Things have not been getting any easier for Thor in his time serving as All Father of Asgard. The battle against Toranos the Utgard-Thor pushed the God of Thunder and All Father to his limits. With other Elder Gods appearing ready to also attack Thor needs to use the time he has to gather all the allies he can. At the end of Immortal Thor #3 we learned who Thor’s #1 Draft Pick. That is none other than Storm. Though Storm may not be available given all that is going on with Arakko and Fall of X. Let’s see how things went with Immortal Thor #4.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Joe Sabino
SOLICITATION
“SUMMONS OF THE ALL-FATHER! On the dark side of the moon, God faced Goddess – and that was only the beginning of Thor’s troubles. But as his many foes gathered to destroy him, the Odinson had one final trick to play… This is the story of THE IMMORTAL THOR…and the Summoning of the Four.” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
The Immortal Thor #4 is the ultimate set-up comic book. This comic book is all about establishing Thor assembling his own personal superhero team. There isn’t anything new that the previous three issues didn’t already establish. That’s where the power of the words spoken combined with epic visuals that help still make The Immortal Thor #4 important to the series.
Having this importance is a credit to Al Ewing and Martin Coccolo’s ability as a creative team. They aren’t simply relying what they’ve built. Ewing and Coccolo are tapping into all the development from previous creative teams that have worked within the Thor franchise. It’s not just Thor who are having key character moments. Beta Ray Bill, Lady Sif, Loki, and Jane Foster are all given character moments that speak to their development over the years. This leads to this story feeling be a natural continuation of everything that has happened with the Thor franchise side of the Marvel Universe.
Showing this respect to the Thor characters made the integration of Storm into the story become even more important. Thor has realized that the Elder Gods are a threat that he can’t just turn to his normal allies with. He needs the most powerful allies that compliment what he is trying to do with the formation of the Thor Corps.
To this point Ewing uses his experience working on X-Men: Red to make sure that continuity is maintained. Storm isn’t in a spot where she can drop everything to help Thor. While Ewing keeps the timeline of when Immortal Thor #4 takes place in relation to Fall of X, Storm’s dialogue is backed by what is currently going on. In less chaotic times Storm may have helped Thor without question. But Thor’s initial approach was one where Storm would obviously not take kindly as Thor is dismissing the Fall of X events to make his story the most important.
Ewing makes sure to take this into how he writes Thor to use his wisdom as All Father to change up his one. In taking a more open approach Thor heightens the danger of the Elder Gods while respecting Storm’s current spot with Fall of X. This made Storm’s transformation into a God of Thunder work beyond being visually cool. Thor’s approach transitions well to how he brings in Beta Ray Bill and others into the Thor Corps to be a payoff to all the character development.
With all that goes on Coccolo absolutely knocks it out of the park with the artwork for Immortal Thor #4. The designs for each member of the Thor Corps is distinct to each character while keeping with the God of Thunder theme. Coccolo also makes Toranos the Utgard-Thor appear like this larger-than-life threat that will take the entire Thor Corps to defeat. It all makes you more hyped to see the epic battle go down in the next issue.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Immortal Thor #4 delivers an epic recruitment of the Thor Corps. While the Thor and Storm interaction dominates the issue Beta Ray Bill, Sif, and Loki get great character moments. It all combines to create the maximum amount of hype going into the battle against Toranos the Utgard-Thor.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10