Immortal Thor #20: A Mortal Thor

After a few uneven issues, Immortal Thor seems to have found its footing again as the series enters what may be its concluding arc. While the previous issue left it murky where the Thunder God had gone off to, the opening page of Immortal Thor #20 makes it immediately self-evident: he went to see his mum. Thor, in his gut—and we via the ad copy and narration—understand Thor is about to set off on his “final adventure.” It appears Thor is going to die soon and this time die for good. Of course, death is rarely if ever final in superhero comics. Immortal Thor’s narrative has itself nodded to this reality through Thor’s desire to “escape the cycle” he and everyone around him is trapped in. And if everyone is functionally immortal, how can death or change have real meaning? Whether Thor will die—and if so for how long—remains unclear, but the way series writer Al Ewing explores the subject is certainly thought-provoking. 

Save one playful page, the tone is suitably pensive and somber. Jan Bazaldua’s art is dominated by grungy inky shadows, grounding colorist Matt Hollingsworth’s otherwise quite saturated palette. And finally, one gets a sense in Bazaldua’s compositions as one did with previous series artist Martín Cóccolo, of the immense size and scope of the figures and [story] in play. Toranos’ return to Asgard is devastatingly realised, awful in the original sense—“inspiring awe.”