Thor: God of Thunder #3 Review And you will know him by the trail of dead.

If I learned anything from reading Thor: God of Thunder #2, it's that Gorr the God Butcher is a character who works better in the shadows and lurking off panel than when he's all up in Thor's business. It's not just that the villain looks a little too much like Voldemort for my liking. There's also the problem that Gorr is a very different sort of foe than the usual brawny deities Thor clashes hammers with. Throwing him into a face-to-face, purely physical battle with Thor detracts from Gorr's mystique and makes him read like just another generic, overpowered baddie.

The good news is that Jason Aaron makes more effective use of Gorr in the third issue. As before, Gorr is more an unseen presence who's threat is conveyed through the trail of dead, mutilated god bodies he leaves scattered across the cosmos. Through it all, Aaron builds up a creeping tension as he maneuvers the two foes towards a rematch both in the past and present. In terms of both tone and setting, the final pages reminded me heavily of the Dagobah cave scene in The Empire Strikes Back, except that I assume the battle won't end with Thor lopping off Gorr's head and realizing it's his own. Maybe he'll find a Horcrux to smash instead.

In any case, Aaron continues to do a bang-up job exploring Thor in all three time periods. Not since the earliest issues of J. Michael Straczynski's run have we seen such an insular approach to exploring Thor's personality and deeds. It's a testament to Aaron's skill that each incarnation of the hero reads so distinctly. I only wish that the series would offer more of the kooky, senile Thor of the far future. His presence is used mainly to briefly contrast the events of the past and not to explore any new angles on the Gorr conflict.

Esad Ribic is proving himself to be an apt companion for Aaron on this series. Ribic's sense of design is impeccable, and he seems to have no trouble jumping from more sci-fi oriented fare like Uncanny X-Force and The Ultimates to a fantasy epic like this. The scale is impressive as Ribic renders a city of gods in the opening pages. Then the tension grows palpable as Ribic draws in shadows and darkness for the claustrophobic final scenes. However, there are a few instances where his facial expressions aren't quite up to par, including an unintentionally comedic panel where Ribic conveys Thor's surprise by making his lips swell up.

So far, Aaron's Thor run has been an enjoyable departure from recent Asgardian adventures. But will the book suffer again once Gorr steps back into the spotlight?

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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