MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Jason Aaron
ARTIST: Mahmud Asrar
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
COVER: Mahmud Asrar with Jordie Bellaire
VARIANT COVERS: Olivier Coipel with Jason Keith; Das Pastoras; Alex Ross; Jack Kirby with Paul Mounts; Dale Keown with Jason Keith
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (October 2017)
Rated T+
Thor created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby
“The Thunder”
Generations is Marvel Comics' current event miniseries. It is a planned 10-issue anthology, published weekly. Each issue is written and drawn by a different creative team, and each issue will feature a different team-up of a classic Marvel superhero with his or her modern-day counterpart. The series is meant to unite the legacy of classic Marvel Comics characters with the next generation of heroes as both move into the future of Marvel Comics storytelling.
The fourth issue is Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor, which brings together two versions of a classic Marvel Comics character, Thor. The first is the classic Odinson, Thor, first introduced in Journey into Mystery #83 (cover date: August 1962), and is now known as “The Unworthy Thor.” The second is the new Thor, Jane Foster. Once she was the love interest of Dr. Donald Blake (who was once Thor... so to speak). Now, Foster is known as “The Mighty Thor.” This issue of Generations is written by Jason Aaron; drawn by Mahmud Asrar; colored by Jordie Bellaire; and lettered by Joe Sabino.
Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 (“The Thunder”) opens “many years ago” in the “Weapons Hall” of Asgard, the home of the Norse god, Odin, and his subjects, the Asgardians. Odin's son is trying to lift the enchanted hammer, “Mjolnir.” Thor is rebuked by his father for his efforts, and is commanded to take on his princely duties. The son of Odin, however, cannot resist the call/prayers of his followers on Midgard (Earth). Before long he is leading them into battle against a familiar supervillain and is also facing a rival for Mjolnir.
The purpose of Generations: Banner Hulk & Totally Awesome Hulk #1 was for Bruce Banner to tell the Totally Awesome Hulk/Amadeus Cho that he would not be able to escape all the tragic aspects of the curse of the Hulk. Generations: Phoenix & Jean Grey found two women reluctant and/or incapable of telling each other everything they knew about the curse of The Phoenix
Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine #1 is mainly just a slice-and-dice Wolverine adventure featuring the classic Wolverine and the All-New Wolverine – a well-executed Wolverine slice-and-dice story. Like the Wolverine tale, Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 is merely a Thor fight comic book featuring two Thors. It is pointless. If writer Jason Aaron wanted to emphasize that two beings want possession of Mjolnir and want to be THE Thor, well, he is already doing that in the current Thor comic book.
With Generations, Marvel Comics runs the risk of publishing several issues of an event comic book that read like nothing more than, at behest, mediocre, “Annuals,” published for the sake of being published, or, at worst, filler material. Once upon a time, there were a lot of comic book writers who could pull off an exemplary stand-alone tale in 30 pages. Alan Moore springs to mind, but many of the top comics scribes of the 1960s and 1970s could have delivered something better than what Aaron delivers in Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1.
Now, I must say that the art here is beautiful. It is the best work by Mahmud Asrar that I have ever seen. He is a rapidly growing talent, and here, he gives the hackwork story TLC that it does not deserve. Jordie Bellaire does a stellar coloring job on Asrar's compositions. Leave it to Jordie; she'll color the shittiness right of a mediocre comic book, and she just about does that here. Asrar and Bellaire are the reasons I am not giving Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 a really low grade.
B
6 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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