Writer: Torunn Gronbekk
Artist: Nic Klein
Color Artist: Matthew Wilson
Cover Artist: Nic Klein
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Thor has faced all manner of threats in the last year: the Black Winter, Mjolnir itself, the Hulk, even Donald Blake. But ever since his fight with the Black Winter, Thor has been haunted by a terrible nightmare of Thanos ending the Universe and everything in it. Thor’s quest for answers led him to another mystery and now he faces a threat from one of Thanos’ ilk in Thor #29.
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Review:
I have to say, this issue is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s not terribly written or drawn, Torunn Gronbekk does a fine enough job with some of the things in the comic and Nic Klein’s art is great to see again in the Thor series. But the story just doesn’t grab attention like the previous ones did, and Gronbekk does slip up with the writing in certain areas than with others. Fair warning: There will be some spoilers in this review.
The story is straightforward enough, Corvus Glaive, Thanos’ alien reaper-like right-hand man, has kidnapped Thor’s baby sister Laussa and has taken her to furthest reaches of Niffleheim. So, Thor recruits the Valkyrie Runa, the only living person he knows who’s been there and returned, to show him the way in and help find his sister. Nic Klein’s art is a welcome return as he infuses everything with this dirty and gritty feel to it that lends to the way the story mixes the grounded and the grand in terms of characters and locations. There’s not much action in the comic sadly, but there’s a sense of progression as far as the characters’ collective journeys.
First off, I believe Gronbekk made the poor choice of including Laussa in this story as the central focus of it. For those who don’t know, Laussa is Thor’s baby sister who was cursed with some of the powers of Surtur by Surtur as payback against him, Odin, and Freyja. The thing is that Laussa is one of those many characters that almost every comic writer has forgotten about and left to waste away in limbo until now of course. Thor has no real relationship with Laussa in general or in this series, and Gronbekk is expecting readers to just roll with Thor’s investment in saving her, even though for many readers this will probably be their first time even knowing she exists at all.
Now, that’s not to say that Thor shouldn’t feel this determined, just that it feels more telegraphed like, “Of course he has to be like that. It’s his sister.” While most readers barely have any connection with her at all. The inclusion of Runa is fine, things start off spicy enough with her before it cools down and gets back to the main story. There’s not much to say about Runa, she’s a bit of a blank slate to this reviewer and she doesn’t leave a memorable impression, good or bad. She’s just there to serve a function in the story as Thor’s guide through this forbidden part of Niffleheim.
We’ll see where Torunn Gronbekk does with not only Runa but Thor and Corvus Glaive because the ending builds up more anticipation to see what happens next to both the hero and villain. At least for this reviewer.
Final Thoughts:
Thor #29 kicks off a brand new story arc that looks like it will finally focus on that vision Thor had about Thanos. The comic delves right into the meat of the story and goes from point A to B to C to get everything set for the journey to come with Thor and Runa as he sets out to rescue his baby sister Laussa from Corvus Glaive. While the story isn’t that excitable, it does get there near the end and sets up the next issue for even more action for both the heroes and the villain. Nic Klein’s return to art on the book is a welcome surprise and makes the book look good like in previous story arcs in this series.