While generally focused on larger crossover events such as House of M, "Decimation" and a seemingly unending array of big-event premises to come, Marvel hasn't forgotten how writer Michael Avon Oeming led a sales-boosting creative effort to cap off the Thor series. Once again, they've handed him the reigns of another minor character from the Thor stable for a spinoff limited series. The writer opens the series on something of a weak note, as the first act of this issue is mired in the typical purple prose that's made Thor such a difficult comic-book hero for me to stomach. But later in this issue, the writer surprises me at how well he brings the title character down to earth (figuratively and literally). Furthermore, the artwork is impressive, capturing a mythic tone at first and an appropriately edgy one later on.
The fall of Asgard serves as an omen among worlds of gods that the same fate can befall other pantheons, so the Greek god of death, Hades, launches an assault on Olympus in order finally achieve his dreams of conquest and destruction. Zeus is forced to turn to another black sheep of the family -- his son, Ares, god of war -- to turn the tide of the conflict, but the gods of Mount Olympus aren't nearly as appreciative as the prodigal warmonger had hoped. He seeks to shed his old life and to embark upon a new one... on Earth.
Foreman's work on this book is reminiscent of the styles of such artists as Barry (Opus, Young Gods) Windsor-Smith and Jose (Hip Flask) Ladronn, as he captures an impossible world of myth in impressive detail. It's his work in the latter part of the issue, set in suburban America, that really catches my eye. I'm reminded of Eduardo (100 Bullets) intense style, and the closing splash page demonstrates the influence of the late John Buscuma's gritty artwork. The cover is eye-catching and conveys the tone of the first act, but it doesn't boast the tone that stands out as the strongest one in the book, and that's the more everyday guise the title character adopts.
What I enjoyed most about this comic book is how Oeming humanizes the brutal god of war without sacrificing his dark edge. In other words, despite the fact that we can relate to Ares, he remains the villain the gods perceive him to be. He's the hero of this story, but he still acts as a bad guy would at times.
It's also easy to relate to Ares's emotional wounds at the end of the first act, but it's impossible to understand why the other gods won't allow him a chance at recitivism in the face of the favor he did for them. Yes, he's brutal and the results of his handiwork are disturbing, but the other gods also seem to acknowledge that Ares is simply fulfilling the role myth has laid out for him.
The whole sword-and-sorcery/fantasy riff is enjoying quite the renaissance these days. Thor-related comics seem to do well for Marvel, and other publishers are enjoying windfalls thanks to revivals of Conan and Red Sonja. Of course, the boom in comicdom owes a lot to Peter Jackson and company and the recent Tolkein films. But you know what? Not everyone is into this middle-ages, flowery-dialogue stuff. That's not a criticism of the execution or choice of storytelling; admittedly, it's just a personal bias on my part. When Oeming is mired in that mode early in the book, I was completely disinterested, and I was honestly surprised and relieved to find the shift in tone and plot in the middle of this issue. 6/10
