Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By Sam Christopher

Thor goes Giant Sized for the JMS Finale in Thor: Giant-Size Finale #1 One-Shot

Joe Straczynski’s run on Thor ends this week with the Thor: Giant-Size Finale #1 One-Shot (why do they number “one-shots”? good question), and I hate to say it but I am mostly glad at this point to see him go. His portrayal of Balder the Brave as one of the most maddeningly stupid characters in all of comics, absolute putty in the hands of the master manipulator Loki, has been little short of a travesty. That, coupled with his botched handling of Thor’s handling of the Odinpower—a power which is apparently, according to Straczynski’s treatment of it, no more powerful than a good solid garlic breath—made much of the later portion of his run on the title hard to read. These glaring problems drew our attention away from the truly great concepts he brought to the table, mostly meaning his inspired juxtaposition of golden Asgard with dusty Middle America, a study in similarities and contrasts that reached a delirious crescendo with the Warriors Three running a diner and voluminous Volstagg’s tall tales as well as his act of bravery in this issue. There was also, of course, JMS’s central idea that started the series off, with Thor searching for the souls of his brethren hidden in the bodies of humans. This uneven run thus comes to an end here, with Don Blake left in a way that does not thrill me, Asgard in a place I had a hard time believing they would ever really go in the first place, and Thor and his crew seemingly open and—as much as beings such as these can be—vulnerable.

Unfortunately, JMS’s end means that Marko Djurdjevic is also leaving the title as well. He takes with him a great storytelling sense and penchant for epic artwork that will be difficult to fully replace. Almost as difficult as replacing Walt Simonson was all those years ago, although I don’t expect the drop off we experienced after his departure. The impact of truly great artwork, over and above very good illustration, in the comics medium simply can’t be overemphasized. Just like the truly great artist in this medium can’t be overpraised.

And then we have the two “backup” features here. First, there’s a preview of next week’s Thor #604 by the new creative team of Kieron Gillen and artist Billy Tan. Gillen may be a fine writer with some very good ideas, and Tan’s artwork looks to be very adequate here, but I hated immediately what they did with Kelda here. It’s not enough to completely turn me off their run before it even begins but I’m not happy at all with it. We’ll have to wait and see but it almost smacks of DeFalco and Frenz’s purge after Simonson left the title. Not saying, just watching carefully. Second, we have a reprint of the original Marvel Thor story from Journey into Mystery #83, which I dutifully read again. It’s still great.

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I don’t collect every DC title, and I don’t buy titles I don’t normally collect during these company-wide crossovers so there may be a couple titles that had a Blackest Night connection I didn’t get. But, on to what I do get:

See?! Told ya so! Nekron himself practically admits it in Blackest Night #5. First, we watch all the various colors of Lantern charge up and recite their various oaths, which is always cool. Then, we get to see Barry, Wally, and the “Family of Speed” hold off “The Walking Dead” (a little free advertising for another great book there), along with the zombies’ own patron “Guardian”, Scar. Then it happens. I’ve been saying that the absence of a reanimated Bruce Wayne proves my point that he’s not really dead—not that his being dead in the DCU would be much worse than the flu. But when Nekron raises “Bruce Wayne” and he attacks the other heroes it seems that I was wrong. Until it’s made obvious that this isn’t really BW; even Nekron himself uses the name in quotes. Not sure yet who it really is but “he” sure had a profound impact in his short time on the scene. Wonder if it could be the Spectre…? Geoff Johns (The Avengers, Flash: Rebirth) and Ivan Reis (Green Lantern, The Supernaturals) continue this sterling tale.

Then we have the rather confusing Blackest Night crossover in Green Lantern #48 this week. I read BN #5 first because the opening blurb in GL says the included story takes place before Blackest Night #6. Of course, I find on reading it that’s absolutely true: it has to take places before BN #6 because it actually leads into BN #5! Anyway, that little bit of misdirection aside, another good chap by Johns and artist Doug Mahnke (Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein, Nightwing). Gotta love those Red Lanterns! If only we could turn a couple of ‘em loose in Washington.

And, finally, there’s Justice League of America #39, in which the new creative team of James Robinson (Starman, Grendel Tales: Four Devils, One Hell) and Mark Bagley (The Pulse, Nightmask) bring the current JLA to the old Hall of Justice and reintro one of my least favorite heroes in history as a Black Lantern. But, beyond that, if I have any complaint with this story at all it’s with their handling of the heroic Dr. Light. The JLA we see here has apparently been apprised of the Black Lantern threat so, since pure white light is the one weakness the Black Lanterns have, why not have Kimiyo just “light up” when a zombie gets in range? It’s easy to say they may not know about the weakness but it seems to me that if I was going to be going after walking dead men I’d try and find out something about the rules if there are any. Ah, well, still an enjoyable ish and at least they got her on the cover this time.