Writer: Torunn Grønbekk
Artist: Juan Gedeon
Color Artist: Matt Wilson
Cover Artist: Nic Klein
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Thor’s hunt for answers has only led him to more questions and perils. Now, he seeks to rescue not only the spirit of his father Odin but the souls of all of the dead in Niffleheim, from none other than Dr. Doom. See what new mad scheme Doom has planned as he’s confronted by the God of Thunder in Thor #33!
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Review:
Sadly, the synopsis for this comic is more exciting than the actual comic book. Don’t let the cover fool you, Laussa is not in this comic. This title really went downhill ever since Donny Cates left it. From the tone to the action, the character interactions, the general plot, everything. This comic is losing its momentum and it’s showing here. But let’s get into it. Fair warning, there will be SPOILERS throughout this review.
The biggest problem this comic has is that Torunn Gronbekk is trying his best to make everything happening here feel like it’s a REALLY BIG DEAL. But it’s not, for a variety of reasons with the main one being that this story is very derivative of many other past stories involving not only Thor and Dr. Doom but stories tackling misuse of souls or an afterlife. He does this through both Thor and especially Hela where he has her ham it up by having her shout at Dr. Doom. while he’s commencing his ritual. that he’s committing a “Crime against existence.” and “A crime against creation itself.” But the fact of the matter is Doom’s done worse and so has Hela herself in past stories.
It also doesn’t help that the narration feels like it’s trying way too hard to make things feel epic. Whether it’s the narration in the scene with Dr. Doom and Hela, or the narration following Thor as he confronts Doom’s forces, which are also underwhelming in appearance since they’re just people with guns. Generically designed people instead of the many Doombots, Servodroids and other cool creations of Doom. Admittedly, there is a plot reason for why this is the case, but even that is a pretty weak reason.
What diminishes the stakes in this comic even more is the art. I know that art is subjective and all that, but Juan Gedeon’s art just isn’t conveying the grandiose nature of what’s transpiring in the comics. It all feels too simple and plain, if that makes any sense. You see this with the opening pages with Thanos in Vaneheim in the distant past when Bor, Thor’s grandfather, ruled (yes, Thanos finally shows up in this run to a degree, I’ll talk about him later). But the environments, locations, the action, it all just lacks any type of energy to it. The only thing that Gedeon does well for the most part is the characters’ facial expressions as he captures the various emotions well.
One other issue is how Gronbekk is clearly trying to connect things in the current storyline with Donny Cates’ first story in his Guardians of the Galaxy run, specifically, the one where Hela tried to resurrect Thanos. But a few problems arise here. Notably the fact that Thanos’s resurrection was interrupted and left him a brainless zombie-like brute before he and Hela were sucked into an artificial black hole. Long story. But what he also seems to overlook is that Thanos was rescued from the black hole by Phastos of the Eternals in the last Eternals series, who also returned him back to normal, so to speak. But the narration in the first few pages is written like Thanos showed up in Vanaheim in the distant past after being sucked into the black hole with Hela, when that’s clearly not the case. Hopefully this is cleared up in upcoming issues, but for now, it’s just another flaw in the comic.
Final Thoughts:
Thor #33 continues the journey as the God of Thunder finds himself in Latveria to face Dr. Doom. Unfortunately, the comic’s actual story isn’t as exciting as the synopsis makes it out to be. The comic tries exceptionally hard to show how epic and dire things are in the story, but they fall a little flat due to the art, character dialogue, and narration. Hopefully the next issue brings things back up a notch.