An Al Ewing Doubleheader

Not only are these two titles written by the same talented guy, but they were both right next to each other in my To Review pile.  So…

The last time we saw Thor, he was getting ready to storm the gates of Utgardhall.  Standing in his way were Skurge… and Thanos!  Yet this is but the first in a series of tests that will see the God of Thunder pitted against the forces of chance, the very concept of rule itself, and the embodiment of mysteries.  Even though he’s accompanied by his friends in this struggle, Thor is battling against the very concepts of reality and the promise of fate as well.  Will he succeed?  Well, this volume isn’t subtitled “Thor Kicks the Ass of Everyone That Comes at Him and Lives to Tell the Tale” for a reason.

If Ewing’s plan is to match the length of his other “Immortal” title, then we’ve reached the halfway point of this story with The Immortal Thor vol. 5:  Death of the Immortal Thor.  It also represents a pretty satisfying climax to that effect as there’s a lot of genuine cleverness displayed in how Thor overcomes all of the struggles he faces.  Particularly against his evil “brother” in Vidblainn that serves as his transition into the next stage of the story.  Not everything hits as well as it could as the gimmick behind how you’re supposed to read the second issue feels more gimmick-y than satisfying, and the business of how Thor dies does feel a bit like, “Really?  This again?” even though there’s clearly more going on here.  Still, the rest of the writing is great and the art from Jan Bazaluda, with Justin Greenwood in the last issue, is solid enough to have me anticipating where “The Mortal Thor” goes from here.

He was once Rex Mason, adventurer at large, but after a tomb raiding gig for industrialist Simon Stagg, he was transformed by the powers of the Orb of Ra into Metamorpho the Element Man, and became DC’s swingin’-est superhero.  That legacy lives on in Metamorpho:  The Element Man from Ewing and artist Steve Lieber, as the title character, his conniving boss Stagg, love of his life Sapphire Stagg, caveman henchman Java, and Urania Blackwell – The Element Gal find themselves up against a new threat:  The malicious machinations of the criminal organization known as C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. who are working to unleash Project Sunrise upon the world.  It might even succeed, too, as it has state-shifting secret agents, military-grade pop idols, Gotham Police Commissioner Vandal Savage, the Stagg building itself, and Metamorpho’s own arch-enemy at its disposal.  All of which merits a mighty, “Ulp!” at our heroes’ chances.

I don’t have the affinity for the silliness of DC’s Silver Age that some do, but I know enough to recognize the kind of pastiche that Ewing and Lieber are aspiring to.  Fortunately the self-aware humor and general creativity on display here keep things from being an exercise in channelling 60’s DC for the sake of it.  Additionally, after years of reading Ewing’s Marvel work and recognizing his love of integrating obscure bits of any character’s history into his work, it’s an interesting experience to see him do that for a DC character I don’t have a lot of familiarity with it.  The good news is that he manages to do this  in a way that didn’t interfere with the telling of the story or feel like an ongoing series of “Hey, remember this!” callbacks.  Together, with Lieber’s wiry art that perfectly sells the humor and silliness on display, you have proof that Ewing can deliver a story that thrives on the history of any superhero regardless of what universe they’re in.