SPOILER WARNING!!!

This is my first time writing a review for anything, so bear with me if I do anything wrong, and do not hesitate to correct me or give advice or feedback. I tried to be as unbiased and objective as possible. I would have liked to include some scans or pictures so that this isn’t just one big block of text, but this was published on a phone.

STORY: The basic plot is that there's a new female Thor, Odinson and Odin are trying to figure out who she is, and Malekith and Dario Agger are planning to take over all of the realms and bring back Laufey. The main story is focused entirely on Thor's identity, and gives minimal attention to Malekith and Agger after the first four issues. Their storyline isn't really important to any of the big things that happen in this story. Aaron has said that these first 8 issued are essentially a prologue, so I can give him the benefit of the doubt regarding the lack of attention given to Malekith, but considering we don't know when this series will pick back up, this plotline does not hold up very well on its own.

Now with the plotline of Female Thor's identity; this is supposed to be a mystery story. We don't know who she is for the first 7 issues, and Jason Aaron has some fun playing around with the possibilities of her identity. Even from the beginning, there were only six real options: Freyja, Loki, Angela, Sif, Rosalind, and Jane. Once Freyja, Sif, Jane, and Angela were removed from the Odinson's list (Not even sure when Loki was removed), it became a bit TOO obvious that it was Rosalind, and many correctly guessed that it would turn out to be Jane somehow. The mystery was actually interesting before Aaron started hinting too heavily towards Roz, thereby actually making Jane seem more likely, but towards the end it fizzled out, and I started to lose interest in seeing the mystery continue, and just wanted to know who Thor was. The fact that the reader finds out her identity but Odinson does not means that nothing really got resolved in the end. Jason Aaron basically just took 8 issues to tell the reader that Thor is Jane Foster and Malekith and Agger are planning something. As I have said, I can give Aaron the benefit of the doubt because this is a prologue, and there can be some enjoyment of this story, but this story does not stand well on its own as a prologue, and since no big developments were made, it does not feel worthwhile. Overall, Aaron created a mediocre mystery and didn't go deep enough into anything, but because it is a prologue it won't lose too many points. Weak mystery, no climax, and no real new developments earns this story a generous 7/10, mostly due to it being a prologue.

ART: Dauterman is amazing. 10/10

CHARACTERIZATION: Odinson is just an angry man throughout the entirety of this series. He only visits Jane to see if she is Thor, only talks to Sif to see if she is Thor, and only helps Thor with his legion of females to try to find out her identity. Odinson is not always the nicest of people and I understand his emotional response in this situation so I was fine with it. Nothing amazing, but it was good enough, and Aaron did a good job showing Odinson’s anger and sadness. His rant/tantrum on the moon and his getting drunk in a bar were highlights of his characterization, but this feels like a step down from how we saw Odinson in Aaron’s previous works on Thor: God of Thunder.

Freyja and Heimdall were not great. They outright disobeyed Odin, and sided with Thor over their king and All-Father. This goes along with Jason Aaron’s overemphasis on the other characters’ overly positive reception of the new "Thor". Aaron went pretty far out of his way to establish that Female Thor is awesome and we all need to love her because everyone else does. And this category is definitely losing a point because of the whole Titania incident in issue #5. If you did not read the series, Thor was fighting the Absorbing Man and his wife Titania. After Thor broke AM’s jaw for, in her own words, “saying ‘feminism’ as if it is a four-letter word,” Titania immediately stops fighting and praises Thor, essentially for the fact that she is a woman worthy of Mjolnir, and then proceeds to KO her own husband and gives up.

Odin has always been a bit of a bastard so I was not bothered with his actions and I actually like his arrogant side. Also, he was just angry at losing Mjolnir, like Odinson, and was doing what he felt he needed to. He could have acted a little bit wiser for a god of wisdom, but seeing how he called back the destroyer at the end and was offended at the "affront to his omnipotence", it makes some sense that an arrogant guy like Odin would act how he did.

Cul was pretty well done. There's something fishy about his sudden allegiance with Asgard, but hopefully Aaron will expand on this in the future.

Now onto the "main character," Jane Foster. Jason Aaron has done a piss poor job telling us why she has to protect her identity, which is basically the entirety of her personality as Thor. She's powerful and arrogant at times, like Odinson, but overall she was not that interesting. But as I've said before, it’s a prologue so… I guess that is OK for now.

Characterization gets a 6/10

Final thoughts: All in all, this series was just decent, and not as amazing or revolutionary as people make it seem. If you are looking for a new take on Thor though, and want something fresh, this book is for you. However, it didn't move the plot anywhere and was basically just a big set up. Honestly, it doesn't all feel worthwhile. Not only the female Thor concept as a whole, but this series as a whole. It would have been much easier to just tell us Thor was Jane at the beginning and have a real story instead it a mystery. We have no info on the infamous whisper, and Jason Aaron kind of just changed the characters to fit his vision, which is not a good way to write. Aaron also acted nastily to those who criticized his work. This was a passable prologue but doesn't stand strong on its own, and the fact that the series is over for now only hurts it more. I did not want to get too much into personal issues with this story, but this is MY review so I must touch upon it: There's not much reason for this story. Odinson should not be unworthy. Female Thor herself says that he should be worthy in issue 8, and the idea of a whisper making Odinson unworthy is ridiculous. Odin also not being able to lift the hammer is another issue. Odin is a Skyfather, and he is the one who enchanted it. This goes along with what Aaron has talked about briefly in the past, which is his idea of making Mjolnir sentient and its own character. Like I said, he's changing stuff to fit his own wants, which is not the proper way to treat popular characters like Thor. Aaron had better have some pretty good explanations for all of this, and I am still very skeptical over the whisper. I won't get too into the feminism topic here, the events of Thor #5 basically says it all. One of the motivations of this story is, no matter what Aaron or anyone else says, to promote feminism, and issue #5 proves it. Now there's nothing wrong with some feminism, but I'd prefer Aaron not diminish Thor and his history in order to force his own agenda on readers. That's not how you build strong, lasting, female characters, Mr. Jason Aaron.

Overall, the first 8 issues of Jason Aaron’s “The Goddess of Thunder” earns a 7.7 out of 10.

Thanks for reading.

@jayc1324: nice review, though I think you're being overly generous with a 7.7/10, the art does deserve the 10/10 rating. anyway I'm still going with the hypocrisy angle for why Jane is hiding her identity as Thordis. it will probably end up being something mundane like she's worried Thor and the other Asgardians would discourage her because of her condition, because I seriously doubt Thor would be mad at her of all people knowing their history. maybe the Council of Worlds has the same no moonlighting clause as SHIELD? I'm beginning to wonder if maybe Aaron isn't a huge Natalie Portman fanboy and this is his way of taking revenge on all those who've criticized her role as Jane in the movies? :P

@antithetical: Well yeah, I was being a bit generous with the final rating. Thanks for the response and feedback though, and I don't have high hopes or expectations for the reason for her hiding her identity either, if we even get a further explanation lol

@jayc1324:I've never seen a review I agreed with so much. Although I'm siding with @antitheticalthat 7.7/10 is too generous, since it felt far too mediocre and had a stagnant plot. The art was the best part of the book, and the 10/10 is well deserved in that regard.

I enjoyed your review a lot and appreciated the thorough nature of it. Keep up the good work.

@kokemabb200: Thanks :)

"Jason Aaron basically just took 8 issues to tell the reader that Thor is Jane Foster and Malekith and Agger are planning something".

This sentence is perfect and...

- Blake was a creation of Odin used to teach Thor humility, Jane is a real character with her own identity, the female version of Thor required a very different execution, Mjolnir only gives you the Power of Thor, this plot should at least try to explain Jane's transformation and give Thordis her own characterization, and why this scenario only happened now? Theories are just theories, and the mystery was so weak that can't be justification for everything that is missing, just felt convenient to fit the new creative decisions... Aaron's plot left to much stuff without any explanation, and i could understand that if this were only 4 issues but 8?

- Jane and her current disease was easy writing that fits more the human beliefs, in this 8 issues Aaron had enough time to show that Jane was worthy before wield Mjolnir not after, and prove that she is also worthy in the Asgardian perspective, her character had ups and downs in the canon where she accepted Asgardian magic before, for now justify her current worthiness with her current disease and the refutation for magic feels contradictory in several levels because the magical hammer also gives her powers, Aaron has to be responsible for his current writing on Jane, and i don't want to run any future path/scenario just wait for the end of this story...

- Freyja/Odin characterization, first Odin also is unworthy with no plausible justification, and the Destroyer was lazy and pointless writing to drag the plot, his male "condition" defined his behavior, Aaron's writing was directed to a specific demographic like you mentioned, his portrayal was out of the character and doesn't respect marvel present continuity (Loki AA and Angela AA) were Odin and Freyja (she also can very vengeful being female doesn't matter) have a very different behavior, think that Odin couldn't resolve this situation without the Destroyer isn't believable, his feats speak for him...

- Don't get me wrong i appreciate your review because you went beyond the generic reviewers and the casual readers perspective, and at points (in my opinion) you were able to capture the essence and purpose of Asgard, but even if my English perception is not that good, i think what you wrote doesn't support the final score by any means, i don't understand how the sentence that i quote can support this score, Transformers movies have good visuals but that isn't enough to forgive the disastrous storytelling... Overall i agree with the letters but disagree with the numbers, perhaps issues 6,7,8 that i didn't read were better, but if the Destroyer battle also was pointless i have my doubts... Thanks for sharing your review...

These eight issues were similar in veign to the way The Dark World was made as a movie. Zero characterization about the villain(s) or his (their) motivations.

The story is one giant collection of incredibly forced plot-devices.

1. Nick Fury apparently knows a way to sever Thor's connection to Mjolnir. Not only Thor's, but Odin's as well

2. Thor having at least 1,000 years of experience with Mjolnir, but suddenly Mjolnir "flies better" for Jane Foster

3. Thor losing his arm despite surviving much more potent attacks (even with the same weapon).

4. Mjolnir having a mind of its own

5. Absolutely mind-boggling characterization. Odin being an over-the-top insufferable asshole who can't even find out who's wielding the hammer he enchanted (despite being All-Powerful). Thor walking around like a lifeless whiner without his hammer. Frigga being the matriarch of the "girl-power" message of the story. Essentially the entire Asgardian royal family looking like a bad episode of Jersey Shore.

7. Jane Foster assuming the role of "Thor" as it's treated as a title rather than Thor's name (worst characterization of all), because "Earth needs a Thor that values mortality and cares about humanity" even though THERE'S ALREADY SOMEONE WHO IS EXACTLY THAT......NAMED THOR.

I've just grown tired of the weirdness of the Thor mythos. Especially all these goofy concepts, like the "Cosmic god cops" stuff and all the murder/mystery vibe that is so obviously out of place with a fantasy/superhero concept.

Like the review but we all know this version of Thor is not permanent and is more of a gimmick or a stunt than any meaningful progression of a story line. Marvel needed something to show the world that not all their prominent characters were white men and boom all of a sudden Thor becomes a woman. I do not have a problem with there being a super-powerful female character in the Marvel universe but I really do not like this change for the sake of change. We all know it will not be permanent because Thor (the real Thor) is far too popular and once the novelty wears off things will change back.

As for the comment that Thor is self centered only visiting people to gather hints if they were the one with the hammer. I thought this was Thor trying to use his brain instead of flying off and accusing people out of hand. Of course he is going to try to get Mjolnir back its an incredibly powerful weapon they has has had at his side for a long time. Now with Jane wielding the hammer now, I have to say I don't like it, thought it might partially explain why she has rejected Thor's offer to use Asgardian healing techniques on her.