War Of The Realms #1 Review: Thor Of The Rings

By
Bill Bateman
-

Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Russell Dauterman
Cover Art by Arthur Adams, Matthew Wilson 
Published by Marvel
Type: Mini-Series (6 issues) with Tie-Ins

From The Publisher: “Asgard. Alfheim. Heven. Jotunheim. Muspelheim. Niffleheim. Nidavellir. Svartalfheim. Vanaheim. All of the Ten Realms have fallen to Malekith and his army except one: Midgard. Home to Thor’s beloved humans. Home to heroes and gods alike. Now, at last, it burns. And Thor won’t even be there to see it.  All hell breaks loose in New York City as Malekith and his allies begin their invasion – and the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe watch as the Earth falls!”

This one is huge. Going to take MONTHS to resolve huge. Chances are if you read any Marvel book, you will be drawn into the conflict. More on that in a moment.

It’s hard to review this book other than to say it feels… familiar. Basically, anything to do with Thor during Phase One of the MCU is represented here. The Invasion of Earth in Avengers. The war in multiple realms in Thor. Malkeith is here as well (same bad guy from those early MCU stories). It sounds like this is an expanded and abridged story much like those – but in more of a Lord of the Rings sort of way – entirely epic. There was no point where the book felt like it there was too much going on.

Multiple books in recent weeks have been teasing “Continued in War of the Realms” in their final pages. As a result, there are very few books in the Marvel universe that aren’t touched by the event. Below is the listing of books included in the three-month event. It will be a major undertaking to get all the books so plan with AlphaComics today to get War Of The Realms on your pull list.

Act 1: The World At War!

War of the Realms #1 & #2
Asgardians of the Galaxy #8
Avengers #18
Thor #12
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #43
Venom #13
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #1
War of the Realms: Punisher #1
War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1
War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #1

Act 2: Reclaim the Realms!

War of the Realms #3 & #4
Asgardians of the Galaxy #9
Avengers #19
Champions #5
Fantastic Four #10
Giant-Man #1 to #2
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #43
Spider-Man and the League of Realms #1 & #2
Thor #13
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #44
Venom #14
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #2 & #3
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 & #2
War of the Realms: Punisher #2
War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2
War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #2
War of the Realms Strikeforce: The Dark Elf Realm #1
War of the Realms Strikeforce: The Land of Giants #1
War of the Realms Strikeforce: The War Avengers #1

Act 3: Midgard’s Last Stand!

War of the Realms #5 & #6
Asgardians of the Galaxy #10
Avengers #20
Captain Marvel #6 & #7
Champions #6 & #7
Deadpool #13 & #14
Giant-Man #3
Spider-Man & The League of Realms #3
Superior Spider-Man #7 & #8
Thor #14
Tony Stark, Iron Man #12 & #13
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #45
Venom #15
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #4 & #5
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #3 & #4
War of the Realms: Punisher #3
War of the Realms: War Scrolls #3
War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #3