Review: The Unworthy Thor

The Unworthy Thor by Jason Aaron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Freedom and murder for all!”

Yeah, that’s what the hellhound says in this one, but I gotta admit that it’s a catchy slogan that I’d like on a t-shirt.

The god formerly known as Thor has had a rough time of it. First, he heard a revelation that instantly made him unworthy so that he lost his hammer, and then he got an arm chopped off although he got a pretty nifty replacement. (Hopefully, he won’t run into Rocket who would try to steal it.) He’s so bummed that another superhero now has Mjolnir as well as the power of Thor he even gives up his name and starts calling himself Odinson. Well, at least he’s got a big goat to ride around on…

I found this mini-series entertaining despite a pretty mopey ex-Thor. That’s mainly because it’s got some great guest stars like Beta Ray Bill, who is such a stand-up guy that he even offers Odinson his own hammer, and Thori, the murder loving hellhound. The Collector shows up in a good villain appearance along with some of Thanos’ minions, and everyone is trying to get yet another hammer, the one that the Thor from the Ultimate universe used to wield that somehow dropped into this version of Marvel reality.

It’s also interesting to read this and see how certain elements of it were used in the Thor: Ragnarok movie. Like Thor getting a hair cut!

It all makes for a fun comic read although I found the final revelation about what Odinson was told that made him instantly unworthy of Mjolnir pretty weak and kinda confusing. It’s not about anything that ex-Thor did. Instead, it’s more of a broad general statement that’s always been true. It didn’t change anything other than maybe the way that Odinson thought about himself. So that makes it almost sound like being worthy isn’t a judgement that Mjolnir makes about the character of the person trying to wield it, but more of a matter of self-confidence. Which doesn’t really fit the way I’ve always understand the mythos around the whole thing. On the hand, it’s a comic book so why not?

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