Thor #608
Written by: Kieron Gillen
Cover by: Mico Suayan
Art by: Billy Tan
Inks by: Kirk Jarvinen
Colors by: Stan Goldberg
Marvel Comics
Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 24, 2010

Thor has really been at the forefront of the Marvel universe lately, which has definitely let it shine. This is great for me because I am a huge fanboy of good Thor stories. He is my favorite character in all of comics and lately his book has been my favorite monthly comic book. I continually put it to the top of my stack and I am extremely happy with what Kieron Gillen has been able to do with this exciting opportunity to bring Thor’s universe to the forefront.

With Siege raging on, and centering around Asgard, more people are paying attention to Thor than ever before. The last thing I would have thought to do with that opportunity is focus on a character as surprisingly interesting as Volstagg, but that is exactly what Gillen and the rest of the Siege writers have decided to do. I am extremely pleased with the result of this chain of events that very closely mirrors the events of Stamford (from Marvel’s Civil War event).

In this issue we get to see the continuation of multiple stories including one that I am extremely excited to see play out. With the end of last issue revealing that the clone character of Ragnarok had decided to be judge, jury, and executioner for Volstagg, we find that it is time for an amazing showdown. While all this is going on we also see snippets of the events of Siege and also are clued in to some of Loki’s mischief and the confusion it causes for Balder and the other Asgardians.

There is one last story line covered in this issue that was one of the most touching things I have seen done in a comic in a long while. This final story line follows Kelda and her crusade to seek forgiveness. Kelda is one of the newer Asgardians that had shown up towards the beginning of this latest run on Thor and started a somewhat forbidden relationship with Bill who tragically died protecting the Asgardians. In order to get this forgiveness she goes to Bill’s parents to apologize for what happened and the fact that it is mostly her fault that he is dead. I was very moved by this scene and this is what makes me continually love reading this book.

Of course I have to rave about the art by Billy Tan who definitely fits the book in every way imaginable. If you had any doubts about this just look at some of the scenes with Ragnarok and Volstagg as well as pretty much any of the panels with Kelda in them. Tan definitely brings that god-like essence to each Asgardian which is needed for a book like Thor. It’s great to see this book shine along with the rest of the events in Siege. I really hope this helps build a stronger readership for Thor because it is well deserved and has been for quite a while now.

I give Thor #608 a 5 out of 5.