Thor #10

One-sentence summary: The weighty style of Straczynski really shines in slow-moving saga of the gods.

You know, regardless of whether or not you like it, you've got to give Straczynski credit for taking on the challenge of crafting an original epic in comic book form. He is taking Thor on not as a superhero but as a god in a world of superheroes.

However, this style is definitely not for everyone. For one thing, this is a very slow moving story with a fairly low amount of action. For another, as I said, this isn't really a superhero book. If anything, the one encounter with superheroes the book has had stated pretty intensely just that -- Thor is not a superhero and is not going to concern himself with superhero worries.

This issue is dialogue intense, with only a small amount of true progression through the story, though what's there is important.

One thing that will keep some readers from getting into this is the obviousness of various aspects. Of course Loki is planning something; why can't those who have dealt with him for millennia see that? The answer to that is mythology itself. As anyone who read the old Norse myths knows, many times the evil is obvious, many times the plots transparent, but the gods go on through it, seemingly oblivious to the obvious. Why? There's a number of answers you can find, sure, but I'd say the best is just "because that is what they do." Much like a superhero, a god's characteristics are determined through the stories told about them rather than through any intrinsic characteristics. Out of these stories emerge, along with the characteristics, oddities that are accepted because they are. Why do the gods plunge through a plot thick with evil with their mythic intensity? For the exact same reason no one has bothered to compare the face of Superman with that of Clark Kent.

I like Thor. I read enough comics that I'm not dying for the next installment of any of them, no matter how good -- I can have the patience to wait. Thor demands that patience, which may reasonably too much for some, but I can wait for this story to complete. A story of gods is nice amongst the superheroes.