Comic Review | The Mighty Thor Volume 5: The Death of the Mighty Thor

The Mighty Thor’s journey comes to an end in the battle to save Asgard.

The War of the Realms continues to spread. The armies of Roxxon attack the Vanir, and the armies of Muspelheim continue to rage against the Dwarves of Nidavellir. But it is the Mangog that comes for the people of Asgard. This is the final judgement against the gods. Jane angered that Cul and Odin do nothing, speaks out against them causing the All-Mother to finally awaken.

In her weakened state, Jane collapses. Falcon, Dr. Strange, Roz Solomon, and the Odinson do their best to convince her to see to her illness before saving the Realms from Malekith. But Jane would rather die on the battlefield than in a hospital bed. She defies them and transforms one final time to save Asgard from the Mangog.

The Mighty Thor Volume 5: The Death of the Mighty Thor | Written by Jason Aaron, Art by Russell Dauterman

I had assumed the final judgment was the Phoenix and was surprised when it turned out to be the Mangog, a new-to-me character. I guess this links back to the Asgard/Shi’ar war nicely, making a storyline I thought unnecessary actually turn out to have a purpose.

Death of the Mighty Thor

Jane’s sacrifice is heartbreaking. She knows she can not survive another de-transformation, but she doesn’t back down from a fight. I have to say, I agree with her friends that if she fought her illness with the same vigor and determination, she would beat the cancer ravaging through her body, and still be able to fight in the War of the Realms. Before she dies, Jane and the Odinson share one last kiss and admit that they still love another after all these years.

There is a surprising twist I did not see coming. While the Mighty Thor dies, Jane does not, in fact, die. At least not permanently. Odin, finally seeing her for the valiant woman she is, offers her a place in Valhalla for her sacrifice. However, Jane feels she has unfinished business, and Odin feels she may be right. Meanwhile, the Odinson cannot let the woman he loves go and attempts to use his lightning to bring her back. Odin decides to help his son, for maybe together they can bring back this remarkable woman.

At the Gates of Valhalla

Years from now, Thor’s three granddaughters, Frigg, Atli, and Ellsiv, travel through time searching for the Thor they must look up to. Eventually, they find her in New York City about to go into the medical center to finally fight her cancer.

These three make an interesting addition. I have not read Aaron’s earlier volumes leading up to the Odinson becoming unworthy of the hammer, but it seems they were introduced there. I really want to know more about these young Goddess of Thunder. Who, exactly, is their grandmother? Please tell me it’s Jane! Now that I know Jane doesn’t actually die I can’t wait to see what else she does and how her story continues to intertwine with that of Asgard. Also, my boss was already thinking of doing a Thor cosplay, but upon seeing these young ladies, I think we should team up to do two of them instead.

Creative team

Jasan Aaron is the mind behind the Jane Foster as Thor. I have thoroughly enjoyed this comic, as I did his run on the Star Wars comic. I look forward to seeing this story arc continue with the Odinson back in action as Thor. The War of the Realms continues and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

The main artist in this volume is Russell Dauterman. He has completed all the issues in this run. He’s created some awesome character designs and art. By far, he’s one of my favorite comic artists. I really hope he continues to work with Aaron and I’d love to see him do some Star Wars stuff. I also want to thank him for including the main superhero character with a severe illness, in this case, metastatic breast cancer. I have a chronic lifelong illness myself that causes tumors (basically my body doesn’t produce a protein), and while mine have been benign so far, I can tell you from personal experience tumors of any kind can wreak havoc on the body. Showing a character who doesn’t let that get her down and stand in her way is something I’ve been wanting to see, and it’s something I think the diversity movement is forgetting about. So thank you for including a superhero I can relate to.

The first issue included in this volume has too many artists to list. Every couple of pages the artist changes like the setting changes to show events going on in different Realms or with different characters (did you know there was a frog version of Thor called Throg?). However, I didn’t like any of them. The constant change was jarring, to say the least, and some of them just didn’t suit me. A couple of them weren’t bad, but others, let’s just say I could have done without. The She-Hulk rendering was very bad. And it was really distracting to change so often like that.

This was a fitting end to Jane’s time as the Mighty Thor. However, we didn’t get an end to The War of the Realms. It seems that’s a bigger war than what can be handled here. But you can bet I’ll be tracking those volumes down as soon as they’re published. This was one of my favorite volumes in the series as a whole and I look forward to more from Aaron in the future.

The Mighty Thor Volume 5: The Death of the Mighty Thor is published by Marvel Comics and is available to buy NOW!

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Melissa Villy is a regular Staff Writer for Future of the Force. She is a passionate Star Wars fan and is the custodian of the FOTF Jedi Archives. Follow her on Twitter @JediLibrarian42 where she uses the force frequently!

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