Three versions of Thor strive to defeat the deadly God Butcher

(Panini Books)

GODS are dying. Across the cosmos, pantheons are being wiped out by the invincible might of Gorr, a butcher of deities who has spent millennia waging his bloody crusade.

Now the end game has been reached, as his hoards of divine slaves are close to completing the infamous Godbomb, a device fuelled by the blood of slaughtered gods which will explode across history, ensuring every deity on every world will never have existed and freeing the universe from the shackles of worship.

Standing in his way is a desperate alliance of time-tossed thunder gods, but can even this unusual alliance prove strong enough to defeat Gorr? The young Viking Thor, headstrong and arrogant, is joined by Thor the Avenger from the present day, and their ultimate incarnation as All-Father and King of Asgard, the ancient Thor from thousands of years in the future.

As their peers fall in flames around them, the three incarnations of Thor wage a last, defiant battle against Gorr’s forces, only to realise they are hopelessly outclassed by the God Butcher’s dark powers, and there is actually nothing they can do to stop the Godbomb from being detonated…

Having made his mark on the Native American crime noir saga Scalped and beclawed X-Man Wolverine, scripters Jason Aaron might not have seemed like the best bet for the epic fusion of science fiction and mythology which characterises the Thor series. But naysayers need not have worried, as accompanied by the beautiful painted artwork of Esad Ribic he brings a majesty and depth to the thunder god which so few writers manage to achieve.

And although you might expect otherwise, there’s much more to this narrative than Thor(s) whacking their foes with a hammer, as it also delves into the very natures of belief and worship, fate and faith, humanity and godliness.

Bold, bombastic and brilliant.