Thor by Donny Cates (and Friends) vol. 5: The Legacy of Thanos

For those of you who haven’t heard, Donny Cates was in a bad automobile accident over six months back.  This is the reason he abruptly stopped writing “Hulk” and “Thor” and why Ryan Stegman will be writing the majority of “Vanish” vol. 2.  He’s not back to 100% yet, but I’ve heard that he’s been talking with Marvel editorial about his future plans with the company.  I’m glad that Cates is going to be around to have a future in the industry, no doubt.  However, there is the matter of how his current runs are going to wrap up without him holding the wheel.

Vol. 5 of “Thor” is an interesting case as it consists of two-and-a-half parts.  The first part is the most instructive for the title’s future as it’s co-written by Cates and “Immortal Thor” writer Al Ewing.  In fact, this two-part story about Thor teaming up with Eddie Brock as Venom (if that’s who he really is…) to fight a demon who escaped from the pages of his guest star’s title reads like an “Issue Zero” of that title.  This is because of how it clearly sets up a plot thread for that title while building on what has already come before.  It’s clever, I liked the twists, and Salvador Larroca provides some bold yet simplistic art to enjoy.  A good start to this volume, in other words.

Then we come to the “half” part, which is “Thanos:  Death Notes.”  This is an anthology issue featuring stories from Christopher Cantwell & Travel Foreman, J. Michael Straczynski & Geoff Shaw, and Kyle Starks & Ron Lim.  They’re all quite fine with Cantwell and Starks finding interesting, contrasting takes on the indomitability of the Mad Titan, while Straczynski tries to work in a bit of love to the character’s backstory.  None of these are bad stories, though none of them are good enough to get me to say that this one-shot is worth seeking out on its own terms.

It does, however, contain a framing sequence written by Torunn Gronbekk, with art from Andrea Di Vito that has Thor following up on the mystery of the Black Infinity Stone.  It leads him to one of Thanos’ henchmen, Corvus Glaive, who is one step ahead of the God of Thunder as we see him sneak into Asgard to kidnap his younger sister Laussa.  Corvus needs the girl to unlock some mystical power sealed away by Thor’s grandfather Bor, and our protagonist needs the help of the valkyrie Runa, who served under Bor, in order to get where he’s going.  What’s waiting for them there?  More questions, memories of Bor, Thanos, and also… unbridled villainy awaiting on the final page.

I don’t envy Gronbekk for having to wrap up a storyline that she had no part in starting.  She does have original series artist Nic Klein on hand to give this arc visual consistency and a sense of continuity with what has come before.  Gronbekk also does capable work here and while some of the action feels like superhero filler, I’m still curious about the mysteries that are set up here.  What was Bor working on?  Why was Thanos there fighting against him?  What does that character who shows up at the end have to do with all this?  I want to know the answers, and that’s why I’ll be back to see what they are in vol. 6.