Review by Frank Plowright

 Spoilers in review

After Jason Aaron’s transformative eight year run on Thor ended with The War of the Realms and aftermath, the god of thunder and his supporting cast were handed to Donny Cates, who delivers a definitive opening statement. Nic Klein illustrates Thor’s hammer travelling the assorted worlds over several pages before arriving on Earth and crashing through a monster the Avengers are fighting. Colourist Matthew Wilson adds to the sense of awe by showing the hammer leaving a rainbow trail as it travels.

Cates picks up where Aaron left Thor. He still has a prosthetic metal arm and is missing an eye, but with Odin’s departure Thor is now Asgard’s king. What’s different, though, is Klein giving the rebuilt Asgard a more organic look instantly separating it from Jack Kirby’s architectural grandeur and the austerity of Esad Ribić’s design. Combined with Cates musing about how heavy the head that wears the crown is, it makes for a great start. Unfortunately, though, over The Devourer King, it’s not promise fulfilled.

Klein’s not at fault here. His isn’t a conventional artistic style for Thor, but he delivers power to match the best of the artists he’s following. The energy bursts off the page as a raging Thor again and again lets loose, primarily against Galactus.

That, though, is part of the problem. As well as repetitive scenes of Thor and Galactus erupting against each other, the whole idea of an immensely powerful being somehow becoming more powerful for acting as the herald of Galactus is a weak idea because it can’t be quantified. Also weak is Thor having to be complicit in Galactus draining habitable planets to dry husks, even if he does vow to rehouse the displaced populations.

It’s only just before the final chapter that Cates hits a few highspots, not least a repeated prophecy that Thor will somehow be responsible for ending the universe, intended as a plot to investigate later. Spoiler: It wasn’t, at least not in this run of Thor. The plot at hand deals with the deceit of Galactus, which, to be fair, is an interesting idea, and gives Klein a great visual, but only if discounting the cost of it shredding Galactus as a character. His mystique of the cosmic vampire standing above entire planets can be restored, but not his previous tragic dignity, which was apparently founded on his not telling the entire truth. Along the way the debilitations Thor carries from previous battles are too easily wished away, which is again too simple. This sort of problem with the writing recurs throughout Cates’ run.

The art lifts The Devourer King above average, but let’s hope for better from Cates in Prey.