The god butcher has returned and Gorr has King Thor at his mercy. How is he even still alive after being killed eons ago? Minor spoilers for King Thor #2 follow.
King Thor began Jason Aaron’s swan song for the character in such a great, bombastic way that it was hard to see where it was going to go. Then comes the reappearance of Gorr, the god butcher and all bets were thrown out the window. This issue makes good on that reappearance and delivers another excellent issue to the end of this saga.
Basically, if you’ve a fan at all of Jason Aaron’s Thor run, you’re going to like this series. It delivers everything that you’ve come to love about his run and heightens everything up to 11. This does create a slightly disjointed narrative at points, even though it’s relatively streamlined. However, unless you are specifically looking for this disjointedness, you won’t find it.
The best part of this issue though is the reemergence of Gorr. He hasn’t been seen since his apparent death during the “Godbomb” storyline, so it’s genuinely a shock to seem him reappear. It really shouldn’t be a shock, as this is comics, but its still surprising. And in writing his creation, Aaron truly has not lost a step. Gorr is as intimidating and terrifying as ever. He is the embodiment of the themes so many of Aaron’s stories imbued into one character. He’s a tragic character that has become less so as time has gone on. So, to see him back absolutely destroying King Thor is extremely enjoyable, even though it shouldn’t be. And the reason for that is, just as he states in this issue, he’s right in his assessment of the gods.
But what this issue highlights, and what the series seems to be boiling down to, is the relationship between Thor and Loki. They’ve always had a complicated sibling rivalry. Well, complicated isn’t the right word when one is constantly attempting to murder to other, but whatever. They’re complicated. And that’s what that issue highlights, which it does in such a different interesting way. These two are not the same characters that we’ve been accustomed to and yet, they still manage to have a semblance of those characters, which is why we’re able to latch on to them.
Everything about this issue is heavily supported and made better by Esad Ribic’s astounding art. His painterly style makes every single page feel like it should be in a cathedral somewhere. It’s not art that many would associate with a comic and that’s why its so great. It’s cosmic, yet grounded. Bombastic, yet personal. Exciting and emotional. Ribic’s art is genuinely phenomenal from all stand points. And oh man, that final page is absolutely incredible.
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