Thor (2014) #1 - A Review

After a long self-imposed exile, Odin has returned to his people to find that much has changed in his absence. His wife, Freyja, has taken up much of his power in his absence and is now loath to relinquish her position as The All-Mother of The Aesir. More, following a battle in the realms of Midgar, his beloved son Thor now finds himself unable to lift his hammer, Mjolnir. Indeed, even Odin himself cannot stir the great weapon, despite having personally crafted the enchantments on it that prevent it from being wielded by the unworthy!

This bodes ill for many reasons, not the least of which is that the enemies of the Aesir run riot on Midgar in Thor's absence.  But hammer or no, Thor will not let his obligation to protect the people of his chosen home go unmet. And Mjolnir must be wielded by a worthy warrior, though the warrior may not be Thor...


Jason Aaron offers new readers a number of mysteries with this first issue. What could Nick Fury say that could cause Thor to lose his worthiness? Are Nick Fury's actions even related to how Thor lost his hammer? If so, why can't Odin move it? And who is the mysterious woman who is able to lift Mjolnir at issue's end?  This last mystery does seem to have an obvious answer, but we will need to wait another issue (at least) before the obvious theory is confirmed.

Aaron wisely spends the second half of this issue showing that Thor is still a threat and still a hero even with the loss of his famous weapon. Hopefully this will quell the worries of established Thor fans who feared Thor being made to look foolish or second-rate in the wake of the news that a woman would be wielding Thor's hammer for the foreseeable future.


Russell Dauterman proves a skillful artist.  The amount of detail he puts into the artwork on this issue is astonishing.  Sadly, much of that fine detail is lost due to thin inking.  There are some panels where it appears like the only inking was a black outline around the different characters and even then certain elements of the art are difficult to distinguish from one another.  This makes the action difficult to follow at times, in spite of how good everything looks.

Still, this is a promising first issue overall. The mysteries of the on-going plot are sure to intrigue both new readers who may only know Thor from the movies as well as long-time fans of the Odinson.  To say nothing of the mystery of whom the new wielder of Mjolnir is!