A serial killer of mythic power is stalking the Gods in Thor: God of Thunder #1. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic relaunch the Odinson with an entertaining and gripping hybrid of detective story and dark legend.
In the distant past a young Viking Thor is celebrating victory with his Norsemen when chunks of a dead body wash ashore. The victim is a God of the East and this past prologue ends with an elder in deep prayer. Is she praying to or for her Gods?
The creative team takes us the present on an alien world where Thor answers a girl’s prayer and soon discovers a temple turned slaughterhouse. This sequence has moments reminiscent of Alien when the Nostromo crew discovers the Space God. Thor begins to piece together the crimes of past and present and gives a chilling prediction: more Gods will die.
The final chapter is in the far future in which an old King Thor is deformed and alone in a last stand against an onslaught of invaders attacking a broken Asgard.
Jason Aaron masterfully captures three different Thors appropriate for each era and wraps each time period’s storyline into a lightning quick and compelling debut.
A serial killer…of GODS? The writer who gave fans vicious stories in Scalped, Wolverine and Ghost Rider is letting loose a cosmic level killer in this week’s THOR: God of Thunder #1.
Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic have been deemed worthy to wield the power of THOR! The Thunder God will track a trail of blood in the past, present and future after a new villain called The GOD BUTCHER.
What else can you expect in this new series starring the Avenger’s heaviest hitter? The creative team shared their plans with Comics Newsarama.
Aaron is describing his story as a simultaneous “Year One,” present-day adventure and Dark Knight Returns-esque tale — re-teaming with his Dark Reign: The List — Wolverine collaborator Ribic and his love for Mangog. Aaron created a new villain ominously called the God Butcher.
Aaron is taking over after Matt Fraction’s long run on The Mighty Thor and cites a Fraction story as part of his inspiration.
“I remember when [Matt] Fraction did his first Thor stories a few years back in the Ages of Thunder standalones. I remember reading those and thinking for the first time as a writer, “Oh, Thor’s really cool. I could see me writing Thor.” But I never really thought much more about it, other than enjoying the book as it was coming out. But suddenly, once Thor was on the table, that’s the one I instantly gravitated towards. Before I even had a story, I just kind of made my play and tried to plant my flag. “Stay away! I want Thor!”
Aaron’s story will be set in 3 eras similar to Ages of Thunder.
“In part. I do flash back and show a young Thor in action, but he’s actually just one of three Thors that I want to focus on. This first story is an epic tale that plays out over the course of thousands of years. So we spend time with young Thor in the Viking age — the young, hotheaded god of the Vikings, who loves to come down to Midgard and get into trouble.
In the present, we see Thor the Avenger on a journey that takes him to the far corners of space, interacting with all sorts of new space gods and wondrous new locations.
And then we also see old King Thor, who’s the last king of Asgard, thousands of years in the future, where something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Linking all these eras and Thors together is one villain, an all-new character, who is basically, at least initially, a serial killer of gods. He’s a guy with a serious axe to grind against all immortal beings in the cosmos, and he’s going around doing his best to kill them all off, one at a time, as brutally as possible. That villain’s story unfolds over the course of all these different eras. He starts as a serial killer of gods, but by the end, he has become something even more frightening.”
Aaron calls Gorr, the God Butcher a “serial killer” of Immortals but he has a classic villain on the horizon.
“This first villain is all-new, but man, I can’t wait to do a Mangog story. I’ve had a Mangog statue sitting on my desk for months now, and he begs me every day to write him in somewhere. Soon, Mangog, soon.”
Wolverine and the X-Men #4 cover courtesy Marvel.com
Wolverine and the X-Men became my favorite post-Schim X-book. Jason Aaron was pitch perfect balancing action with dark humor, romance, teen angst and ultimately a shocking tragedy.
It’s back to school time. Writer Jason Aaron and Editor Nick Lowe share their lesson plan for the students and staff of the Jean Grey School. One character that experienced huge growth was the arrogant heir to the Shi’ar throne. Kubark learned to love his human classmates and was humbled when his father was brutally beaten Continue reading Wolverine’s Brother, Jean Grey and More X-Men Plans
Everything you wanted to know about Doop but were afraid to ask! It’s actually more like everything Doop does that makes you scared he’s around0 kids. Mike and Laura Allred reunite with the lovable mystery (man, thing, it?) that co-created with Peter Milligan back in X-Force/X-Statix.
Doop is now working (mostly sleeping on the job) for Logan at the Jean Grey School. In this week’s Wolverine and the X-Men #17 the Allreds join writer Jason Aaron for Doop- the untold story. Now we know why Logan recruited the green ball and why he’s asleep a lot. One of the most obscure characters in comics receives a hilarious, colorful back story. What’s even better is the other outrageous and forgotten character who makes a surprise appearance in Doop’s tale. We see just how crucial a role Doop has been playing all this time and the sacrifices (sexual and otherwise) the great green one has made to protect the future of mutantkind.
This Doop-centric story isn’t just comic relief. This issue forwards the elements of this amazing series and reinforces what I love about the eclectic cast. Aaron continues to perfectly mix action, drama and humor. This is an offbeat and welcome break from the doom of AvX. Wolverine may be the only character who can understand Doop’s language but the green guy speaks volumes on the pages of this issue – maybe the funniest of the year.
Cyclops has become the most powerful force on Earth…possibly the universe. Avengers and X-Men are in mourning. Tony Stark has pushed every scientific mind to find a way to fight the Phoenix Force and come up empty.
It all comes down to Scarlet Witch and Hope. These were the only heroes able to do some damage to the entity. The Phoenix was almost afraid of Wanda.
Avengers vs. X-Men #12 courtesy Marvel
Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert are the creative team on the final showdown. I wanted to share Comic Book Resource’s first look inside Avengers vs. X-Men #12.
The heroes look defeated. Hope and Scarlet Witch have their own issues to work out before taking on the Dark Phoenix Cyclops. Wanda will survive to join Uncanny Avengers. Scott will be part of All-New X-Men. Is this Hope’s fate?
The battle is joined this November as Marvel NOW! relaunches Thor. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic bring the hammer down with a brand new Thor series set in the past, present and future. Marvel.com revealed this first look at Ribic’s pages of Thor: God of Thunder #1. Aaron unleashes the God Butcher on the Nine Realms and only the Odison can stop the serial killer of Gods.
I’m thrilled to share that my favorite X-book Wolverine and The X-Men will go on in the Marvel NOW! Logan set up the new Jean Grey School after the events of Schism. Jason Aaron (and rotating artists Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw) have delivered a lesson in comic book fun with the faculty and students of this mutant high.
Aaron tells Comic Book Resources the mutant kids could have some famous non-mutant guest intructors into a powerhouse Asgardian. (Aaron is writing the new Thor: God of Thunder.)
“Yes, I would love to have more guest-speakers show up at the school. And since I’m now writing “Thor,” I definitely want to find a place for the God of Thunder to make an appearance. Just in general, I like trying to integrate the Jean Grey School into the fabric of the Marvel U as much as I can, like having Matt Murdock drop by to offer legal advice. You’ll see a lot more touches like that in the coming months. There’s a scene in issue #15 that was particularly fun to write involving Broo and Iron Man. And in issue #19, when the hunt for a new teacher kicks into high gear, you’ll see lots of different faces making an appearance.”
Wolverine and the X-Men #17 courtesy Marvel
During Avengers vs. X-Men several staff members fought with the mutants and against the headmaster. Logan will tackle that after AvX.
“That very question is answered in issue #15, and it speaks to Logan’s entire philosophy as a newfound mutant leader,” reveals Aaron.
Many fans asked about the possibility of a Kitty Pryde/Iceman date, Toad’s crush on Husk, the aftermath of Kid Gladiator joining the AvX battle. Aaron pointed to issue #15 for answers.
The new flagship X-book is All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis starring the original five X-Men from the past now in the present. Aaron reveals his cast will interact with the cast of the Bendis book.
Wolverine and the X-Men #14 courtesy
“You will definitely see that these books are happening in the same new X-Men universe. You’ll see the Jean Grey School play a role in his book, and you’ll see the events of his reflected in mine. Though you’ll also be getting books that have very distinct flavors and mandates, which I think only makes for a stronger roster of X-titles.”
Aaron also confirmed Kitty Pryde will be part of the cast of All-New X-Men and stay on in his title. Issue #19 will be a hunt for a new teacher story and #21 begins a “Frankenstein Murder Circus” arc. Both will feature the Nick Bradshaw on art after Jorge Molina.
But what about the Bamfs!? For his entire X-position Q & A here’s the link.
With hammer in one hand and axe in the other, the Odinson looks ready and eager for battle on the cover of Thor: God of Thunder #2 by Esad Ribic. Marvel revealed the cover and more information about Thor’s new enemy created by Jason Aaron.
