Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Cover Artist: Alex Ross
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Okay, we got Thor dealing with the threat of powerful elder gods from the shadowy, mysterious Utgard realm. But now, Thor has to contend with his mischievous sibling Loki who is testing him out of the blue. Why? Well, that’s what Thor would like to know himself. Jump into Immortal Thor #3 to see what test the trickster god Loki has in store for the God of Thunder.
Review:
Alright, so we find Thor awakening from what appears to be the king’s sleep that occurs to All-Fathers after they use the “All-Force” what was once the Odin Force and is now the Thor Force. The obvious downside of using this power is that like Odin, Thor must rest to recover his strength. But now he finds himself on a strange alien world where he was placed by none other than Loki for reasons they refuse to share.
Now, this is not an action-heavy comic, in fact it feels more like a cool down issue that follows after a rather intense or action-heavy issue or story arc. But going by the story, if it feels so abrupt to have this happen, that is by design. Loki’s design anyway. The “test” that Loki has Thor face isn’t groundbreaking, mind-boggling, nor is it really that interesting. As Thor notes, Loki leaves pretty obvious clues for him, but it is up to Thor to find his own ways to put the pieces together and come up with a solution to solve Loki’s riddle and pass the test.
Admittedly, there is some tangible purpose to Loki’s “test”. The first is that it helps Thor recover from his king’s sleep without having to spend an unknown amount of time while Toranos is out and about. However, it also revealed to Thor that he can’t rely on the Thor Force and will need to use not only his personal might but his quick wit to defeat Toranos and the threats to come. Which leads to an obvious plug to the other title Al Ewing’s been writing, X-Men Red, since Thor will be seeking allies and plans to ask Storm to help him in some way, even though she has her hands busy as it is.
So, the art by Martin Coccolo was great as ever when it came to depicting Thor and Loki in all their various facial expressions, showing them emote a range of emotions and expressions to go with them. What has to be the best part of the comic is seeing Thor unleash his wrath on the planet after he first awakens and Loki refuses to send him back to Earth. We get an epic display of Thor’s powers over lightning and it is glorious. The only downside is that he wasn’t using it to fight anyone, and that leads to the other fact that Loki’s test was pretty boring and so was the rest of the comic unfortunately. Now, I’m not saying that the comic is devoid enjoyment, there’s just a lack of energy and momentum here and it makes this comic a quick read. The comic also highlighted my main concern for this series, that Al Ewing will get too meta for the sake of it. Especially when it comes to the narration, Loki, and the overarching plot. But I’m confident that Al Ewing will at least deliver more than just that.
Final Thoughts:
Immortal Thor #3 shows Thor trapped on an alien planet as part of Loki’s mysterious big test. Martin Coccolo’s art continues to be exemplary here as we see the various interactions between Thor and Loki which range from being serious to comical at times. The only issue is that the big “test” from Loki wasn’t really that intriguing or intense other than trying Thor’s patience. But it does serve a purpose for Thor that’s more practical and sets things up for the next issue that may be more exciting.