Thor [2020] #30 - Marvel Comics

THOR No. 30, March 2023

Featuring a seriously sense-shattering battle against a veritable horde of Viking undead across a rickety-rackety wooden bridge, as well as a fascinating flashback to a time when Thor’s long-dead grandfather successfully outfought Thanos, this ‘continuation of Torunn Gronbekk’s journey into mysterious waters’ positively provides its audience with plenty of pulse-pounding plot-threads. In fact, many a perusing bibliophile will find this twenty-page periodical unputdownable once they pluck it from the spinner-rack and immerse themselves in its captivating mix of Middle Earth-like mass-battles at the very foot of an erupting volcano and Richard Fleischer’s 1966 American science fiction film “Fantastic Voyage”.

Foremost of these ‘hooks’ is arguably the Norwegian writer’s well-penned characterisation of Bor Burison, who absolutely dominates every panel in which the towering warrior appears – even when going toe-to-toe with the titanic Worshipper of Death. As arrogant as the former Asgardian King is disconcertingly merciless regarding his own subjects’ loyalty, the long-bearded deity proves to be a captivating catalyst for the chaos Odinson faces, and genuinely helps set up an incredibly intriguing finale for this publication; “Please… do not do this… make it stop. Make it stop! Please, son. I beg you… Leave this place.”

Of course, for those action-loving readers Issue Thirty of “Thor” also contains a superb confrontation against the stinking Draugr, who quite literally drag themselves up out of an underground river to feast upon both the Valkyrie Runa and the Thunder God, as well as a shoal of enchanting memory fish. This contest is mesmerizingly intense as the walking cadavers repeatedly appear likely to overwhelm their potential next meals through sheer of weight of numbers. In addition, it’s soon made clear that the “All-Father” and his axe-wielding companion could chop their enemies all day long, and still face an insurmountable horde of putrid bodies, so at best they are only buying themselves time to thwart Corvus Glaive’s nefarious plan to unlock the “bloody secrets of Asgard’s past.”

Ramping up this comic’s level of horror is undoubtedly Nic Klein, who provides all this book’s action sequences with an incredibly engrossing level of dynamism and dreadfulness. The aforementioned flying fish are incredibly eye-catching, courtesy of a magma-based palette by colorist Matt Wilson, as are the Scandinavian ghouls who relentlessly hurl themselves at the two heroes in their unthinking desire to scavenge “the carcasses of the soul”.

The regular cover art of "THOR" #30 by Nic Klein