By Matt Fraction, Patrick Zircher, Khari Evans, Clay Mann, Dan Brereton, Doug Braithwaite, Michael Allred, Miguel Ãngel Sepúlveda, Victor Olazaba & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3568-5
Since his creation by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962), the spectacular adventures of Thor have encompassed everything from crushing petty crime capers to saving universes from cosmic doom. As the decades passed he has also survived numerous reboots and re-imaginings to keep the wonders of fabled Asgard appealing to an easily jaded readership.
An already exceedingly broad range of milieux and scenarios spawned even greater visual variety after the Thunderer’s recent introduction to the pantheon of cinematic Marvels and his ongoing triumphs as a bona fide burgeoning movie franchise.
From the cod mythology of the company’s own bowdlerized Aesir whilst simultaneously drawing upon established ancient of Scandinavia, in 2008 Matt Fraction and a doughty band of artists crafted a saga spanning a number of specials and one-shots which riotously examined the early days of the bellicose Lord of Storms in the fantastic prehistory of the Nine Realms of existence, and this slim bombastic fantasy tome collects the opening blasts with Thor: Ages of Thunder (June 2008), Thor: Reign of Blood (August), Thor: Man of War (January 2009) and Thor: God-Sized Special (February 2009).
The legendary adventure opens with the eponymous ‘Ages of Thunder’ – rendered in painterly manner by Patrick Zircher, Khari Evans & Victor Olazaba – which sees the gods of Asgard arrogantly gloating after their gory victory against the ferocious Frost Giants of Jotunheim; monsters who had rampaged to the very gates of the city and even breached one of the great walls before Thor’s mighty hammer ended their threat with lethal finality.
The complacent victors then feasted mightily, gorging themselves on the golden apples of immortality which were the source of their power and could only be gathered from the magnificent World Ash Yggdrasil by lovely enchantress Idun.
…All but dour Thor, who shunned the festivities and as usual saved his share of the magic fruit against imagined times of future peril…
Some time later a human stonemason came to the gates of Asgard and bargained to repair the broken wall. Sensing sport, Allfather Odin and duplicitous Loki dickered with the mortal and imposed what they considered impossible conditions and a ludicrous deadline for the task, secure in the knowledge that what the man promised was impossible and they would never have to pay his preposterous price…
Of course the smug war gods were completely wrong and in a terrifyingly short time the mason was almost done: looking forward to carrying off his reward… beautiful, irreplaceable Idun…
Faced with humiliation and the loss of the source of all his people’s strength, Odin ordered the master of mischief to fix the problem, which the conniving cheat accomplished with barely a day to spare. Unfortunately this only provoked the furious mason to reveal his true identity – one of the recently defeated Frost Giants – and his bloody revenge was only ended by the arrival of the red-handed, increasingly aloof Thunder God.
For his part in the near-calamity Loki was banished to the icy wastes where, amidst horrendous cold and privation, he was approached by a giant eagle – another shapeshifting giant – who offered to save and feed him in return for Idun…
This bargain the trickster kept, delivering the golden goddess to the giant’s icy harem. Soon the Aesir were ailing as their mighty powers faded with the last of the apples they once devoured so profligately…
As heroic gods searched the Nine Realms for the missing enchantress, Odin and the court resolved to beg Thor for apples from his miserly hoard, but the Thunderer refused their entreaties. All-wise Odin reasoned Loki was the cause of their trouble and with dire threats forced him to retrieve Idun, but knowing his adopted son’s nature then beseeched Thor to follow and make sure the task was done properly…
This the murderous, sour- spirited Thor accomplished but an awful rift was driven between Allfather and sons…
The tale resumes in ‘Thor: Reign of Blood’ (illustrated by Evans, Zircher & Olazaba) as the Frost Giant’s tragic yet formidable daughter enacts a plan of icy vengeance which begins as a savagely relentless winter grips Asgard. Sheltered in his cavernous, echoing Great Hall, Odin reveals that in his youth he had a dalliance with the icy maiden which almost cost his life and has despised her ever since.
Nevertheless Spring must come so they will negotiate…
With Loki as envoy she is invited to Asgard and demands the greatest treasure in existence before she will rescind her endless freeze. Charged with cleaning up the mess, the trickster commissions three wondrous artefacts from the artisan dwarves of Nidavellir: a gold-propagating armband, a magical necklace and a giant-killing broadsword…
Unable to help himself, Loki then enters into a deadly side bet with the craftsmen over which treasure Odin will deem best…
When the gifts are displayed, the Allfather suddenly succumbs to his long-suppressed hatred and uses the sword to dispatch the Frost Giant’s Daughter before she can choose her tribute, effectively, if dishonourably, ending the eternal winter.
Once Loki weasels his way out of his bet with the dwarves the matter seems settled, but Idun is increasingly beguiled by the metal-smiths’ magical necklace…
Travelling to Nidavellir she sells herself for the gleaming trinket, and when Odin learns what she has done his rage knows no bounds. In response The Enchantress curses the entire world, causing legions of the dead to arise and attack the helpless living.
Once more mighty Thor is called upon to risk everything and end an overwhelming threat created by his family’s arrogance and cupidity…
‘Thor: Man of War’ (Clay Mann, Zircher & Olazaba) finds the Thunderer driven into berserker rage by the antics of his people, rampaging like a maniac through all the Nine Worlds. Enraged at the disruption of the natural order, Odin orders his beloved Valkyries to stop his errant heir by any means necessary.
Soon their leader Brunnhilda has engaged the demented Thor in all-out combat, but their cataclysmic clash awakens a colossal Storm Giant and soon both Asgardians are battling for their live against the ravaging pernicious primal entity. Before it finally falls, the furious fighters need the timely assistance of godly comrades Balder, Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg …
However, rowdily celebrating their victory in Svartalfheim, the victorious heroes and war women soon fall into fighting each other and watchful Odin is compelled to personally teach his wayward son the meaning and responsibilities of godhood…
Closing the chronicle, from Thor: God-Sized Special #1 comes ‘The Death and Life of Skurge the Executioner’ by Dan Brereton, Doug Braithwaite, Michael Allred & Miguel Ãngel Sepúlveda, which traces the life of a former villain who redeemed his many grievous sins at the gates of the underworld to save the hosts of Asgard and Earth.
After a rousing visual recap, the saga moves on to a bizarre mystery as the assembled warriors of the golden realm realise that their memories of Skurge have been tampered with.
Travelling to the underworld, Thor, Loki and Balder find that even Death Goddess Hela has succumbed to the mystic meddling.
Given leave to continue by the terrifying queen of the damned, the voyagers press on and find that the cause of all their woes is the seductive Enchantress… but her motives for the worlds-shaking spell are nothing they could have suspected…
With extra features including covers by Marko Djurdjevic, a section on his preliminary production process and impressive pencil sketches and roughs by Zircher, this is a bloodily beautiful fairytale fable which would not be out of place amongst the true Elder Eddas.
Frantic, furious and ferociously enthralling, Ages of Thunder is a superb slice of mythic Marvel madness no action-loving fantasy fan could possibly resist.
© 2008, 2009, Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.