Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Jan Bazadlua
Color Artist: Matthew Hollingsworth
Cover Artist: Alex Ross
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The time has come. One of the gods of Utgard has fallen and the rest rage to destroy their enemies. Way to go Loki! Now, Thor, god of thunder, king of Asgard, and hero of the realms, chooses to stand his ground and fight these elder gods head on. Read Immortal Thor #24 to see this epic clash as Thor faces the wrath of Utgard!
Review:
Alright, we’ve reached the great finale (for now). Thor makes his last stand against the elder gods of Utgard and placed himself between them and all the peoples of Earth and Asgard. But what will it take for the god of thunder to face these overwhelming forces? Well, let’s dig in. Fair warning, there will be SPOILERS in this review.
From the beginning, the comic reveals the entirety of the Endless City, which is in truth the elder god NRGL (not that Nergal or that Nurgle), and he is screaming with rage at the death of Kemur. The very same Kemur who shared an interesting symbiotic bond with NRGL as ruler and city, and with his ruler dead, NRGL is unleashing his fury upon Thor and his allies. And Loki. And I have to give it to Jan Bazaldua with the depiction of NRGL as giving a top down bird’s-eye view best displayed the city’s “face” in all its wrath.
And while Thor and allies flee NRGL’s wrath of endless stone men, Utgard-Loki watches from his lair and ponders on just ending them then and there with his “story-magic.” But he chooses to play this game, and lets them escape through Utgard’s gate which Thor and Skurge try to close. But before they could, Utgard-Loki makes his grand appearance in glorious fashion thanks to Jan Bazaldua and Matt Hollingsworth’s colors, and says that they can’t close the gate, if there is no gate, and promptly destroys the gate. But this doesn’t deter Thor, he sends his allies to Asgard, and orders Skurge to stand ready at the black bridge. While Thor stands his ground with hammer and ax in hands and faces the full fury of the Utgard gods NRGL and Mejed the Hooded One by himself.
Now, there’s a lot of good things to enjoy about this comic, and there are some negatives too. Nothing too bad, but they’re still there. But let’s start with the positives. Firstly, the art team really pulled through. While my preference for the interior artist has been Martin Coccolo, Jan Bazaldua really shows his stripes here as he depicts all of the gods of Utgard in mighty form and the same with Thor in his unyielding heroism. From the endless swarms of NRGL’s stone men to Utgard-Loki, Thor and the rest, he delivers the epic scale of conflict as well as the emotional turmoil, desperation, bravery, and warmhearted spirit of these characters and the conflict they’re in. On top of all that, the writing for the narration and character dialogue is on point with everyone.
Now, on to the negatives. Let’s start with the lighter ones, like Mejed being a huge disappointment in his design, abilities, and length of page time. Yes, making him the patron of ghosts and the unknown is cool and all, but it’s hard to buy that when he looks like a really big brawny guy wearing a long hood. And his personality is disappointingly thin in his real debut but expected as it’s his final appearance since Thor ends up killing him. Granted, he goes out in an epic way, but it just feels rushed.
Which gets into the bigger problem, the rushed sense of stakes and resolution. Yes, the story should have Thor and co. fearing the wrath of Utgard, but at the end of the day, despite even my own enjoyment, it’s not as grand as the story makes it out to be. Again, what is Thor really fighting? A bunch of stone men and one big brawny man in a hood. That’s it. And all it really took for Thor to defeat them all? Just one strike of some epic thunder and lightning unleashed upon them all. Something he could always do. It doesn’t help that these are literally all of the gods in Utgard, with Utgard-Loki and NRGL as the only ones left. So there are no more epic threats unless Al Ewing reveals more, but I highly doubt it. However, Bazaldua still does a good job making the fight look cool.
Then there’s the ending. I’ll just say, I have no idea what Al Ewing has planned. It’s a big moment to be sure, but he already killed Thor earlier in this series. When Thor fought Dario Agger’s villains, he was petrified into stone by Gargoyle and smashed to bits by Mr. Hyde, then he was promptly resurrected the next issue by Amora the Enchantress. So, while I expect emotions to fly high next issue, I also expect this death to have a purpose to it beyond mere shock value, cause that’s not enough these days anymore. And while the tagline of this comic’s banner is that “Even an immortal can die” this is nothing new whatsoever to any Marvel Comics fans, especially readers of this very series. We all know that deities and immortals alike can die in the Marvel universe. What really matters is how they went out, the impact their deaths have, and if it even sticks. Which clearly won’t happen to Thor since he’ll either pull through next issue or come back in a follow-up story arc.
Final Thoughts:
Immortal Thor #24 has the god of thunder face off against the might of the elder gods of Utgard. The art team really delivers this issue with the epic depiction of everything from the Utgard gods to Thor and his mighty powers in action. There are a few wrinkles in the comic, especially with the ending, but it’s still an enjoyable comic that concludes this storyline, or at least this part of it for now.