There’s something retro about this series. It’s rebooting Thor for what I guess is what’s called a “family audience” at the movies. There’s nothing adult or shocking about the series – it’s good, old fashioned superhero fun with a nod in the direction of sixties comics. Even the cover gently points in the direction of the sixties (take a look at the children and adults surrounding Thor and Jane).

In the first issue, we were gently introduced to the character of Thor as a fallen god attempting to regain his hammer from a museum. Issue two develops this: showing us who Thor is (courtesy of an entry in an old book), what Mjolnir is, that Thor can fly and is able to summon the elements and that he is awkward in our modern world. I was reminded of the Stan Lee-type of character introductions here: it’s quite expositionary but probably is needed for anyone coming to the book without any prior knowledge. In many respects the plot is quite two dimensional: there no complexities of characterisation or post-Dark Knight brooding; it’s just a decent superhero book.

Thor’s up against Mr Hyde again. At first I thought this was a bit lame and that Thor needed an opponent or problem of greater magnitude, but by the end of the issue you realise that there’s something more involved that’s going to develop.

It’s Chris Samnee’s art which is really eye-catching. Like the story, it’s flat, cartoony and reminiscent of comics of a much earlier age. I’m not sure about his colours, though; they look too computer processed. Samnee doesn’t play around and sticks to straightforward panelling. There’s a superb whole-page of Thor hitting Hyde with Mjolnir which is worth the asking price of this comic alone. I’m really caught between loving this art and thinking that it looks a bit too much like the child-oriented titles like “Batman: Brave and the Bold” or Bruce Timm cartoons (and in many respects, Samnee’s style is very Timm-like)..

I’m not sure how much longevity this comic will have. These first two issues have introduced Thor and now Langridge has to ratch-up the action to keep us readers involved. I’m certainly with this book for the forseeable future.