The Creators – Donny Cates – Writer, Nic Klein – Artist, Matthew Wilson – Colours, Joe Sabino – Letters

The Players – Thor, Volstagg, Sif, Loki, The Avengers, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Stardust, Cosmic Ghost Rider

The Story – Thor is not quite as content at being king as he thought he might be, believing his heroing days not quite over and when Galactus crashes into Asgard it presents an opportunity.

The Take – Donny Cates, fresh off of what seems to be everything, takes over for the departing Jason Aaron and while many had doubts given the promotional art, they are definitely laid to rest after reading this book. It all begins with dissatisfaction, but despite all of that, Thor will do the job he has been tasked with even though he would rather be with the rest of the Avengers beating up the bad guy of the week. With Asgard being in a somewhat revelrous mood, there is a tense current underneath, most of that emanating from Thor and his dourness, but all of that comes to a halt when an injured Galactus crashes amongst them with an ominous message about the Black Winter – the end of all things. If there has been one thing that Donny Cates is great at, it is creating epic threats for his various protagonists to face, whether the Church of Universal Truth headed up by the former king of Spartax or Knull, a deity of pure evil. Here, he takes that which ended the universe when Galactus was Galan and brings it forward in time to the present and the only thing that might be able to defeat it is a supercharged Galactus along with his former heralds including the no-longer Silver Surfer and his latest which may come as a shock to many. There are a couple of incredible scenes within that shows Thor exerting his power as All-Father, one with Loki and one with Galactus and they are definitely moments that push his character forward, evolving him from what he used to be into what Aaron portrayed during his run. Overall, this first issue has everything it needs from a grand storyline with a big threat filled with heroes and gods to incredible artwork from Nic Klein who is doing the best work of his career on the title. While this might only be the opening salvo of Thor’s latest ongoing series, it is one that grabs the reader and continues that which Jason Aaron started – making Thor one of the best titles in the Marvel Universe.

Worth it? – Yes