Thor in Ancient Egypt Reads Like 'Tales of Asgard' Continuation
I first became a fan of Alan Davis' artwork back around the time of Batman and the Outsiders. No other artist working in comics seems to be able to capture the range of facial expressions Davis manages to give characters. But as much as I like Alan's art, I was skeptical - is he right for Thor? My fear was that his art style would be too cartoony for Thor, who seems best when he's played in the straightest, grimmest, most aloof and godlike manner. And then, I'd never read Alan Davis' work as a writer... The story does take place in ancient Egypt - and if you've read my review of Wolves of the North, you know I believe that Thor comics are usually a leg up when they aren't set in present-day Manhattan - so I decided to give it a try.
Right on the first page, some of my fears were confirmed. Alan Davis has Laurel and Hardy as two Egyptologists arguing over the origins of the Great Sphynx in Giza. Now this little exchange got my hackles up for two reasons. One, I feel this kind of whimsy is really out of place in Thor comics, and two, I have a very low opinion of stories based on historically ludicrous pop-archaeology.
That's when I decided that I had to let go some of the preconceived notions of how I had come to expect historical Thor tales to be told. When I saw that this Thor story owes more to the legacy of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Tales of Asgard (it even co-stars The Warriors Three) than to more recent works by the likes of Matt Fraction. This becomes abundantly obvious after the first, fairly monochrome page, when you hit the splash page where Rob Schwager pulls out all the bright primary colors to illuminate Davis' large Kirby-esque battle scene featuring Thor, Balder, Sif and the Warriors Three.
I was pleased that none of Alan Davis' old charm as an artist has faded in the intervening quarter century since Batman and the Outsiders or Excalibur; and he's not a half-bad writer either. The story involves a Pharaoh who plans to sacrifice Volstaag to a monster, and Thor, Fandral and Hogun have to come to his rescue - and in so doing they leave a lasting impression on Egypt.
While it may not be as great as some of the other Thor One-Shots, it's still a fun Thor fix from a time where Thor was on hiatus pending a feature film debut and the likely corresponding changes to the continuity to square comic Thor with Hollywood Thor. It's at least enough to tide Thor fans over until the inevitable resurgence of the character.