Bear with me, True Believers, for I am still speechless at what I’ve
just read. I’m not sure how to explain how completely and totally
incredible this issue is at the moment…okay, after several deep
breaths, I’ll give this a shot.

JMS’ run on Thor has been leading up entirely up to this point. The
ingenuity of this is that most of the issues he has done so far are
enjoyable on their own, and with the exception of a few overlaying arcs
– Father Issues, for example – they are noticeably self-contained.
However, they have all been stepping stones – Father Issues, for
example – to this landmark issue, and landmark stepping stone in the
story of Thor. What happens in JMS’ part of all this? Well, I’d rather
not spoil it for everyone. All I will say is that for anyone else who
assumed Thor was fighting Heimdall on the cover is wrong, and that it
would seem Loki and Namor share the same travel agent. (Oh, the ending
to this was all but too perfect for me.) Writing and storytelling that
celebrates where Thor has come from, as well as events that champion
where/when and who Thor is at the moment.

Art-wise, Coipel really did bring his A-game to the championship. I
remember seeing pencil-only preview pages and wondering if they brought
someone like Deodato on the book for this, but it turns out it was just
Coipel taking the art to a whole other level. Plus, Coipel’s art is
spectacular with or without colors (though that is not to say that the
colors were done wonderfully in this).

The only thing “bad” about JMS’ chunk of this Asgard-sized issue is
that it makes Stan Lee’s story pale in comparison. However, The Man’s
self-contained story isn’t much than a quick romp through earlier,
simpler times for Thor. It’s tempting to just deem the story filler,
but it’s a refreshing breath of aged air after seeing Thor being
affected by the changing  times.

Giarusso’s “Welcome Back, Thor” delivers his trademark cutesy wit with
a tickled twist on Thor’s return up to now. The “bleep bloop blip!”
panel of Robot Man alone makes this worth the seemingly hefty pricetag
for this issue. I hope to see many more adventures of Volstaag the
Voluminous by Mr. G.

Along with several reprints of classic issues pertaining to Balder and
Loki, this issue is without a doubt the best way to spend however much
money you put aside for Wednesday releases. Epic issue for an epic
story.