As Thor attempts to traverse a river, he is forced to prove to a grouchy, mysterious old man that he is truly the one and only, mighty Thor! 

With that comes a bombastic tale after tale from wreastling with old age to fighting a jotun while dressed as Freyja to retrieve his milijnor and more. 

This Thor is not like the MCU which should be a given but it’s surprising how many people think it’s the definitive Thor. It’s not. 

Thor is a bit of . . .  Dense to put it nicely. Smash first, and ask questions later, if at all. He’s a large ham and revels in showing off his strength. Though he does have a moment of self reflection, he easily brushes it off to focus on his simple truth, he is really good at fighting. 

This book felt like a breather even though it’s only number two in the Asgardians quartet but that might be because there’s not much character exploration here. Thor is a simple guy so there’s not much to mine, you simply enjoy his occasionally exaggerated exploits. 

Plus it’s funny. As O’Connor writes in his Norse Code, Norse mythology is pretty weird with their percent for naming every single thing (like the leather used to sew Loki’s lips shut to spoons to boats, everything has a name) to Loki’s tricksy manipulation which runs rings around poor dense Thor. 

The Norse gods don’t aim to explain their world or relate to humans like the Greeks, one just enjoys their larger than life. 

While Thor’s the hero, undoubtably Loki steals the show by causing most of the trouble and his one-liners so it’s enjoyable when he’s part of the action. Odin also a surprising role in this story too, reminding one that Norse myths are heavy on riddles and prophacies. 

One of which is what will happen when the serpent is set loose on the world. Something that will probably be discussed in the upcoming Loki book. This overarching prophecy looming overhead is another reason why this book feels like a breather. There are hints of the final battle but it’s not the primary focus of the story. 

O’Connor’s art delights as usual with his buff heroes, monsterous Jotun and distinct settings between the fiery, ashy realm of dwarves and the mist shrouded land of Jotun. Plus the action scenes truly pack a punch with extended fight sequences of Thor’s larger than his head biceps. 

4 stars.