Writer: Jason Aaron

Art: Michael Del Mundo, Marco D’Alfonso, and VC’s Joe Sabino

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 28th, 2019

Thor has disappeared! That’s all this reviewer can say without spoiling the epic, Midgard-shattering conclusion of WAR OF THE REALMS in this week’s all-new THOR #16 by Jason Aaron. Let’s soar into the kickoff of Jason Aaron’s final Thor story!

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Readers who have been along for Jason Aaron’s ride have seen one Hel of a story that molded a young Thor Odinson into the All-Father that would battle the God Butcher, see him become unworthy to wield Mjoliner, and eventually remold that very hammer he lost in the middle of the sun. Aaron has taken Thor on a journey that has lasted so many years and evolved the character in ways that have never been done before. Fans of the character truly witnessed the maturation of Thor Odinson and began to realize the sheer responsibility of being a ”god”, a hero, or better yet, a King.

Aaron used his last THOR issue to lay it all out there for the readers. Instead of being cute or thought-provoking, Aaron places himself as Odin and poetically gives a powerful speech that summarizes the entire theme of his run from start to finish. Odin (Jason Aaron) says, “ he showed us all to fall from grace and rise again stronger than ever. How to rise above our unworthiness by owning it.” This statement completely summarizes the God of Thunder, his hero journey, and his transformation to becoming the true King of Asgard, as well as Midgard and all the realms. This was such a beautifully well-written summary of a 7 year epic tale.

Again, the main purpose of the issue was to conclude a story that encompassed multiple books and characters related to Thor. Aaron made sure to use this issue to touch on almost every Asgardian character, or related character, and leave them in a spot for a creative team to explore in the future. Prospective writers of Thor’s mythos can now expand their story in any direction deemed fit instead of being forced down a path they never intended. Jason Aaron spent years playing in this toy box and ultimately used this issue to clean up and put the toys away for the next kid to play, which shows the utmost respect this reviewer has for him as a writer and team player.

That said, nothing new happens in the issue. Readers could have assumed most of the ideas and directions that Aaron laid out for fans and basically could have skipped from issue 15 immediately into KING THOR and not miss a beat. However, if fans decided to go that direction, they would fail to experience the masterful portrait-style artwork from Michael Del Mundo and Marco D’Alfonso that this reviewer has grown to truly adore throughout these Thor tales that changed the character for years to come.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you love Thor, Asgard, WAR OF THE REALMS, and Jason Aaron’s run that started way back in 2012, this issue is a must buy to wrap up one of your favorite writers stories. However, if you’re buying this issue looking for answers or incredibly outrageous plot twists, you won’t find it here. This issue puts a nice bow on an unthinkable 7 year narrative that took Thor Odinson on an incredible hero journey through some highs and lows. However, even though Aaron’s THOR is done, his story still continues. With only 4 issues of KING THOR to go, this reviewer is pumped to find out how the story ends with future Thor and to see the REAL epic conclusion.