King Thor #3 Review: Even in Death, Gods are Still Present

Gorr is winning the battle for the fate of the universe and Thor has no footing to mount a defense. Spoilers for King Thor #3 follow.

The first couple of issues of King Thor so far have been excellent. As a final arc in a long-running story, there’s been a satisfying feeling reading each issue. Now, with the penultimate issue released, does it properly set-up the finale of Jason Aaron’s run? It absolutely does, but not without some hiccups along the way. There’s a lot going on and not all of it comes together cohesively.

Trying to end an immense, five-year-long, cosmic story is something that no one should really envy. How do you end something like that in a satisfying way? The answer? You don’t. At least, not in the way that builds on the foundation already present. Instead, you take the foundation and transform it into something new. That’s exactly what Aaron has been doing, but truly exemplifies in this issue. He takes many concepts already established in his run and takes them in a new direction, which sets up his final issue well. By taking the old instead of creating new ideas, it creates an almost symbiotic feeling for the beginning and the end that establishes connective tissue between the two, making the current story better.

While the above is the case for most of this issue, there are some new elements that are brought in that fall a bit flat. Nothing much has been established regarding the other gods that appear in this issue. What they do in the issue is awesome in their taunting of Gorr, but it would’ve had more impact if we actually cared for these gods. It’s a minor annoyance given how great they are in this issue, but it’s still an annoyance given how involved Aaron’s run has been.

Joining Esad Ribic on art duties in this issue though is Das Pastoras for a couple of pages. Filler artists for artists like Ribic are often a disaster because of the very distinctive style that most artists don’t have. Luckily Pastoras uses a very similar painterly style that Ribic uses, so the difference isn’t really jarring at all. They both have very strong styles that work well together even if there are noticeable differences.

On top of everything though, this issue looks gorgeous. The fighting is epic, perfectly fitting for the gods involved. At times, it’s even haunting in a way that wouldn’t normally be associated with Thor, but it absolutely works in this issue.

CHECK OUT: King Thor #2 Review: The God Butcher Returns to the Fray