In a surprising move announced by Polygon, Marvel’s Thor comics run has a relaunch set for this August with writer Al Ewing. Known for his critically acclaimed Immortal Hulk run, Ewing will be penning a similar concept series with Immortal Thor #1, featuring art by Martín Cóccolo and a collectible cover by Alex Ross upon the printing of issue #1.
The comic is set to actually pick up from where Thor’s story left off: with Mjolnir back and on the throne of Asgard. The solicitation kicks off with an empowering little quote: “When injustice grips the Earth and ancient powers bring down the sky, he fights for those who cannot – and when the tale is done, we will know what that cost him. This is the story of THE IMMORTAL THOR.”
In the interview with Polygon, Ewing revealed, “Doors are indeed opening, buried secrets are waiting to be unearthed, and ancient gods – elder gods, if you will – are coming to bring trial and sorrow to Earth, Asgard, and Thor personally, and he’s going to need to be his absolute highest self to face them. And even then, he might not make it through. The omens are sinister. The storm is at the gate.”
On working on the book, artist Martín Cóccolo adds, “Even though I’m the artist of the project, I’m enjoying being surprised by the legend that is Al Ewing every time I turn a page of script and not fully know where the story is going. So, both as the artist and a fan, I tell you let Al cook and I don’t think you’ll regret it. And all I can assure you, dear reader, is that I’m making Al’s story as beautiful and as powerful as I possibly can.”
There is a lot of hype regarding this upcoming Thor run. Al Ewing has even gone on to compare this upcoming series to the New Testament, while calling his Immortal Hulk run, The Old, all in Biblical proportion terms. Known for bridging the gap between old and new, Ewing’s run on Immortal Hulk had the titular character face off against a cavalcade of body horrors while reintroducing Peter David’s beloved character, Joe Fixit.
Hopefully, the Immortal Thor run does well, as the most popular titles thus far by Walt Simonson, J. Michael Straczynski, and Jason Aaron are nothing to be shy about, having reinvented the character with such gems as Thor’s Ragnarok conclusion, along with the introduction of Mighty Thor’s Jane Foster. Will Al Ewing be able to top some of Thor’s biggest storylines? Time can only tell but given the huge success of Immortal Hulk… probably.
IMMORTAL THOR #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by MARTÍN CÓCCOLO
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On Sale 8/23
