Monday, September 24, 2018

Thor #5 Review - Marvel Monday


Old Man Thor vs Old Man Pho-Gan


Writer: Jason Aaron
Art Team: Christian Ward, VC's Joe Sabino
Marvel Comics
Release Date: September 19, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99

We're taking a quick break from the War of the Realms to visit Future Thor and his adventures centered around trying to spark the Universe to life again. This has led our dear Thor into the direct path of the Phoenix Force, only this time combined with Old Man Logan, or the Phoenix with a worse temper basically.  Join me and let's see how these events unfold.



Things start with a flashback as Thor and Wolverine do what they do best ... drink in a bar and relive the glory days.  After some 'beer talk' about their path their lives have taken the two are interrupted by some criminals with possibly the worst case of 'wrong time, wrong place' I've ever seen in my life.

From there its off to eons from now where we \revisit Old Man Thor crossing paths with Old Man Pho-gan (Phoenix Logan). After catching up on old times, Thor pushes some buttons in-particular close to home for Old man Pho-gan, leading to a giant battle royal between the two old friends. Thor tries to talk Logan onto his side, while the entity of Phoenix tries to explain to Thor recreating life on Earth was the worst move he could have made. This is the part of the issue I actually enjoy and would have preferred more focus and closure brought to it, however, the story also touches on other things, before ultimately ending on a cliffhanger between the two parties.


There is a strange brief interlude between the living planet Ego the Necroworld, whose currently in control of the Necrosword which was touched on in previous issues of Thor runs (also linked to Venom now too), battling some 'worm' creature, which I didn't quite understand clearly. I'm fairly certain there are details I'm missing from past issues that I just can't pinpoint at this point in time, but it's a fairly interesting back and forth overall.

The final act takes place on the reborn Earth where Thor's three daughters begin to do battle with some Monsters, including a version of Fing Fang Foom. This is all an effort for the Monsters to introduce their 'boss', which appears a combination of Doom and the Iron Fist, here to re-end the world once again. This all ties back to what the Phoenix was warning Thor about in their fight to connect everything in a roundabout way we'll see where this all leads next.



Overall taking a timeout from the 'war of the realms' is an interesting strategy for this book to take so early but I enjoyed this issue overall.  There were a few areas I found confusing I could have used some reference points for, but overall not anything I would doc the issue for, just something I don't recall at the moment mostly. Believe it or not as a story overall I enjoyed this more than the previous fight for Hel arc, but the art still isn't something that's attracting me to this book right now.

Bits and Pieces:

Jason Aaron brings some interesting concepts to the table in his continuing efforts addressing Thor's future eons from now. Guest artist Christian Ward is a relief on art duties, and as a whole, I'm excited this resumes next issue, but wonder how newcomers to Thor will take this break from the War of Realms so soon.

7.0/10

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