2 out of 5

Thor: The Accursed mainly concerns the prison-escape and attempt-at-takeover of dark elf Malekith, he of endless bad guy “I’ll butcher your family” type threats and an always evil smile.  To combat this, Thor is made leader of “the league of realms” – ragtag members from each kingdom – and whilst they bicker amongst themselves (oh so wittily), they must also follow the wake of malekith’s slain in hopes of stopping his vaguely etched out plans of “murder my way to the top.” It’s ridiculous high-level escapades, which is exactly what Aaron is going for, that would be enjoyable if everything didn’t feel so cookie-cutter about it, like snip-snip the plot from any given similar-setup action movie – include the dumb dialogue puns – and then overlay Norse myth characters.  Undermining this further is a giant lack of consequence and impact.  Malekith’s escape takes all of a few pages and some sacrificial soldiers, which makes it seem like it could’ve happened at any old point, and ‘the league’s’ galavanting from realm to realm should be a wacky myth-fueled travelogue but it shuttles by with so little care for really establishing setting that the trek seems to wrap up just when you realize irs begun.  And deaths a’plenty!  …Mourned for a panel and forgotten, reflective of how little we care for the characters.

Volume 3 also stands as an object lesson in how color and inks affect things.  Ron Garney is a classic artist by this point, who’s loose style should work pretty well with Thor bombastics.  But when colored by Ive Svorcina – for most of the book – all the energy of Garney’s style is absolutely drained ‘neath a flatter, more subtle, painterly look that feels better suited to Esad Ribic’s style.  The antics outlined above might’ve been infinitely more exciting if highlighted better, which doesn’t happen until the equally classic Lee Loughridge – who seems to understand the poppier style Ron needs – colors issue 17, which is actually fun to look at as a result.  Affecting to a lesser extent but still notable: Inks.  Garney inks his own stuff for several issues but the line is just as loose as his pencils.  Combined with the drab colors, the look lacks weight.  Emanuela Lupacchino handles issues 16 and 17, maintaining the motion of the page while grounding the look a little with some finer inking.

Book-ending the Malekith bit, and remaining consistent with Aaron’s Marvel habit of writing better isolated issues than arcs, are two one-shots.  The opening is a pleasant epilogue to Godbomb, showing, patiently, each Thor settling back into his own time, and the closer is the younger axe-wielding Thor recalling a drunken reverie with a dragon, which begins legitimately humorously before winding its way back through some light tragedy. I’ve mentioned similarly elsewhere: This is the book I want to read.

But I don’t think it’s the book others want to read.  So:  If this has been your wheelhouse up to this point, im sure volume 3 is just as good.  For those of us just passing by, perhaps without attachment to the House of Marcel, this is a particularly snoozey outing.