Thor: God of Thunder to Explore Past, Present, and Future

Continuing the trend of revealing more information about the Marvel NOW! books teased last week, Newsarama posted the first interview with writer Jason Aaron about his new Thor series, officially dubbed Thor: God of Thunder. Along with artist Esad Ribic, it's clear that Aaron has some truly huge plans for the Mighty Avenger.

"This first story is an epic tale that plays out over the course of thousands of years. So we spend time with young Thor in the Viking age — the young, hotheaded god of the Vikings, who loves to come down to Midgard and get into trouble," explained Aaron. "In the present, we see Thor the Avenger on a journey that takes him to the far corners of space, interacting with all sorts of new space gods and wondrous new locations. And then we also see old King Thor, who's the last king of Asgard, thousands of years in the future, where something has gone horribly, horribly wrong."

Tying these different eras of Thor together is a brand new villain named Gorr the God Butcher. Aaron went on to describe Gorr as "a serial killer of gods. He's a guy with a serious axe to grind against all immortal beings in the cosmos, and he's going around doing his best to kill them all off, one at a time, as brutally as possible."

The writer also confirmed that he's scaling Thor's often sizable cast down quite a bit. "One of the things I'm trying to do initially is kind of strip away Thor's existing supporting cast and really focus in on Thor himself. We don't initially see The Warriors Three or Sif, or even much of Asgard itself, not in the present day at least. But certainly the culture of Asgard and the mythology of Thor's life there will always be a strong presence in the book, no matter where in the universe Thor happens to be. Basically, I don't want this book to ever have one specific setting."

To that end, Aaron explained his influences. "I've been reading a whole bunch of old Thor stories since I got this gig, and I like how in the old Lee/Kirby issues, Thor would go on an adventure on Earth for four issues and then he'd go off and be on an adventure on Asgard for the next five. They mixed things up a lot like that. And I think for as long as I'm on the book, I'll be looking to do the same," he said. "I think Thor is too big a character to be confined to just one setting. His adventures should span every nook and cranny of the Marvel U, giving him as grand a stage as possible."

Epic certainly seems to be the name of the game in the case of Thor: God of Thunder, but Aaron is excited to continue his work on the well-received Wolverine and the X-Men as well. "What's nice is between Wolverine and the X-Men and Thor I get to write two very different kinds of stories. Both of them really seem to scratch some itches for me." However, the writer also confirmed that these are his only two Marvel titles at the moment, and that he's using the rest of his time to work on a new unannounced creator-owned project.

For more with Jason Aaron on Thor: God of Thunder, head over to Newsarama for the full interview.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.

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Avengers vs. X-Men #9 Review

If there's a trend with Avengers vs. X-Men, it's that every act seems to peak at the very beginning. Issue #9 is a rousing start to the third and final act, easily rivaling Jonathan Hickman's AvX #6 as the strongest chapter of the series to date. Jason Aaron manages that all-too-rare balance of character drama and spectacle that most event comics are sorely lacking.

There isn't a terribly distinct transition between acts as there was with issue #6. As issue #9 opens, the Avengers are still on the run from the Phoenix Five (or Four, now that Namor is out of the picture) and hiding out in K'un Lun. The situation has grown more desperate, however, now that a good portion of Captain America's team have been captured by the X-Men. There's a real sense of desperation to the conflict as the Avengers realize they've completely run out of options beyond placing all their faith in the unknown factor that is Hope. Meanwhile, the dissension among the X-Men is also growing. Aaron explores how characters like Storm and Xavier react to the darkening conflict, and also the losing battle each of the Phoenix Four are facing in maintaining control.

One of the reasons issue #9 works so well is that it addresses many of the recurring complaints about the event. As mentioned, we finally see how characters like Storm are responding to the growing instability of the Phoenix Four. In general, Aaron is able to present more even-handed views of both sides of the conflict. It's difficult not to sympathize with the Avengers at this point, desperate and battle-weary as they are. But he also spends time on each of the Phoenix Four, showcasing just how precarious their mental state is and reiterating the idea that, on a fundamental level, these characters are simply doing what they feel is right. Aaron shows an especially deft hand with Emma Frost, who struggles harder than anyone to keep the Phoenix's influence at bay.

As the cover suggests, Aaron also shifts to Spider-Man as the sort of "man on the ground" figure for this issue. That role has regularly bounced between characters like Wolverine, Black Panther, and Beast throughout the series, but Spider-Man is used more effectively and more heavily in that capacity than anyone. The script highlights the drama of Spider-Man's situation by opening in the midst of a battle and then shifting back several hours. We get to see Spidey settle uncomfortably into his Uncle Ben-style mentor role with Hope and then prove why he's the greatest hero in the Marvel Universe as he confronts two insurmountable foes. Suffice it to say, this issue makes Spidey's infamous brawls with Morlun look like mere sparring matches.

There are a couple weak points to the script. Though the Avengers score a much-needed win for once, their method of victory is a little silly and overly convenient. There's also a scene between a certain X-Man and certain Avenger that reads more like editorial mandate rather than a necessary piece of the AvX equation. This scene would probably have been better saved for a different book. Still, Aaron writes the interaction well despite the odd circumstances.

Adam Kubert delivers some gorgeously detailed and vibrant artwork in his second installment. Having collaborated with Kubert before, Aaron seems to know how to best put the artist to use, and there are plenty of dynamic camera angles and surreal, dark imagery to go around. Visual highlights include Cyclops and Emma's private meeting in a sweltering desert and the clandestine rescue operation in the mountains of Siberia. Unfortunately, the inking holds the issue back a bit, as the line work sometimes becomes unnecessarily flat and heavy.

At its best, AvX manages to deliver on all the hype Marvel has placed on it. As we near the finish line, I can only hope that this renewed momentum means the event will remain at its best through the home stretch.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Warehouse 13: "An Evil Within" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Last week's premiere restored order to the series after the chaotic events of last season's finale. We see more of the same trend here, as the show continues to gradually make the wrong things right; this time by bringing Jinks back to life. I'm happy to see Aaron Ashmore still has a job, but I'm hoping all this re-writing of history has some serious consequences that raise the stakes for the series.

This episode started off well. The team is in good spirits, except for Artie who seems to still carry stress/guilt/fear from all of last week's events. Pete's innocuous “turn back time” comment has an obviously jarring effect on Artie and precludes the reappearance of Brother Adrian, who of course doesn't know that he and Artie met in an alternate timeline. Brent Spiner gets a much better opportunity to explore the role and it's good to see him back on TV. On a separate note, here's a little bit of TV history trivia for you: Saul Rubinek (Artie) and Brent Spiner once worked very closely on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “The Most Toys” (quite a good episode if you haven't seen it).

Anyways, back to the Warehouse. This episode takes a three-part format, with Pete and Myka investigating an odd case while Artie deals with Brother Adrian and Claudia is doing her best bad girl impression. If you didn't have a ton of reasons to love Allison Scagliotti before, well you should now.

The story really takes an odd turn when Kate Mulgrew once again shows up as regent Jane Lattimer to tell Claudia that it's okay for Claudia to bring Jinks back. It's a thrilling development, made even more surprising by the late revelation that the regents actually did not approve it and Jane was going rogue. We've got all sorts of morality issues here, but Artie's time turning is the biggest of them all. There's a nice bit of thematic storytelling as Artie tries to prevent Claudia from doing something similar (but different) to what he did. It's quite a moral quandary that will surely be part of the series going forward.

Once Claudia gets the questionable go-ahead to revive Jinksy, she and Jane bring Steve back in an emotional scene where Kate Mulgrew really shows she still has the acting chops. I've really enjoyed Mulgrew in this role, and it looks like her character is joining Artie and Claudia in moral limbo. For the most part our heroes have been able to resist the temptation of artifact power, but now things are changing fast.

I also liked the little characterization moments in the script. We learn that Myka has a fear of tentacles (maybe she had an unpleasant experience with some hentai anime). And I really enjoyed Artie's desperate attempts to figure out how to get around this “evil” without unfixing the warehouse's destruction. There's plenty to like here, but there are unfortunately a number of flaws too.

H.P. Lovecraft finally gets some love in Warehouse 13. This is a deserved acknowledgment which comic and horror geeks should surely enjoy, and it's a wonder that it took this long for this series to fit him into one of the stories. Unfortunately, this artifact hunt is one of the weakest the series has ever produced. The plot with the tentacled monsters just doesn't hit any highs, and it culminates in a final scene that his horribly cheesy, partially because our antagonist barely says anything, and when he does he's not particularly interesting. Then we have the extras at the gym, who are all horrendous actors. But to be fair, the whole concept of the scene leaves a lot to be desired. And the special effects – which were gradually getting better for this series – take a little step backwards here.

But if you take out the shaky Lovecraft plot, this is a good episode that sets up a lot of pieces for the developing story that is going to carry us through the season. Still, all these new developments have been at the expense of undoing all the shocking surprises of last season. Normally I wouldn't be a big fan of this approach because it keeps us from believing that any of the major events of the series will ever stick. But at the same time, I understand the producers don't want to take too many risks with a formula that's working. The showrunners have proven themselves capable caretakers of this series, so for now I'll be cautiously optimistic that this direction will pay off very soon.

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