Thor: Goddess of Thunder: Change Without Change

So earlier this year we were informed that Thor would no longer be wielding the hammer, having been deemed unworthy and will be replaced by a woman. This was met with a lot of criticism from fans and partially sprung a small war about comic books, namely the ever popular changing of a character for the sake of diversity. Marvel has always (and more than usual lately) prided itself on it's diversity and storytelling origins,  B-Mask  once said "DC was about characters we want to be where Marvel is about characters we are" and the more I expose myself to the two franchises I'm inclined to believe it. The fan outcry ranged from "About time there more females in comics" to "Thorita". I think the problem was the idea. Originally this was created off the original writing on the hammer.

                                

This I'd like to think was the basis, like a Lantern Ring, all anyone has to do is be worthy to wield the hammer and possess the power of Thor. This little bit of info had been pretty much lost despite the fact that numerous people had wielded the hammer afterwards like Storm, and Captain America, the problem was that I think at those times Thor son of Odin was still there or flat out dead. Another problem was that the announcement at first sounded like instead of having someone new wield the hammer, it actually sounded like they were going to gender swap the character. Jason Aaron  clarified that someone new was going to be "Thor" and wield the hammer because Thor, son of Odin became unworthy (though what Nick Fury told Thor we still don't know). I myself was a bit upset because I was really enjoying Thor: God of Thunder and felt this was a response to the book declining. It also didn't help that that particular book ended with a female Thor shown in the library on Asgard during All Father Thor's time.

How the book feels

                                 

Thor: Goddess of Thunder really does kind of ask that read Thor: God of Thunder to really get a feeling for this (and to tell you that this is clearly temporary). While it doesn't explain how Thor, son of Odin lost the ability to wield the hammer, it does show us a broken down Thor just looking at Mjolnir, unable to pick it up as a variety of other gods try to lift it, even Odin cannot move it. The once proud god refuses to eat or even sleep as he just stares at his oldest friend, neither moving or responding. At the same time there is something going at the hands of Maliketh the Accursed who is working with humans and a centaur for something big and recently got a major win and Freya, Thor's mother seems to be planning something of her own. It almost feels as if all the things are intricately tied together. Maliketh, Odin, Freya, and a Thor who cannot wield his hammer and a Thor who can.

Strengths and Weaknesses 

Having the same writer who did God of Thunder was a smart move. Jason Aaron has a knack for writing Thor in a way I think people like Superman the most, alien yet human. It was primarily the only reason I was on board with this idea at all. He even wrote a story where the only people with both external and internal dialogue were three different versions of Thor. Aaron is also noted for his trick with this new Thor, her external dialogue is like Thor but the internal dialogue is more modern. The art is also excellent as usual, with more gods in this version as well as more characters in general. The mystery behind this new Thor is interesting enough but really only in how Thor (now calling himself Odinson) trying to figure out who she is and coming to terms with Mjolnir picking someone else. Looking at the whole story, the mystery made sense and I enjoyed the time and I found the reveal rather inspiring.

On a negative standpoint we focus more time on the mystery of Thor rather than progressing the story with Maliketh the Accursed. There is also more things happening than I feel nine issues can hold effectively because they are never given much time. There is more of a mystery on who this Thor is behind then helmet than who this Thor is as a person. All we really know is that she knows Odinson. and that she herself doesn't know exactly what she's doing but the end reveal is still satisfying (spoiler alert, it's Jane Foster). There was also a lot of references to the fan response to the book happening. It feels at times the book is patting itself on the back, at one point knocking out two enemies who brought up points about new Thor that were complaints of the fans. I also felt it was a bit much when an entire group of female heroes come to save Thor. It was just a bit too much and didn't really progress the story.

Final Thoughts

Thor: Goddess of Thunder was decent. It got a lot of stuff right and I hope the issues in this book don't plague Mighty Thor and in terms of that it looks good. I've heard rumors that Thor may form a sort of romance with Sam Wilson who is serving as Captain America and I honestly hope not. You see this comes down to an issue for change for the sake of change. Mighty Thor and Thor: God of Thunder both have informed us that this is temporary like a lot of changes made in comic books. Superficial change is fun at times but does get annoying when it feels like it's only happening to sell books, not because you have a story to tell. It looks like we are still having some of the same story elements from Goddess of Thunder: Jane Foster battling cancer, political drama on Asgard, and Maliketh. Hopefully this means we will see more of Thor but only time will tell.