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Saturday 21 May 2016

Battleworld: Thors Review (Jason Aaron, Chris Sprouse)


The Thors are Doom’s Battleworld police-force made up of every incarnation of Thor from Ultimate Thor to Beta Ray Bill, to Old Thor, Frog Thor, Destroyer Thor and even Groot Thor (“I Am Thor!”). But on a world where multiple versions of the same person can exist, there are many Jane Fosters out there too - and someone is killing them all. The Thors must stop a serial killer who is murdering the same person over and over.

Jason Aaron sets up a pretty good Marvelized police procedural with this Secret Wars tie-in. I liked seeing Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Thor again and the varieties of Thor are fun to see interacting with one another, Aaron mixing in his own Thor the Unworthy and the new female Thor as well. The murder mystery is eerie too with Jane Fosters and Donald Blake being knocked off but the various Thors not knowing their relevance (Doom has wiped everyone’s minds) though they feel something for the Janes. 

The story falls apart in the final act. The killer is revealed and it’s underwhelming, why Ultimate Thor wasn’t killed himself is baffling, and the motive behind the murders is completely nonsensical. Then Aaron awkwardly inserts the Secret Wars finale and the book ends. It’s such a rushed and totally unsatisfying ending, not to mention baffling for those who haven’t read the main event.

Chris Sprouse’s artwork is superb and beautifully polished, and the idea of Thor as a detective worked really well - it could definitely work as a longer-form series - but this miniseries was let down by a really poor finale. Thors is one of the less sucky Secret Wars tie-ins though it only has half a good story. It is sort-of-worthy!

Battleworld: Thors

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