Thor ventures deeper and deeper into Mephisto's lair to claim the sword Loki has left for him, but his path's beset by all manner of deceitful demons.
The Good
Gillen has an absolute mastery of language in this title. Many have tried to write in the Asgardian's classical speech and many have failed, but he not only succedes, he also knows it well enough to know when to poke fun at it. As a fan of all the stories Alan Moore did with the Demon in Saga of the Swamp Thing, I really got a kick out of Mephisto's snarky comment about preferring rhyming couplets over his seer's long-winded monologues, as well as Thor's blunt answers to the other demons' riddles and bargaining. Elson's work is absolutely phenomenal, and I'm so glad the editors finally got the sense to have this title inked, because I was so frustrated with the colored pencils of previous issues. Now, the art has the proper definition for a sweeping heroic epic like this.
The Bad
Given how sleek and current Thor and Mephisto look, I really feel like Tyr and, to a lesser extent, Balder could use some re-designs. Their outfits just stand out as looking dated and generalized in comparison.
The Verdict - 4.5/5
This is seriously one of the best titles that Marvel's putting out, right now. I know a lot of readers are usually leery of Thor for fear of it being stuffy or dated, but this is truly a red-blooded, sleek reinvention of classical mythology that's right up there with the God of War games. Start picking this book up now, so when all the johny-come-latelys buy it after the Thor movie, you can say you knew it was good before anybody else.
