Thor may be my least favorite Marvel character, and he always has been. So I'm somewhat surprised at how intrigued I've been by the latest story arc by Dan Jurgens, which finds Thor and the rest of the Asgardians taking an Authority-style approach to righting wrongs worldwide. If you had asked me which book would pick up the torch of pro-active widescreen storytelling after the end of The Authority, Thor wouldn't even have been on my list, but that's exactly the type of story Jurgens is writing. There are some elements of the super-heroic that seem out of place, including some goofy costumes and a histrionics, but this issue is largely about a god who has taken to interfering in mortal affairs discussing these matters with the United Nations. Not what I expected from the book, and a very pleasant surprise.
These stories of heroes acting against the status quo have become more frequent these days, but I have yet to tire of the approach, because there's so much potential story to explore. In this case, Jurgens is exploring the idea of what might happen if the heroes were right, and while I can see him building to a point where Thor's actions make him more of a villain than a hero, I hope that he steers clear of that now-cliched story element to find a more unusual path. For right now, the actions of Thor and the Asgardians, while a threat to national sovereignty and faith, are presented as a good thing, and I'm liking that approach.
What is really neat is that Jurgens is exploring beyond the question of how these heroes could use their powers to fight. Oh, sure, there's a scene where the Warriors Three take on Islamic terrorists, in a somewhat painful attempt at relevancy, but there's more story here around Heimdall using his senses and Thor making rain to help alleviate suffering and famine. In addition, seeing Loki actually happy with his brother's reign is both a warning of the dangers in Thor's decision and a promise of future conflict that will be different than the Loki/Thor battles we've seen in the past.
Mind you, I would have been happier if we could have seen more of Thor being a stately diplomat and less of him destroying desks in a fit of rage. Or less of the Absorbing Man showing up in his prison pants and costume, bursting in to offer a hand in friendship, and a little more of him wearing normal clothes and walking in. But these concessions to the action-oriented super-hero style are exceptions rather than the rule of storytelling in this issue.
Though he wasn't on the book when it was becoming the early stirrings of The Authority, it strikes me that Tom Raney's work on Stormwatch has prepared him well for this type of storytelling. If nothing else, this is the best his work has looked since that time, with some amazing detail work on Zarrko's cell, the U.N. building or the city of Asgard. I also love the work he's done on Thor, changing his appearance enough to make him look regal but without losing the distinctive look that will make him recognizable to the average Thor fan.
