YMMV / The Immortal Thor

• Awesome Art: Between Martín Cóccolo's gorgeous interiors and the always incredible covers by the great Alex Ross, the comic's art is perfectly suited to the epic Heroic Fantasy tone of the run and really sells the terrific scale of Thor's adventures.
• Catharsis Factor: After bouncing back from having his face melted by Xemnu and doubling down on his planet-killing ambitions for profit, it's extremely satisfying to see Dario Agger put down properly, and in just an undignified manner as he deserves, by Skurge - who also gets to be The Executioner once more.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Most of Roxxon Presents: Thor, a darkly comedic version of Thor published by Roxxon in which he is an arrogant A.I. "spokesguru" for Roxxon who attacks teenage protesters lead by Loki. Ewing's references to real-world contemporary culture like Tesla's disastrous Cybertruck must be seen (and read) to be believed.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Issue 3 - Thor forges his helmet into an axe, which he dubs Tormod. The name in Norse means "courage and mind of Thor". A fitting name for an axe and former headgear of Thor.
  • Issue 3 - the rune "Raidho" that Loki employs actually exists in Viking culture. The rune refers to travel, order and communication; the rune reversed means difficulties ahead and is a warning to adjust perspective for circumstances. It is associated, hilariously, with Loki's son Sleipnir the horse.
  • Issue 6 - mention is made of Ullr, the Norse god of winter and archery. It's discussed that not much is known about Ullr and that most of his myth may be made up by mortals, such as him being Thor's son with Sif (which Thor denies).
  • Issue 7 - Utgard-Loki mockingly calls Thor "Asa-Thor". "Asa" is ancient Norse for "Aesir", the general German-Norse viking gods.
• Heartwarming Moments: In issue 2, Loki finds an exhausted Thor who is moments from passing out and presses him to answer three questions. The second is "do you trust me as a sibling who loves you?" Thor's answer is an immediate and unreserved "yes".
• Spiritual Successor:
  • To Ewing and Ross' previous work together, Immortal Hulk, which also offered a revitalisation of a franchise many considered stale and expands on its previous lore through Arc Welding.
  • To Loki: Agent of Asgard, also by Ewing, which also greatly focused on the true nature of the Norse Gods as living stories.
• Squick: Odin removing his eye, with a close up of the bloody thing, as a sacrifice for his initiation into magick.
• Unexpected Character: The cover for issue 5 shows Thor working together with the Thor Corps – Beta Ray Bill, Loki (in their temporary "Worthy" form from Loki: Agent of Asgard), Jane Foster, and... Storm, in her demi-goddess form. While the first three are to be expected, the last? Not so much, given how little they tend to interact.
• Win Back the Crowd: Even before its release, fans dissatisfied with how Thor as a series was handled by writers like Jason Aaron and Donny Cates during their back-to-back runs — particularly when Cates' Creator Breakdown derailed his run on the title — had high hopes that Immortal Thor would be a major return to form for the comic, as Al Ewing has developed a reputation for repairing books that have struggled under dork ages, helped in this case by the fact that Ewing had very well-received runs on Thor-related titles (most notably Loki: Agent of Asgard) before, but never the main book itself. Come the first issue and sure enough, the series was, just like its spiritual predecessor, met with immediate acclaim from fans and critics alike.