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While I have had my share of concerns with J. Michael Straczynski’s work on the Thor comic series (like nonsensically writing Iron Man into a story and not getting the character right at all), Matt Fraction steps in to pen this crossover title and ends up writing one of the best Thor stories in years. Fraction has quickly made a name for himself as one of the best in the business and blending Thor into Brian Michael Bendis’ massive Marvel summer event known as Secret Invasion is no easy task.
The Skrull have sent a broken and battered Beta Ray Bill to Earth, crashing him into Asgard. Bill, near death and without his Stormbreaker hammer, relays that the Skrull are coming to invade Earth and while they claim to be set on saving humanity, they are out to destroy everyone in Asgard. Thor finds himself needing to help prepare his Asgardian brothers for battle, while also needing to find a means to save the citizens of Broxton, Oklahoma, whose city lies just on the outskirts of Asgard’s new location.
Most of this issue actually centers on Doctor Donald Blake, Thor’s human counterpart. In the midst of this current Skrull crisis, Dr. Blake is dealing with a pregnant woman, sent into labor by the stress of the events happening just outside of Broxton, in Asgard. He feels the need to tend to her since Broxton is too small of a town to have its own doctor. He eventually hands his hammer over to the recovering Beta Ray Bill so that Bill can provide muscle to Balder, the man Thor places in charge of Asgard while he is gone. Before handing over the hammer, Thor whips up a massive storm and sends it to Broxton to ensure that all the civilians get to safety before the Skrull attack. During all of this, Loki continues to play mind games with the Asgardians, noting that the Skrull are shape-shifters and Beta Ray Bill could easily be a foe in disguise.
If this sounds like a lot of story in a single book, it is. Fraction keeps the action and drama high. Even the return of Beta Ray Bill and the decision to focus more on Thor’s human side makes it feel as if Fraction really found a story tell here outside of the obligatory crossover.
Doug Braithwaite and Paul Mounts don’t deliver your standard comic art. Braithwaite brings a looser and sketchier style and Mounts colors the pages with a more subdued palette. The end result is artwork that looks more like a fully painted fairy tale storybook, and it suits Thor perfectly.
In many ways, this issue eclipses the story being told in Bendis’ own Secret Invasion book. And for being a spin-off of the main Thor book, Fraction’s story rings truer than Straczynski’s own title. Adding Braithwaite and Mounts to the mix means that even if you don’t follow either series on their own, you’ll still enjoy this book.