The only delaying action that seemed somewhat worthwhile was the confrontation with Iron Man in the third issue, but even that was hampered by the downright horrendous Hurricane Katrina stuff (as the minute you mix superheroes and real world disasters, the superheroes look like total failures and are revealed as absurd and inane). This issue should have been eight pages.' The slow crawl by which Thor restores Asgard and its populace is frustrating and excrutiating to read because there's no reason for it to take so long. The first three issues felt like what the first issue should have been.

My assessment of the fourth issue sums up my feelings early into the run: 'I love how Straczynski recognises at the end of the issue that his pacing is slow as fuck and needs to be quickened. Of course, there's no room for him to do that thanks to his incredibly slow pacing. JMS never really goes beneath the surface to examine what the relationship there would truly be. A few interactions are played for comedic purposes, but nothing else happens. In that respect, they do represent the relationship between the people in Oklahoma and the Asgardians well since nothing of consequence happens there. He will give simple generalisations about their love, while she speaks in flowery prose that signifies nothing.

Balder.' A lot of apparent depth of character is hinted at, but never revealed with him or Kelda. William stumbles around as a lovesick hayseed before turning into Sam from The Lord of the Rings with his insistence on helping 'Mr. Take William and Kelda, the token mortal/god(dess) relationship that fights against the odds of two people so different falling in love. He's a very empty character, which is a trait shared by a lot of the focal points of this run, although not all. What are his likes? Dislikes? Little personality quirks? I have no idea. Even his travels to Africa to work with Doctors Without Borders shed little light on who he is beyond being a doctor that is helpful. In the few instances we see him act independently of Thor, his actions are still largely dictated by his relationship with the Thunder God. He's sort of a blank do-gooder type as he does everything he can to support Thor and. After 17 issues, I don't really have a strong sense of who Donald Blake is or what he wants. While I like the inclusion of Blake, it doesn't actually lead anywhere.

Thor by j michael straczynski volume 1