Review by Karl Verhoven

Jason Aaron’s never predictable run on Thor dropped its biggest surprise in 2014 when the Thor known for decades was phased out and replaced with an updated version. She was a woman, and the question of who she was in more human form is successfully played out through most of this content, the confirmation only occurring on the final page of Aaron’s contribution.

By now, it’s unlikely any reader will stumble into this collection without knowing Jane Foster as the new Thor’s identity, but back in 2014 Aaron skilfully deflected attention by showing Jane undergoing cancer treatment. It’s not trivialised, continues throughout this collection, and there’s no easy solution the material that follows, which starts with Thunder in Her Veins.

Aaron supplies action and the return of thought balloons, which is a brave move that works, and at this stage the perpetuation of plots without resolution isn’t yet an issue. Ongoing issues are the original Thor wanting his hammer back (“The power of Thor belongs only to Thor”), the machinations of Roxxon CEO Darren Agger and Malekith, and Odin recalling the god of fear to Asgard, which will have later repercussions. Aaron has a good handle on the assorted personalities, with his imperious version of Odin seeing himself above mortal concerns very effective. He also returns Odin’s wife Freyja, who’s been barely seen for decades, and introduces S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Solomon to the comics continuity. There’s a suspicion that there’s an editorial command to echo Marvel’s contemporary film and TV properties, but it’s not intrusively handled.

A further blessing is Russell Dauterman on the art. His best is yet to come, and some later expunged flaws are on show here, but the energy, work rate and ambition is exceptional, and when his composition is at his best he supplies an extraordinarily decorative form of action.

With so much being handled so well, this doesn’t hit the overall ranking it otherwise would due to around a quarter of the content being filler material. It’s well drawn filler material, and readable without being memorable. However, this collection would absolutely have been better for leaving out Don Glut and Rick Hoberg’s What If…? Story. It dates from 1977, and was hardly quality then, a real missed opportunity with the then novel idea of Jane Foster becoming Thor. It’s over-written, melodramatic in the worst sense and has the spectacularly misguided ending of Jane Foster over two panels forgetting all about Thor and instead swooning over Odin when he proposes. Freyja isn’t seen, in case you’re wondering.

You’ll notice this is considerably slimmer than the usual Marvel Omnibus package, and a further departure is it being a paperback. It’s also puzzling that it includes only around a third of Jane Foster’s time as Thor, combining earlier paperbacks Goddess of Thunder and Who Holds the Hammer? The solution is this being a British publication not beholden to Marvel’s US classification of an Omnibus.