Outside of a few Avengers stories, this is my first exposure to the main-Marvel Universe Thor, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  But I’m a Matt Fraction fan, and I enjoy Patrick Zircher’s art, as well, so I thought, why not?

Interestingly, I heard an interview where Fraction said he doesn’t like the fantasy genre, and claimed he was writing Thor for people who hate fantasy.  After reading this issue, I’m puzzled by that statement, because this seems like straight-up fantasy to me; or, rather, straight-up mythology, which might be a distinction.  If somebody told me this was a retelling of an actual Norse myth, with no Marvel connection, I wouldn’t have blinked.  (I basically only know Norse mythology from reading ‘American Gods,’ okay?) 

In any case, once I got over that dissonance and just enjoyed this story for what it was — a classic-feeling fairy-tale/myth story — I thought it was really good.  I didn’t like the art in the second half nearly as much as Zircher’s, but both parts looked nice, and I was intrigued by the character of Thor here.  I’ve got no clue how this Thor will eventually connect to the version we see in the Marvelverse, but I’m curious. 

That said,  I partly picked this up because it’s labeled “one-shot,” and then at the end it says, “to be continued.”

Dirty pool, Marvel.