(Late) NB of the Week

Moving has made things a little/lot behind in most ways so this is 5 days late. 

So really it's the NB of last week.

Either way, let's get to it.

Thors #1

Written by Jason Aaron

Drawn by Chris Sprouse

What we knew ahead of Secret Wars was that the writer of the main Thor book was writing a book called Thors in which we got as police drama only with many Thors. Boy was he not kidding. What we didn't know at the time was what the Thors actually place in Battleworld was but we now know that it is as Doom's own personal police force, laying down the law as he has created them. When the Thors come, you know it has hit the fan.

Here in the pages of Thors, we get the best of Law & Order mixed in with the fear of Doom. There has been a murder. More than one, actually. The Thor known as Ultimate Thor and his partner, Beta Ray have the impossible sounding task of figuring out the now serial killer they have on their hands. This has become an Allthing. A case that needs to be solved as soon as possible before Doom himself takes an interest. Five women, seemingly no connection. Different ages, from different kingdoms and no known identities to boot. However, they do get a little from their forensics expert on the force, Throg (that'd be the Thor frog from way back, if ya couldn't tell). The five women do have a connection: they were the same woman. They now have a silver lining, they could possibly find lines as to where the killer may strike next. They just have to find any missing persons case that matches. As Ultimate ponders, Beta goes to his source on the street to find anything out. A homeless vagabond named Loki who claims he can shed light on some things but that Beta isn't going to want to hear them. We go back to Ultimate as he's in the bar (which only allows Thors in) arm-wrestling Groot-Thor (Groor?) as a loud crash of thunder is heard. The Thors head off as they follow it's source to an alley where they find Beta on the ground, twisted and bloody. The call goes out: officer down! Ultimate Thor begs his friend and partner to hold on. They were gonna get the Bifrost open and take him to the help he needs. As UT begs Beta to not move, Beta slowly whispers the one fact he found. He knows the identities of the murdered: Jane Foster. We end with Ultimate Thor, holding the now deceased body of hid partner.

If you change out the hammers and the flying and the setting, this was some of the best cop drama I've come across in a long time. It was surprising to find how non-superhero-y the story felt and how welcome it was. A book filled with Thors and I don't want superhero story. At this point, most every Secret War title, while different takes and mostly refreshing, have been somewhat the same feeling as before Secret War. Thors flips that all around. This different take finally equals a different feel and I can't be more excited to see how this murder mystery is going to play out.