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THOR: GODSTORM #1
Neutral (4/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Steve Rude
Inks: Mike Royer
Colors: Greg Wright
Letters: John Costanza
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
The particularly nasty sibling rivalry between Marvel Comics' visions of Thor and Loki is a classic one... a little too classic, truth be told. Busiek and Rude present a nostalgic look back to the characters, saying nothing particularly new about them in the process. I remember the comics of Days Gone By with affection as well, but new stories told simply for nostalgia's sake alone rarely hold my attention.
On a rather dull day centuries ago, two young Viking sons are spellbound by tales of the gods, spun by the village seer. He tells them of a story of the Thunder God's youth, when he confronted a rogue storm, inspired to rebel by the manipualtions of Loki. The aged storyteller also looks forward to the future, to a confrontation Thor and the Avengers will have with an encounter with armored villain possessing the power to create devastating weather effects.
Rude's style still shines through clearly, but the intention here -- supported by the choice of Mike Royer as inker -- is to elicit memories of the King, the late Jack Kirby. Rude succeeds, a bit too much, honestly. Though the story is told clearly, the focus on the visuals of yesteryear leaves me a bit disinterested. I've seen this art a hundred times before. Why can't Rude just be Rude? His work has always boasted a strong Kirby influence, but this is going too far.
Mind you, the script doesn't help the art out. Busiek is also in Silver Age mode here, and that means we get an unnecessarily verbose script. The art is cluttered thanks to far too much in the way of dialogue and captions. Busiek spells the plot out in great detail, and it makes for some occasionally repetitive scripting.
To be fair, though, this comic book does accomplish what it sets out to do: to tell a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby-esque Thor story. I also rather enjoyed the framing device of the storytelling seer. Busiek captures more than the mythic nature of the title character. He also conveys a sense of tradition and community. Thor has never been one of favorite characters, and despite my disinterest in the plot, this unique viewpoint was entertaining.
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