Writer: Al Ewing
Artists: Jan Bzaldua, Justin Greenwood & Pasqual Ferry
Color Artists: Matt Hollingsworth & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Artist: Alex Ross
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Thor has fought the forces of the elder gods of Utgard to protect all of Asgard, Earth, and the rest of the realms from their primordial fury. But at the peak of his victory, the god of thunder was literally stabbed through the back by Loki. What a shock. But now in Immortal Thor #25, we discover what the aftermath of this act will bring forth.
Review:
Okay, we all know what happened at the end of last issue: Loki stabbed Thor with the arrow imbued with the Eternity Mask. Now, why did Loki do it? Well, this comic reveals why and…it doesn’t make sense. There will be SPOILERS for the comic in this review.
First off, we find that everyone is either shocked or confused at Loki’s actions, even Utgard-Loki is puzzled by what Loki has done and what they have planned. However, we can say it wasn’t to defeat the Utgard gods since there aren’t any left except for Utgard-Loki and to ensure it stays that way, Skurge follows through on Thor’s last order and shatters the Black Bridge of Utgard and he falls into the dark depths below. However, when he did this, the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard also shatters as it turns out Loki was only able to summon it back by connecting it to Utgard’s Black Bridge. Which keeps the realm of Utgard cut off once again from the other realms. For now, at least.
But this comes at the consequence of not only cutting off Asgard from Earth, but the spell also cut it out of mankind’s collective memory and rewrote their history with Earth and everyone in that universe. So instead of Thor and Asgard being seen as real, they’re just mythical fictitious figures and in Thor’s place as a founding Avenger, Beta Ray Bill has taken his place as the thunderer. Meanwhile, Asgard still remembers everything that transpired and wonder what to do next, while Thor’s soul awakens in Vidblainn, an afterlife of fog and darkness with strange creatures but he finds other gods. And Donald Blake. Who’s still pissed at Thor and wants some payback for letting Loki “punish” him and not doing anything else to rectify his very existence.
Look, after this whole exchange, where Thor even admits that it feels like he’s on repeat with the whole humility train, he ends up performing a sacrifice and he ends up awakening back on Earth. Not as a god, or even with his memories as Thor Odinson, but as a man called Sigurd Jarlson. And that’s where the comic ends.
Okay, where to start? First, it’s good that the series wraps up the Utgard storyline, for now, but how it did it feels so….excessive. Even by Marvel Comics’ standards. See, after the end of the previous issue, there was only Utgard-Loki who stood as a threat and instead of fighting him, Loki kills Thor to do what? Shatter the Black Bridge so the realm is cut off from all other realms? To give Thor a reunion with Donald Black that turns bloody violent real quick? Or to give Thor a new test? I’m thinking it’s meant to be all of the above with the last one being the takeaway here to set up a new journey for Thor. But it feels unnecessary.
And the same goes for Thor’s “conversation” with Donal Blake. I’m not going to lie and say that I understand everything that happened in this comic, but I won’t say that I’m excited about where this series’ story is going.
Final Thoughts:
The Immortal Thor #25 concludes the storyline with the gods of Utgard but generates so many questions, some of which are not met with straightforward answers. While some things add up about the events in this comic, some do not. The direction that this comic sets up for Thor are both a little worrying and intriguing. We’ll see where Thor’s journey goes from here.