragedy because I can absolutely believe that Asgard’s king is too stubborn to be able to get out of his own way. That the fight is capped off with the most indelible image Del Mundo serves up in this volume only makes the story hit harder, for lack of a better phrase.  If only Aaron didn’t send the story off on a glib scene of Odin trying a version of Alcoholics Anonymous with Tony Stark this probably would’ve stood as one of the best issues of his run. At least we’ve also got a great scene of Loki trolling his father and paying the price to help make up for that ending.

The volume ends with Lee Garbett doing some capable work as Aaron rushes to check in with everyone before the event kicks off.  So we get a couple scenes of Thor doing some friendly superhero god stuff with his mother Freyja, check in with Young Thor and Old King Thor, get some ominous foreshadowing about Volstagg, watch Jane Foster react as she gets some good news, watch Sif and Valkyrie train together, observe Malekith as he rallies his troops, and listen to Loki count his regrets.  It all does a good job of getting me ready to read “War of the Realms” so it’s a shame that the collection isn’t set to come out for another few weeks. Good thing I’m the patient type…