Thor: The Mighty Avenger Issue 2
Once again, this comic leaves me baffled on how to properly describe it. I guess that it's supposed to be a Marvel Ages book of some sort, since the end of the comic tells you to go out and buy many of Marvel's kid friendly books. But at the same time, this book has a quality and depth to it that those books rarely show (Not to dis them, I grew up on Marvel Age comics. You don't expect depth from kids stuff though). Whatever this book is supposed to be though, it sure is good and earns your money.
Picking up from last issue, Thor has picked up his hammer, reinvigorated himself, and is being caught up to date by Jane Foster, who with his help, tries to properly grasp the situation at hand, that this is indeed a man not of these worlds. Thor attempts to return to his home and fails (In spectacular fashion), after which Jane decides that it's best that he stays at her house until they can figure things out. Meanwhile, Calvin Zabo, alter ego of Mr. Hyde, hunts a man down for the ingredients for his potion, to be Mr. Hyde once more and hunt down the one who escaped, Jane Foster!
I don't know what it is, but somehow within two issues Roger Langridge has done something I've not seen since the Lee/Kirby days, he's given us a complete sense of protagonist. The script here is simple, but it very elegantly and quietly establishes the books premise, while giving us a group of characters we can understand as if they'd always been there. The main stars of this book, Jane and Thor, gain the most from this book, as they should, but even the security guard Desmond seems much more developed than characters in his role typically are. Plus, Thor and Jane talking about her virtue was just fantastic.
Chris Samnee on art is just as fantastic as last issue, which is to say, it's some nearly flawless art. There is an approach to art here that emphasizes motion and flow over detail and line work that makes this a very clear and coherent comic, something perfect for this kind of light-hearted story about a God finding his way. Samnee draws on of my favorite Thors ever here, trailing only behind the likes of John Romita Jr and Bryan Hitch. Matthew Wilson on colors is equally fantastic and deserves praise for displaying such a great range here. The two together are perfect, and if you need an example why, look at Thor breaking down a wall with a certain ill-suited man.
Overall, this is slowly moving its way higher and higher up my priorities and shows that you can have a great book without being overly gloom and doomy I can't wait to see where they take this new take on Thor next. 4 out of 5 stars.
