Immortal Thor #12: Thinking Inside the Box

While most of Marvel is currently off fighting/turning into vampires, this month’s Immortal Thor instead wraps up a two-part tie-in to G.O.D.S., the ambitious series by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti that concluded last week. Immortal Thor writer Al Ewing’s central premise—Thor having a massive sibling reunion to rescue his stepbrother Tyr—is phenomenal, but the addition of G.O.D.S. lore makes things needlessly convoluted at points. 

Guest artist Valentina Pinti makes a valiant (mostly successful) effort to make every one of Thor’s siblings visually unique, but a Cast of Characters page for part two certainly wouldn’t have been remiss. Overall, Pinti’s artwork is clean and crowd-pleasing, but rarely captures the awe-inspiring sense of scale established by previous Thor artist Martín Cóccolo and cover artist Alex Ross. The same can be said of colorist Espen Grundetjern, who keeps scenes readable but doesn’t capture the moodiness or gravitas of long-time Thor colorist Matt Wilson. This is the only issue where an encounter with an Utgard god feels not just peaceful but a bit dull. Pinti rises to the artistic challenge of depicting the mind-bending, box-filled In-Between, but generally shies away from complex shot compositions, experimental panel layouts, and dynamic action scenes. Pinti’s and Grundetjern’s voices feel muted in a moment longing for something more.  

Where Immortal Thor #12 shines most is its dialogue. Like some of the issues before it, this issue relies heavily on wordplay and riddles in a way that is not only entertaining but captures a glimpse of something mythic. The voices of Thor and his siblings also never stop feeling unique. Particularly memorable is the poetry god Bragi, introduced in the last issue, who speaks in rhymed iambic pentameter. Immortal Thor #12 also continues another conceit established in the previous issue—Loki and Bragi as dueling narrators—which it likewise doesn’t wear out.