Matt Fraction's Mighty Thor run has never shown the clear sense of unified purpose and direction that his Invincible Iron Man run did, and so the finale issue lacks some of the sense of purpose and immediacy that many other recent finales have had. On the other hand, Fraction's final chapter is much more uplifting and optimistic than his last Iron Man issue or Kieron Gillen's Journey Into Mystery finale.
The gist of this Everything Burns epilogue is that Thor is put on trial for the crime of pissing off his father. It's worth noting that much of Fraction's early Thor work was characterized by an oddly hostile relationship between Thor and Odin, and that dynamic is back in full force here. As before, Fraction eventually brings the story around and offers some justification for Odin's behavior, but it is strange nonetheless.
But if Fraction doesn't have any great conflict or emotional struggle to bring to a close as Gillen did with Loki last week, he does manage to end his run on a heartwarming note. There are characters pulled in from practically every story arc, and even references to material from Secret Invasion: Thor and J. Michael Straczynski's run. The issue essentially asks the question, "Must there be a Thor?" And though the obvious answer is "Well... yeah. Why not?" it's nice to get a little reaffirmation. Fraction could have used a bit more page space to work with, unfortunately. The ending feels somewhat truncated, and there are a couple scenes (particularly those involving Bill and Kelda) that deserved more attention than Fraction was able to give.
Barry Kitson helps Fraction close out the series. With Jay Leisten providing finishes to Kitson's breakdowns on some pages, the overall look is less sharp than it might have been. Facial work tends to suffer the most when Kitson isn't handling the panels himself. But the general storytelling is still strong and heavy with emotion. The series ends much as it always existed - with an uneven execution but plenty of high points along the way.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
: Ascend
