The reign of King Thor has come to an end. In order to save the universe, he must use every bit of power at his disposable to protect it. Spoilers for King Thor #4 follow.
What is there to say about King Thor? It’s the end of an era for Thor, for Marvel Comics, and for comics in general. Jason Aaron’s run on Thor has been one of the best comic runs ever and has had ever reaching influences on the character that will hopefully last for a while. There’s no way that there could ever be a fully satisfactory ending to a run such as this, but King Thor #4 comes very, very close to doing so.
Somehow, Jason Aaron has managed to tell a singular that somehow feels standalone, yet also feels like the true ending to his run. It’s what every “final” story strives to be. This issue does a great job of fulfilling every bit of thematic resonance that has been building since “The God Butcher.” That’s five years’ worth of storytelling that’s able to be distilled down into forty pages. It’s a feat that no one should be able to pull off, yet this issue does so.
More than just distilling plot and themes from his entire run into this issue, Aaron manages to make the entire issue an emotional journey as well. Every single page drips with emotion in some form. Whether it be the reader’s emotion or the emotion of the characters, there’s a range of emotions present in this issue. Fear, anger, sadness, and triumph all are felt in some way or another throughout this issue and the fact that this entire range of emotion can be drawn out is a testament to how great the writing is.
Then there’s the art, which is absolutely gorgeous. Esad Ribic’s painterly style is so rare within comics that’s always wonderful to see within a grandiose story like this. It’s somehow larger than life, yet feels small enough to comprehend. It’s a hard line to toe, but Ribic has always done so well and continues to do so here. He probably created what will be one of the most iconic Thor images ever with one of the final pages of this issue.
Joining Ribic though are a plethora of artists that have worked with Aaron on his Thor run over the years. Russel Dauterman, Andrea Sorrentino, Olivier Coipel, Mike Del Mundo and others all make appearances in this issue and perfectly capture the part of the story that they’re telling.
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