Thor #15: Getting Hammered (Advanced Spoiler-Free Review)

As Asgard celebrates the defeat of Donald Blake, writer Donny Cates shifts his focus to a crisis Thor is trying to face more quietly: his loss of control over Mjolnir. It’s certainly not Thor’s first struggle with his hammer, but it seems it’s no longer a question of worthiness. The cover sets up readers to expect an action-packed issue, but that isn’t the case. While there is some action, Thor #15 mostly focuses on character development, allowing the audience to more readily understand Thor’s growing insecurities revolving around Mjolnir, kingship, and godhood. These conversationally-driven scenes feel both intimate and meaningful, though the issue’s thoughtful pacing can occasionally verge on being too thoughtful. 

While comics often economical in their use of splash pages and spreads, Thor #15 is far from it. The issue boasts a total of five splash pages and one two-page spread. While splash pages often serve to place emphasis on moments that deserve more of a reader’s attention, or to allow the story’s mood to sink in, they also slow the reader. Thor #15 is an odd case of a book that seems to place emphasis on everything, which makes it harder to tell which individual moments truly deserve it.

On the upside, the issue’s gratuitous use of splash pages gives the artistic team of Michele Bandini, inker Elisabetta D’Amico, and colorist Matt Wilson plenty of freedom to flex their skills. Bandini has a cinematic eye for framing. The two emotionally quiet splash pages near the opening and close of the comic acting as satisfying mirrors to one another. However, it’s also obvious that he has a talent for action scenes, with the book’s smattering of action moments being where his work shines most. Wilson, meanwhile, does an excellent job setting the mood, warmth gradually giving way to cooler tones as the story follows the thunder god over the course of a night’s drunken existential crisis.